CSC satisfied with Tirreno outing

Along with the Discovery Channel trio of Paolo Savoldelli, George Hincapie and Tom Danielson, Team CSC were the other team to finish with three riders in the top 15 at Tirreno Adriatico, also placing second in the teams competition to the American outfit. Ivan Basso was best placed in seventh overall, while Karsten Kroon and Kurt Asle-Arvesen finished ninth and eleventh respectively.

"If we disregard the two crashes, Tirreno-Adriatico has been a good race for us," said CSC directeur-sportif Scott Sunderland after the finish in San Benedetto del Tronto. "We won a stage with Cancellara, and with three riders among the top 11 in the overall standings, we've been one of the strongest teams here.

"At the same time the race has served as a really good preparation for Milano-Sanremo and the other one day races waiting for us in April. It has also been good to see that Basso's already at a high level, even though he hasn't worked specifically to achieve results just yet," he said on the team's Web site, team-csc.com.