Van der Poel sends massive San Remo warning shot, with Van Aert and Ganna also strong
CyclingThursday, 12 March 2026 at 15:47
Mathieu van der Poel has won not only the second stage, but also stage four of Tirreno-Adriatico. After a thrilling day of racing, it looked for a long time as if the sprinters might still get a chance — but on the final climb of the day, Visma | Lease a Bike brought the GC men together. Van der Poel made it over with them, alongside several other power riders, and then sprinted to victory by a clear margin. Giulio Pellizzari finished second and moves into the race lead.
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After an icy-cold day on Wednesday, which saw the riders spend 230 kilometres in the saddle, the organisers served up another demanding stage on Thursday. The peloton rode from Tagliacozzo to Martinsicuro: 213 kilometres, not including the neutralised start.
With Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) wearing the leader’s jersey — as well as the points and young rider jerseys — the riders set off late in the morning for a long day. Tibor Del Grosso (Alpecin-Premier Tech) was among the first attackers, but there was never much room early on.
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Del Grosso takes mountains leader Sevilla along in big break
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Mountains leader Diego Pablo Sevilla — who rode solo for 90 kilometres on Wednesday — was again sharp at the front. When he and Del Grosso moved across into a group of eleven, and after some brief resistance from the bunch, the move was allowed to go.
Del Grosso was joined by Iván García Cortina (Movistar), Laurenz Rex (Soudal Quick-Step), Dries De Bondt (Jayco AlUla), Timo Kielich (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility), among others. Rémy Rochas later made an impressive bridge on the first climb of the day.
Sevilla logically took maximum mountain points on the Ovindoli and Valico delle Capannelle, while Del Toro’s UAE teammates set tempo behind. Del Grosso and García Cortina were only about a minute and a half down on the Mexican in the GC, making them a virtual threat.
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Del Grosso survives selection on third climb
After two climbs, the break’s advantage hovered around a minute and a half, and the peloton flew towards Castellalto: the third climb of the day, 7.6 kilometres long with gradients mostly between four and five percent.
It was here that Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) had to let go, with the pace high again. Xabier Mikel Azparren sensed the gap to the leaders was small enough to try and bridge across for Pinarello-Q36.5.
Azparren’s move did not last long, but the pace also lifted in the break. Del Grosso survived the thinning on the third climb, with only Jakub Otruba, Liam Slock, García Cortina, Mattia Gaffuri, Larry Warbasse and Abrahamsen left with him.
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Van Aert and Van der Poel make it over steep final climb
The peloton followed at two minutes, with INEOS Grenadiers also prominent. There were still just over 30 kilometres to go, including an intermediate sprint in Mosciano Sant’Angelo and the steep Tortoreto climb: 1.5 kilometres at 8.4 percent.
That was the cue for the front group to go all-in — but in the peloton, Visma | Lease a Bike turned the screw and the early attackers were reeled in. The riders hit Tortoreto, the final climb of the day: 1.5 kilometres at a little over eight percent.
Matteo Jorgenson took over at the front and dragged the group uphill from the base. It cost the remaining fast men in the bunch, but Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert both made it. Over the top, only 12 riders remained, with Alan Hatherly and Bahrain’s Antonio Tiberi and Santiago Buitrago missing from the reduced group, as well as Thymen Arensman.
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Vendrame returns — who wins the sprint?
Alongside Van der Poel and Van Aert, Filippo Ganna was also there for INEOS Grenadiers, while Jayco AlUla had Andrea Vendrame in the group. That still left plenty of fast finishes, with Jorgenson continuing to set tempo — seemingly in service of a Van Aert sprint.
But the Belgian did not want to gift the others a free ride to the flat finish. Jorgenson was instructed to attack, forcing the rest to chase. Del Toro closed it down, after which Jorgenson immediately resumed his role and lifted the pace again.
Inside the final kilometre, Jan Christen tried to surprise everyone. Van Aert reacted — already spending energy — and bridged across. Ganna then looked ready to launch, but Van der Poel had glued himself to the sprint. When he finally opened up, it was at astonishing speed. With bike lengths to spare, he could celebrate before the line.
Van Aert and Ganna did not make the top three, but they will have felt it too: dropping Van der Poel at Milan–San Remo is going to be a huge problem — on the climbs and in the sprint.
Result stage 4 Tirreno-Adriatico 2026
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Latest Comments
- It's a bit embarrassing that. Isn't the main sponsor supposed to keep them at 36.5 ?tomjacques03-03-2026
- They were close to cracking a very tired Tadej that wasn't fully focused on the TdF with a team of riders focused solely on cracking Tadej. And if they cracked him, he would have still won. Tadej won't be racing the giro this year. It'll be an even easier win for him.Veganpotter09-02-2026
- Nice!Bea22-01-2026
- Those events are mental rest for him. Fun, without expectations. *Sagan lost his abilities because he gained weight and got lazy. Pogi will likely retire before that has a chance at happening.Veganpotter14-12-2025
- Ah, the consequences of riding for Israel.Veganpotter11-12-2025
- Pidcock could follow everyone but Pogi while finishing 3rd. No second place rider this season😃Veganpotter16-11-2025
- Now the Palestinian protestors can stop their whining. Trump came to the rescue. So they can now STFU and go back to waving the rainbow flags.raufus15-10-2025
- Cracked the code lol. If it was that easy to 'crack the code' jonny Vegas would be charging up the Kwaremont giving Pog a dose of his medicine. Evenepoel can't match pog on a climb and neither can mvdp. Anything with a half difficult climb and Pog smashes the field. Even on flat(ish)parcours like Roubaix it came down to a mistake and crash by pog to definitively crown mvdp. MSR is the only one that Pog probably won't win.kevpt10-10-2025
- We've seen this movie before. I think Pogacar is doping.DeadBlow10-10-2025
- 👍Bea08-10-2025
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