Yates, a victory born of experience

Simon Yates has won the 55th edition of the Tirreno-Adriatico EOLO

The British rider Simon Yates (Mitchelton – Scott) has won the 55th edition of the Tirreno-Adriatico EOLO. In the final 10.05km long ITT in San Benedetto del Tronto, Simon Yates defended his Maglia Azzurra from Geraint Thomas (Team Ineos), who finished second in the GC. Rafal Majka (Bora – Hansgrohe) completes the podium at the ‘Corsa dei Due Mari’. Filippo Ganna (Team Ineos) meanwhile, has won Stage 8, beating Victor Campenaerts (NTT Pro Cycling) and Rohan Dennis (Team Ineos).

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION

Simon Yates (Mitchelton – Scott)
Geraint Thomas (Team Ineos) at 17″
Rafal Majka (Bora – Hansgrohe) at 29″
Wilco Kelderman (Team Sunweb) at 56″
Aleksandr Vlasov (Astana Pro Team) at 58″

STAGE RESULT

Filippo Ganna (Team Ineos) – 10.1km in 10’42” average speed 56.636kph
Victor Campenaerts (NTT Pro Cycling) at 18”
Rohan Dennis (Team Ineos) at 26”

JERSEYS

Maglia Azzurra (blue), General Classification Leader, sponsored by Gazprom – Simon Yates (Mitchelton – Scott)
Maglia Arancio (orange), Sprinter Classification Leader, sponsored by Sportful – Pascal Ackermann (Bora – Hansgrohe)
Maglia Verde (green), King of the Mountains Classification Leader, sponsored by Enel – Hector Carretero (Movistar Team)
Maglia Bianca (white), Young Rider General Classification Leader, sponsored by Sara Assicurazioni – Aleksandr Vlasov (Astana Pro Team)

Statistics

Ganna has taken his first victory at the Tirreno-Adriatico. His last big result was a win at the Italian National Time Trial Championships at Cittadella in August of last year.
Ganna is the first Italian rider to win a stage at the ‘Race of the Two Seas’ since the 15 March 2019 when Elia Viviani saw victory at Foligno. Before Ganna, the previous Italian rider to have won an ITT in the race was Adriano Malori, who took the first stage of 2015’s Tirreno-Adriatico at Lido di Camaiore.
Simon Yates is the first British rider to have won the Tirreno-Adriatico. His victory means the United Kingdom becomes the 14th different nation to have conquered the ‘Race of the Two Seas’. Over the past three years, riders from three different countries have won the race: in 2018 – Kwiatkowski from Poland, in 2019 – Roglic from Slovenia and in 2020 – S. Yates from the United Kingdom.
Filippo Ganna covered today’s 10.1 km time trial in 10’42”, setting the new average speed record for an ITT at the Tirreno-Adriatico: 56.636 km/h.

Quotes

Simon Yates, the winner of the Tirreno-Adriatico EOLO, said: “I’m a different rider now compared to how I was in 2018. I am older, I’ve gained more experience and I’ve learnt how to deal with stress. I think I showed this at the Tirreno-Adriatico: I can manage situations better now and stay calm, I think the team trusts me more now as a result. Today I rode a great time trial. I wasn’t sure how much time I could have won or lost against Thomas and Majka. Sometimes I’m good against the clock, but it’s so difficult to say ahead of time. After this result, I’m looking forward to resting up for a few days. Then I’ll be doing some targeted training for the Giro, to push my form ahead of the race’s start. Some big mountains are coming up at the Giro so I would like to do some altitude training. ”

Geraint Thomas, runner-up of the Tirreno-Adriatico EOLO, said: “I’m pleased with how this week has gone – 2nd is a good result. I feel like I’ll be stronger at the Giro, but so many others will be too! The time trial went well, I paced it pretty well. Perhaps I had a few more seconds in the bank, but not 17 seconds – so that makes me feel better about missing out on the win overall! I’m really excited about riding the Giro now. The Astana guys are going to be a big threat, Wilco Kelderman too – there are lots of big names and very strong teams. Nibali will be better at the Giro too, definitely. It’s going to be very competitive.”

Rafal Majka, third in the GC, said: “I am really happy because my form is getting better and better in time for the upcoming Giro d’Italia. I lost second place in the GC to Geraint Thomas but like I said, my legs are good, and the whole team had a great week with 2 stage victories from Pascal [Ackermann], a lot of podiums and a third place finish in the GC. Now I’m focussed on the Giro d’Italia, I’m going to target it and go for a podium, maybe win a stage too.”

Today’s stage winner Filippo Ganna, said: “This is a wonderful victory for me. We’ve worked so hard all Tirreno-Adriatico for Geraint [Thomas]. This morning he told me to give it everything and go for the win, and I did. I’m happy as well from the perspective of taking a win for Italy, and I’ve been told that I’ve broken [Fabian] Cancellara’s course record here. Now I’ve got to concentrate on the time trial event at the World Championships where I’ll be hoping to beat my teammate Rohan [Dennis].”

The Maglia Arancio Pascal Ackermann said: “I haven’t ridden a TT bike in such a long time! Today was a bit like a rest day today, it was more relaxed, I took it a little easy. I’m really really happy to have won the jersey, and I’m super pleased with my performances this week. Coming into the Tirreno, I wasn’t feeling too great about my riding, so the results I’ve got here have been good for both my legs and for my head.”

The Maglia Verde Hector Carretero said: “The Maglia Verde is a big prize for me and for the team. We came here with another goal, to win a stage or two, but it’s nice to take something home and this race has been great preparation. I have a few stages that I will target at the Giro, I’d love to win one! Now it’s time to rest and get ready to go again in October.”

The Maglia Bianca Aleksandr Vlasov said: “I didn’t think I would be able to gain a lot of time on my rivals today – the route is short and very flat which doesn’t really suit me. I’ll be working on my time trial riding to make sure that next time I’ll be a little bit faster. Overall though, I’m happy with my performance and result at the Tirreno-Adriatico. For me, this was a big test for the Giro, and I did well. I’ll have a little rest and prepare myself to be ready to fight. I’m looking forward to it.”