Tirreno-Adriático (et. 2)

The Catalan crosses the line at 32" in a stage that pushed the pedal in the last 2 climbs with constant attacks and minimum gaps.

/ Today’s Route

Today’s stage had 202 km between Camaiore and Chiusdino, a first flat 90 km became hilly afterwards: typical Tuscany terrain with constant ups and downs. Four climbs awaited the riders in the last 50 km, two of which score for the KOM classification: Poggio alla Croce (km 171,4) and the final climb to the finish line in Chiusdino (7,5 km with gradients up to 8%).

/ Weather Report

A fresh start (12º) with some light rain that appeared only at the start line in Camaiore. Headwind (10 km/h) in almost the whole stage.

/ Keys to the Race

• Same script as yesterday’s start with an early six men break that got up to 5′ of advantage with a peloton that rode quite confortable under TJV control during 3/4 of the stage.

• At 50 km to go, as the race approached the first of the final four climbs, the peloton accelerated and the gap quickly dropped for the break, catching them at the beginning of the second climb. A moment in which our guys showed up to the first positions of the peloton.

• An attack by Bernal (IGD) featured three riders on the front for some minutes and then Marc Soler attacked dragging with him several riders and causing accelerations from behind that eventually led to the creation of a four men group with Almeida (DQS), Sivakov (IGD), Landa (TBV) and Simon Yates (BEX) that had 40″ of gap with a stretched peloton just before the start of the last climb.

• An intense last kilometer saw Almeida going for it and getting caught on the finish line by his teammate Alaphilippe (DQS) who took the win ahead of Van der Poel (AFC) and Van Aert (TJV). Gonzalo Serrano was the first ‘blue’ to cross the line 16″ behind the winner, and Marc Soler ended up at 32″.

/ Upcoming Goals

Stage 3 goes towards the Adriatic and will be the longest of this edition, 219 km between Monticiano and Gualdo Tadino, hilly terrain suitable for breaks and an explosive final uphill (3.2% gradient in the last 500 m)

Camino hacia el Adriático la etapa 3 será la más larga de esta edición con 219 km entre Monticiano y Gualdo Tadino, terreno accidentado propicio para fugas y con un final explosivo que pica hacia arriba (3,2% de desnivel en los últimos 500 m).

– Start 11.11 h, arrival from 15.58 h, broadcasted by Eurosport 2 and GCN+ from 13.30 h. (All times GMT+1)

Cover image (c): BettiniPhoto