First stage of the Italian race Tirreno-Adriatico, with both start and finish in Civitavecchia north of Rome, did not present any major challenges for the participants. Not surprisingly the peloton was united at the end and the winner was to be found among the sprinters.  50 Kilometers before the finish some riders crashed after a motorcycle touched Grischa Niermann (Rabobank). Other riders that were involved in the crash were Alessandro Ballan who was brought to hospital with a possible broken collar bone. Last years overall winner Thomas Dekker and his Rabobank team mate Michael Boogerd were also involved in the crash but could continue the race.

The first stage of Tirreno – Adriatico on Wednesday saw an Australian success. Robbie McEwen (Predictor-Lotto) won the first stage of the race between the seas and outpaced Oscar Freire (Rabobank) and Thor Hushovd (Crédit Agricole).

But first four escapees had to be caught. Salvatore Commesso (Tinkoff), Benat Albizuri (Euskatel), Matteo Priamo (Panaria) and Giuseppe Muraglia (Acqua e Sapone) broke away and established a gap of two minutes. The main group with a number of sprint specialists didn’t allow more. On the last four kilometers the quartet was caught again.

In the finale in Civitavecchia Team Milram tried to prepare the sprint for Alessandro Petacchi. But without success. Robbie McEwen used a small break to attack 500 meters to the finish and made his way through the narrow turns. The 34 year-old Australian won with a clear lead, followed by Oscar Freire and Thor Hushovd. Alessandro Petacchi wasn’t disappointed with his result. "We organised the sprint when one kilometer was to go. Then two of us were skidding and we lost contact," Petacchi described the decisive situation. "Zabel tried to catch McEwen, but it was too late," the 33 year-old continued who finished eleventh.

"McEwen took some big chances in the final turns, but it worked out perfectly for him. We got through the stage fine except for Cancellara, who wasn't feeling too good yesterday either. He's not doing great and has got flu-like symptoms. We'll have to wait and see if he's better in the morning and then decide whether he's going to continue," said CSC sports director Scott Sunderland after the 175-kilometer stage.

Stage winner, Robbie McEwen said: I had this tactic in my mind since last week when I noticed on the internet that we would have exactly the same last kilometer in Civitavecchia as we had two years ago. Then I was third, behind Petacchi."

McEwen continued by saying: "Fred [Rodriguez] had to bring me to the front in the first curve and after that he should take a rest in second position to create a small gap."

Results stage 1 Tirreno-Adriatico

1 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Predictor-Lotto                    4.34.24
2 Oscar Freire (Spa) Rabobank                                  
3 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Crédit Agricole                           
4 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Team CSC                                
5 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) T-Mobile                                
6 Erik Zabel (Ger) Milram                                      
7 Allan Davis (Aus) Discovery Channel                          
8 Gabriele Balducci (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Caffè Mokambo         
9 David Kopp (Ger) Gerolsteiner                                
10 Loyd Mondory (Fra) Ag2r Prévoyance                          
11 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Milram                            
12 Sébastien Chavanel (Fra) Française Des Jeux                 
13 Matti Breschel (Den) Team CSC                               
14 Paolo Bettini (Ita) Quickstep-Innergetic                    
15 Alexei Markov (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne                        
16 Luciano Pagliarini (Bra) Saunier Duval-Prodir               
17 Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Liquigas                              
18 Laurent Brochard (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                     
19 Martin Elmiger (Swi) Ag2r Prévoyance                        
20 Franck Renier (Fra) Bouygues Telecom                        
21 Andrea Moletta (Ita) Gerolsteiner                           
22 Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Ceramica Panaria-Navigare         
23 Renaud Dion (Fra) Ag2r Prévoyance                           
24 Iván Gutiérrez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne                       
25 Manuel Quinziato (Ita) Liquigas