The rainbow jersey sees victory on Stage 2

World champion Julian Alaphilippe beats rivals Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert

Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quick Step) claimed his first victory of the year in a hard and long uphill finish in Chiusdino where Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) and Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) rounded out a formidable podium after João Almeida (Deceuninck-Quick Step), previously ahead along with Simon Yates (BikeExchange), Mikel Landa (Bahrain Victorious) and Pavel Sivakov (Ineos Grenadiers), was reeled in over the last few hundred meters. Van Aert retained the lead in the overall ranking.

STAGE RESULT

1 – Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck – Quick Step), 202km in 5h01’32”, average speed 40.195kph

2 – Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) s.t.

3 – Wout van Aert (Team Jumbo-Visma) s.t.

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION

1 – Wout van Aert (Team Jumbo-Visma)

2 – Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck – Quick Step) at 4″

3 – Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) at 8″

Leaders and statistics

Maglia Azzurra (blue), General Classification Leader, sponsored by Sara Assicurazioni – Wout van Aert (Team Jumbo-Visma)

Maglia Ciclamino (cyclamen), General Individual Classification by Points Leader, sponsored by Segafredo Zanetti – Wout van Aert (Team Jumbo-Visma)

Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal), fourth in the points classification, will wear the Maglia Ciclamino on stage 3 because Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) is already wearing the overall leader’s jersey, Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quick Step) is the reigning world champion and Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) the Dutch national champion

Maglia Verde (green), King of the Mountains Classification Leader, sponsored by Enel – Vincenzo Albanese (Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team)

Maglia Bianca (white), Young Rider General Classification Leader, sponsored by Sportful – Pavel Sivakov (Ineos Grenadiers)

STATISTICS

Julian Alaphilippe takes his third stage win at the Tirreno-Adriatico after the two stages he won in 2019, at Pomarance and Jesi. He has won two other races in Italy: Milano-Sanremo in 2019 and the road race world championships in 2020.

Mark Cavendish (at Indicatore in 2012) and Peter Sagan (at Montalto di Castro and Fermo in 2017) were the two previous reigning world champions to have won a stage at the Tirreno-Adriatico.

It’s Alaphilippe’s second win wearing the rainbow jersey after the 2020 Brabantse Pijl.

Quotes and tomorrow's stage

The stage winner Julian Alaphilippe, said: “It’s been a finale full of suspense. It was very intense. During the race, the rhythm was always very high. For us, it was excellent that João Almeida was at the front. When Geraint Thomas made his move, I understood my time had come to make my move too, even though there was a headwind. It’s a special feeling to win with the rainbow jersey in Italy, the country where I conquered it. I’ve realized that it’s more difficult to win races with this jersey, so it makes today’s victory even sweeter. Milano-Sanremo will be another story, maybe it will be similar with the same contenders but it’s not the story of today. I don’t want to think about it yet.”

The Maglia Azzurra Wout van Aert, said: “I didn’t ask other teams to work. Maybe our sports director did but I was quite confident that especially UAE Team Emirates would come to help, but on the climbs, with the attacks, I was never really afraid. I said to the guys to ride as fast as possible. We didn’t close it quickly but we kept the breakaway a short distance ahead of us. João Almeida survived for so long and it was a hard sprint. The upcoming stages will be very difficult to control but the short steep climbs should suit me well. But when it comes to Saturday with such a long uphill finish, I’m more in the unknown. Both stages will be crucial. Teams like UAE Team Emirates and Ineos Grenadiers will set up a mountain train but we have strong guys too. However, I’m confident because today’s stage was already quite hard and we managed it well.”

TOMORROW’S STAGE

Stage 3, Monticiano – Gualdo Tadino (219km)

An undulating stage in its first half, but substantially flat in its second part. After an initial short circuit in Chiusdino, the route passes just south of Siena, through Murlo and Asciano, before reaching Cortona. It then enters the Umbria region via the only GPM of the day, situated at Poggio della Croce. After descending in Gubbio, the route features straight and flat roads for the most part until the finish line.

Last km

The last few undulating kilometers lead to an uphill to finish. At one kilometer to go, there is a rather pronounced left turn, followed by a series of wide bends and a straight line to the finish. This last segment is slightly uphill, at around 4%. The finish line is on an asphalt straight, 8 m-wide.