Saturday scheduled a tough summit finish at the “Race of the Two Seas”.
Julian Alaphilippe showed the Soudal Quick-Step colors on the hardest stage of this edition, jumping away from the peloton as soon as the flag was waved. Joined by a couple of riders moments later, the Frenchman kept pushing, and even though the bunch chased hard in the opening kilometers of the day, they managed to forge out a comfortable lead of three minutes by the time they took on La Forchetta, the first ranked ascent.
The two-time World Champion, top ten on Thursday’s stage, remained at the front until with 40 kilometers to go, when the group began fragmenting. One by one, the escapees were brought back by the chasing peloton, who desired a proper GC battle on Monte Petrano, back in a cycling race for the first time in 15 years. The victory went to Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), while Kasper Asgreen was our first rider home.
Tirreno-Adriatico concluded on Sunday in San Benedetto del Tronto, where after a hilly first part of the day, the sprinters should hit center stage and fight for the spoils.
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele / Getty Images
Julian Alaphilippe 