Visma’s bonus-seconds plan pays off as Jorgenson jumps Pellizzari for second in Tirreno-Adriatico

Before that sprint could decide anything, the peloton first had to deal with a hard acceleration from Mathieu van der Poel and Alpecin-Premier Tech. The pace on the climb split the field and briefly left only around thirty riders in front, but the race came back together in time for the bonus-seconds battle in San Benedetto del Tronto.

Once the moment arrived, Visma executed cleanly. Wout van Aert helped drag Jorgenson into position, the American took three bonus seconds, and Pellizzari came away empty-handed. That was enough to flip the podium order behind Isaac Del Toro, turning a narrow deficit into second place overall.

The move lifted Jorgenson to second at 40 seconds from race winner Isaac Del Toro of UAE Team Emirates-XRG, with Pellizzari dropping to third at 42 seconds. Afterwards, Jorgenson said he could still be satisfied with second place, while also admitting that Del Toro had been the strongest rider throughout the week and that the intermediate sprint was effectively Visma’s only play on the final stage.

In his post-race reaction, the American went on to say that only one rider was better than him in the overall standings. “I’m happy with second place. We came here to win, that’s for sure. But Del Toro was stronger—in virtually every stage and even the time trial. There wasn’t a single spot where I could pass him. The intermediate sprint was the only thing we could do today, and it all worked out pretty well. I’m happy about that."

There was also joy at Visma | Lease a Bike after a successful plan. Sports director Jesper Mørkøv said through official channels, "We rode several strong stages and always kept our goal of the general classification in mind. The fact that Matteo finished second in the final classification thanks to strong teamwork makes it even better. I can only be satisfied."

Jorgenson will wrap up his Italian leg of the season, which includes Strade Bianche and the Tirreno, at Milan-Sanremo on March 21, and then head to the mountains. Pellizzari will also compete in Milan-Turin. The young Italian rider from Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe had to watch helplessly as he dropped from second to third place in the Tirreno. “It was an incredible week for us,” he said nonetheless to Italian media.

“We can be proud of what we’ve achieved; we won’t forget this. It’s fantastic that riders like Primoz Roglic and Jai Hindley helped me and rode for me. Of course, I would have preferred to finish second, and I tried to keep up in the sprint, but Jorgenson was simply stronger. That’s no disaster; we’ve stayed calm and out of trouble.”