Cyclingflash
Mathieu van der Poel sprints to second win in tirreno-adriatico after thrilling finale

Mathieu van der Poel sprints to second win in tirreno-adriatico after thrilling finale

Mathieu van der Poel claimed his second stage victory at Tirreno-Adriatico. The Dutchman was the fastest in a brilliant sprint from an elite group that had formed in the finale. Giulio Pellizzari finished second and, thanks to the bonus seconds, took over the leader’s jersey from Isaac Del Toro. Wout van Aert was fifth in the stage results.

On day four of Tirreno-Adriatico, there was some serious climbing to be done. In the first hundred kilometers, there were already two longer ascents on the menu: the climb to Ovindoli (11.9 km at 4.9%) and the Valico delle Capannelle (12.9 km at 4.5%). But the real sting was in the tail end. After a slightly easier intermediate section, the finale featured the climb to Castellalto (7.6 km at 4.5%), the hill to Mosciano Sant’Angelo (3.1 km at 3.8%), and the uphill to Tortoreto (1.5 km at 8.4%). Afterward, twelve flat kilometers led to the finish in Martinsicuro.

Del Grosso and four Belgians in early breakaway
Early in the stage, twelve riders got away. Among the escapees were Tibor Del Grosso (Israel-Premier Tech) and four Belgians: Laurenz Rex (Soudal Quick-Step), Liam Slock (Lotto-Intermarché), Dries De Bondt (Jayco AlUla), and Timo Kielich (Visma | Lease a Bike).

Also in the break were Mattia Gaffuri (Picnic PostNL), Jakub Otruba (Caja Rural), Rémy Rochas (Groupama FDJ-United), Jakob Iván García Cortina (Movistar), Larry Warbasse (Tudor), Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility), and King of the Mountains jersey holder Diego Pablo Sevilla (Polti VisitMalta). Sevilla was first over both the Ovindoli and Valico delle Capannelle climbs, increasing his lead in the mountains classification. Meanwhile, the breakaway built a lead of just over three minutes.

At that point, García Cortina was the virtual leader. The Spaniard from Movistar had started the day 1 minute 32 seconds behind leader Del Toro. Del Grosso followed closely behind, 1’34” down on the Mexican. UAE Emirates XRG then brought the gap back to under two minutes, but they still had some energy left upfront. Upon reaching the foot of the climb to Castellalto—and thus starting the finale—the gap had widened again.

Breakaway caught, Jorgenson pushes the pace
On that climb, the breakaway stayed together, but after some skirmishes beyond the summit, a split occurred. De Bondt, Kielich, Rex, and Rochas had to drop back and chase. It cost them some energy, but after a while, they managed to rejoin. On the penultimate climb, however, De Bondt had to let go again. Meanwhile, the other breakaway riders already felt the peloton’s hot pursuit, which caught them not long after. Only Otruba was still riding solo at that moment.

The Czech rider from Caja Rural started the Tortoreto climb with a lead, but it was minimal. Just a handful of seconds, and that’s all he had. This was partly due to the work of Visma | Lease a Bike, who kept the pace high toward the climb. On the first slopes of the climb, Matteo Jorgenson attacked with Wout van Aert on his wheel. The front riders of the peloton rushed past Otruba. The big guns were set to battle it out.

Elite group
Uphill, acceleration was absent for a stretch, but the group kept decreasing in size. Just before the summit, the leader Del Toro made a move. It didn’t create further separation, but several riders were dropped. Twelve riders crested the climb together: Del Toro, Van Aert, Jorgenson, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Giulio Pellizzari, Ben Healy, Filippo Ganna, Clément Champoussin, Alessandro Pinarello, Tobias Halland Johannessen, and Giulio Ciccone. Thymen Arensman, Magnus Sheffield, and Antonio Tiberi were among those left behind.

At the top, Pellizzari tried to break away, but Del Toro reacted quickly. Afterwards, Jorgenson mainly took on the workload. The pace wasn’t exceptionally high, allowing Andrea Vendrame and Jan Christen to catch back on. Cooperation remained far from ideal, so with just under five kilometers to go, Jorgenson launched an attack himself. Del Toro closed the gap alone.

Van der Poel wins convincingly
Jorgenson once again took the front. The American had to keep the tempo high because a chasing group was coming from behind. Approaching the last kilometer, Christen attacked, but Van Aert closed the gap. Then Filippo Ganna launched his attack. Again, Van Aert responded, with Van der Poel on his wheel. The Dutchman then took over to bridge the gap and from 300 meters out, started his sprint.

Too far out? Not for Van der Poel. With a huge explosion of power, he immediately opened a gap on his rivals and held onto that lead. This secured him his second stage victory at this Tirreno-Adriatico, having also won stage two. Giulio Pellizzari was second, picking up six bonus seconds and taking over the leader’s jersey from Del Toro. Tobias Halland Johannessen, Clément Champoussin, and Wout van Aert completed the top five.