Tirreno-Adriatico (st. 2)

A long and windy stage with tension on the peloton, that eventually saw Iván García Cortina on the ground, and ended up with him and Gonzalo Serrano on the top-ten.

/ Today’s Route

On it’s way to the Tirreno ‘the race of the two seas’ rode today in an uncomfortable terrain with constant ups and downs for 219 km, being the longest of this edition, between Monticiano and Gualdo Tadino. The final 3 km brought a mild climb that ended up in 500 m at 3.2% gradient for an open sprint.

/ Weather Report

In spite of a moderate temperature (16ºC) the wind blew strong from the south with gusts up to 21km/h. Rain appeared briefly on the last 70 km but didn’t persist.

/ Keys to the Race

• Another early break, this time composed by five riders, got up to 9′ ahead of a peloton that, in spite of riding comfortably, had some tension due to the wind. Albert Torres’s work maintained our guys on the front for the first half of the stage.

• At 98 km to go Van der Poel (AFC), along with some teammates, accelerated with the intention to take advantage of the wind . Various attacks from IGD and DQS followed but the main GC contenders held up on the main group.

• Iván García Cortina suffered some road rash on his right thigh after a crash, getting back to the group shortly afterwards at 35 km to the finish line.

• The break got caught briefly before the climb to Gualdo Tadino in which another mass sprint took place. Van der Poel (AFC) took the win in front of Van Aert (TJV) and Ballerini (DQT). Iván García Cortina finished 7th and Gonzalo Serrano 9th. Marc Soler and Davide Villella finished with the same time as the winner.

/ Upcoming Goals

The only high mountain stage comes tomorrow with two major climbs: Passo Capannielle and the arrival at Prati di Tivo.

148 km that start at Terni and will shape the GC for the following days.

– Start 11.45 h, arrival from 15.58 h, broadcasted by Eurosport 2 and GCN+ from 13.30 h. (All times GMT+1)

Cover image (c): BettiniPhoto