Milan and Ganna team up to outsmart and overpower the Dutch in Tirreno: Magnier and Stuyven crash

After six tough, cold, wet days, the peloton arrived at the Adriatic coast, where we could reflect on a relatively successful edition of Tirreno-Adriatico. Great winners included Olav Kooij and Ayuso, a great battle between Mathieu van der Poel and Tom Pidcock, and no major crashes. This was before the last stage, of course.

The last stage was 147 kilometers long, starting in Porto Potenza Picena and finishing in San Benedetto del Tronto. It was normally a day for the sprinters, who would thus also be rewarded for all the cold and elevation meters they endured the days before. However, things turned out a little differently.

From the start, there was a fight to be in the leading group, and after ten kilometers, several riders were permitted to break away. And not the least among them, Mathieu van der Poel took the initiative on behalf of Alpecin-Deceuninck. Before the stage, he had already announced that he would not sprint. "I'm not going to take any more unnecessary risks. It's been good," the Dutch rider said.

Four men sneak along with MVDP. Kévin Vauquelin (Arkéa - B&B Hotels) as the GC man on duty, together with King of the Mountains Manuel Tarozzi (VF Group-Bardiani), Bjorn Koerdt (Picnic PostNL) and Lucas Hamilton of INEOS Grenadiers. The latter was on a mission, as his team had taken the head of the peloton in the hilly opening stage.

The British team, which saw Filippo Ganna as number three, was one second behind Antonio Tiberi (second) before the stage, which hurt the sprinters considerably. Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco AlUla) was one of the first to get dropped, and Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) also let Ganna know that things were going fast. Cian Uijtdebroeks, who was in tears on Saturday, also had difficulty in this phase and had to drop out a bit later.

Van der Poel meanwhile kept pedaling hard, but the peloton was catching up. So he decided to break away again and continue solo, but that was without considering the INEOS gentlemen. Laurens De Plus caught up with Van der Poel, but the elevation meters ran out with ninety kilometers to go. This allowed Olav Kooij to return to the peloton, even though INEOS kept pushing. Paul Magnier, too, tried to do the same as the leader of Soudal Quick-Step, but he had a silly crash.

Once the riders entered the local lap, several fast men dropped Groenewegen, Magnier, and Casper van Uden. Thanks to the work of Jayco AlUla and Picnic PostNL, the situation was rectified, and we still rode through San Benedetto del Tronto in a complete peloton. There, 43 kilometers from the finish line, was an intermediate sprint with bonus seconds, which INEOS Grenadiers had set their sights on.

Ganna received help from his track buddy Milan and won that sprint, while Tiberi came in third. As a result, the fast rider took second place from his compatriot as a reward for his very strong week of racing. And with that, INEOS's position at the peloton's head could be replaced by Lidl-Trek and Visma | Lease a Bike in the service of Milan and Kooij. Steven Kruijswijk did crucial work in that phase.

The other sprint teams also appeared at the front in the last five kilometers. Jayco AlUla positioned their men at the front for Groenewegen, while Kooij mainly followed lead-out Dan McLay. With 2.5 kilometers to go, McLay lost a few places after a mistake by a Soudal Quick-Step rider, which disrupted the train. Lidl-Trek was also not lined up, which caused chaos.

As the final kilometer began, Ganna made up some ground for Milan after the intermediate sprint earlier in the race, which made it perfect for the Italian sprinter. Ganna did almost the entire lead-out, after which Edward Theuns did the final push. Milan was perfectly positioned and allowed no one to challenge him, while Magnier, along with Jasper Stuyven, among others, had a nasty crash. Sam Bennett came in second, ahead of Kooij.