Tobias Lund Andresen confirms new top-sprinter status by beating Milan, Philipsen and De Lie at Tirreno-Adriatico

After the spectacular gravel finale on stage 2 — won by Mathieu van der Poel — the race rolled out with Isaac del Toro in the blue leader’s jersey for a marathon 221-kilometre stage from Cortona to Magliano de’ Marsi. There was even more riding added to the day, with a neutral section and the trip from the team buses to the start, which included a punchy little climb. In picturesque Cortona, the buses were parked three to four kilometres away from the official start.

So it was always going to be a long day, and in the rain very few riders were keen to animate the breakaway. That left just one brave attacker out front. Diego Pablo Sevilla flew the flag for Team Polti VisitMalta and, with such a long stage still ahead, the peloton quickly allowed him a sizeable lead.

Alpecin–Deceuninck and Lidl-Trek had two of the big favourites for the stage win in Jasper Philipsen and Jonathan Milan, so their teammates were handed the thankless task of keeping Sevilla within range.

The lone Spaniard held out impressively for quite some time, but once the gap started coming down rapidly, the script became clear. After collecting the mountain points in Todi and securing the mountains jersey, Sevilla was reeled in after 90 kilometres solo at the front.

That brought the peloton back together with 130 kilometres still to race. The bunch then had to ease off briefly for a passing train. Soon after, the intermediate sprint looked set to go to Milan, but the Italian misjudged the line completely and had to give best to Danny van Poppel. Isaac del Toro crossed third and picked up another bonus second in the general classification.

From there, it seemed only a matter of waiting for the sprint. Or so it appeared. Out of nowhere, the race suddenly lit up again. Ethan Hayter of Soudal Quick-Step, Liam Slock of Lotto and Jonas Abrahamsen of Uno-X Mobility were among those who sensed an opening, while several others wanted to bridge across. But with a headwind blowing, it proved an almost impossible move to make stick, not least because Lidl-Trek kept the situation firmly under control.

Calm eventually returned, and this time the run-in really did point towards a bunch finish. Soudal Quick-Step, Picnic PostNL and Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale all moved up, while INEOS Grenadiers also joined the battle for position. Lidl-Trek, however, did an excellent job of keeping Milan near the front and delivered him in almost ideal shape for the finish. He was the first to launch, but he went too soon. The win instead went to Tobias Lund Andresen, who powered past to beat Jasper Philipsen and Arnaud De Lie.