Tirreno-Adriatico 2026 preview - Del Toro leads UAE title defence as Roglic gets season underway

Tirreno-Adriatico is the first Italian WorldTour stage race of the season, a key race for many in the preparation for the Spring Classics or for the Giro d'Italia in May. Recent winners have included some of the biggest stars of the sport, such as Tadej Pogačar, Jonas Vingegaard, and Primož Roglič.

Last year's race kicked off with an Italian thunderstorm on home soil. Filippo Ganna was in a league of his own in the opening time trial, 0:22 ahead of Juan Ayuso in 2nd, who had set himself up well for the GC battle ahead.

Jonathan Milan powered his way to his third career stage win at the race on stage 2, before Andrea Vendrame caused a minor upset by winning the sprint in an uphill finish on the third stage. 

Stage 4 saw Olav Kooij break the Italian winning streak, as the Dutch rider appeared from nowhere to win the sprint from a reduced peloton after an attritional stage defined by climbs and crosswinds.

Fredrik Dversnes caused the biggest upset of the race, winning stage 5 solo, narrowly ahead of a charging reduced group led by Mathieu van der Poel. This marked Uno-X Mobility's second WorldTour win of the season at that point, following Søren Wærenskjold's Omloop Nieuwsblad triumph.

Stage 6 was the crucial GC stage with a summit finish atop Frontignano. In the end, Ayuso delivered the goods, taking the stage win ahead of Tom Pidcock and moving into the race lead, whilst Ganna battled his way to remain on the provisional overall podium.

Milan curtailed the race with one last stage win, as Ayuso wrapped up the general classification ahead of Filippo Ganna and Antonio Tiberi. 

Kicking off in Lido di Camaiore, the opening stage is the customary 11.5 km individual time trial, an out-and-back route along the seafront that isn't overly technical and should favour powerhouses like Filippo Ganna, who was dominant here last year.

Stage 2 brings a welcome dose of chaos for the puncheurs from Camaiore. The stage winds inland through Tuscany, then unleashes a 5.3km gravel sector uphill to San Gimignano to the finish, where the GC contenders will be tested, and the puncheurs could shine.

The sprinters will eye stage 3 from Cortona to Magliano de Marsi, which is the longest stage of the race at 221km. Fatigue over this attritional stage will test legs, but a committed bunch should be able to ensure a sprint finish.

Stage 4 from Tagliacozzo sees some early Apennine climbs paving the way before a series of short, sharp walls in the finale to Martinsicuro, which could see fireworks and gaps in the GC.

Stage 5 from Marotta Mondolfo to Mombaroccio will see the peloton tackle two laps of a circuit in the finale featuring a challenging ascent to Santuario del Beato Sante. The summit of the final ascent comes just 1.5km from the finish, before a short downhill section and the kicker to the finish line.

Stage 6 from San Severino Marche to Camerino could could be crucial in deciding the overall standings. A long ascent to Sassotetto tests the riders relatively early, but three ascents of the Muro della Madonna delle Carceri could be where the race is decided. The climb reaches gradients of 18%, and the third ascent takes the riders to the finish line, where the strongest rider will likely be rewarded.

Tradition closes on stage 7 with a circuit finish in San Benedetto del Tronto that should see the sprinters battle it out for the final stage honours of the 2026 Tirreno-Adriatico.

Here is a full stage-by-stage guide for the 2026 race.

Isaac del Toro and Jan Christen form a really strong duo here for UAE Team Emirates-XRG. However, it's not sure how well they'll work together, as history shows helping teammates isn't Christen's strongest trait. Given the steps he made last year and how he started off this season, Del Toro is the clear favourite for this race.

But there is also fierce competition. Primož Roglič, Jai Hindley and Giulio Pellizzari form a very strong trident for Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe here. Hindley had to delay his season start due to an illness, but even if he isn't in top shape, he can be a very valuable domestique for Roglič and Pellizzari.

Pellizzari started off the season in a very good shape, finishing 3rd in Volta Comunitat Valenciana. He did this while he was a domestique for Remco Evenepoel, who won the race. Despite this, he still only finished three seconds behind Almeida, who finished 2nd in the general classification. 

Roglič, like Hindley, will start off his season in Tirreno-Adriatico. It's always hard to call in what shape the Slovenian starts his season, but it's undeniable that he finds a tailor-made parcours for himself here. In the last two editions of Tirreno that he has started, he has won. It'll be very tough to beat Del Toro here, but don't forget that last year he still beat Ayuso in Catalunya. Never count out Roglič.

Matteo Jorgenson knows how to win in March. Since joining Visma | Lease a Bike in the 2024 season, Jorgenson won the last two editions of Paris-Nice. This season, he wanted to opt for a change in his program. So instead of racing the Belgian opening weekend, Paris-Nice and the other Flemish cobbled classics, he now opted for the French opening weekend, the Italian races with Strade, Tirreno and Milan-Sanremo, to then aim for the Ardennes.

He has already shown several times that he can handle short, steep walls. For example, in the first week of the Tour de France last year, he was really impressive there. The win seems a bit far-fetched here, but he can definitely aim for a general classification podium.

Bahrain Victorious is another team which starts with a very strong trident with Antonio Tiberi, Santiago Buitrago and Pello Bilbao. Tiberi started off his season great with a 4th place in Valenciana, a 2nd place in the UAE Tour and a 3rd place in Trofeo Laigueglia.

Buitrago started off his season slower in Australia, but just won the Trofeo Laigueglia, so he's clearly getting into form. Bilbao also showed that he's in shape with good results in Murcia and Jaén. In other words, Bahrain-Victorious has some nice cards to play with here.

Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto-Intermarché)is another rider who'll love the explosive nature of this race. After a 2025 season filled with bad luck, he's seemingly getting back to his old form. His Tour Down Under general classification bid was derailed by a crash, but afterwards, in the UAE Tour, we saw signs of the old Van Eetvelt. Can he make another step forward in this race?

Thymen Arensman (Ineos Grenadiers)is a rider who would've liked some longer climbs here, but the time trial does speak in his favour. Although Arensman is making steps forward on the shorter and more explosive climbs, so let's see what he can show here.

Michael Storer (Tudor)rode an outstanding season last year: from a stage win in Paris-Nice, to a general classification win in the Tour of the Alps, to a Giro top ten, to fighting for stage wins in the Tour de France, to a podium in Lombardia. He never took time off to rest and just kept racing, and by doing that, he showed he has a huge engine. Will he carry that momentum into 2026?

In terms of the sprinters, there are plenty of riders who will be looking to leave their mark on the race.

Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) has an excellent track record at this race with four stage wins and has made a winning start to 2026, making him a standout contender for the sprint stages.

The Italian won two stages at the AlUla Tour before picking up three at the UAE Tour, placing him second in the list of most victories in the men's peloton in 2026 behind Remco Evenepoel.

Milan will head to the Giro d'Italia this season, after a successful Tour de France in 2025, and will want to quickly re-establish the winning feeling on home soil ahead of his big goal. 

One man who will certainly be up for the fight against Milan is the increasingly prolific Paul Magnier (Soudal Quick-Step). The 21-year-old Frenchman has continued his hot streak from last campaign into this season, winning both sprint stages at the Volta ao Algarve. 

Magnier made his Tirreno debut twelve months ago, with his best result being 4th on stage 4. But a lot has changed since then, with the Frenchman picking up 20 pro wins, and this will be a good opportunity to challenge himself against another of sprinting's greatest forces right now in Milan.

Other fast men to watch include the in-form Tobias Lund Andresen (Decathlon CMA CGM), Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Premier Tech), Danny van Poppel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Arnaud De Lie (Lotto-Intermarché).

Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech) and Wout van Aert (Visma | Lease a Bike) are both also set to feature ahead of their upcoming Classics ambitions. This will be Van der Poel's fifth appearance at the race, having won three stages in the past. Van Aert has raced Tirreno twice previously, finishing 2nd and winning two stages in 2021. 

Meanwhile, Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers), alongside Roglič and Milan, has won more stages at Tirreno-Adriatico than any other rider, and the Italian powerhouse remarkably managed to finish 2nd overall behind Ayuso last year.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️  Del Toro

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️  Roglič, Jorgenson

⭐️⭐️⭐️  Pellizzari, Tiberi, Christen

⭐️⭐️  Van Eetvelt, Buitrago, Hindley, Van Wilder

⭐️  Storer, Arensman, Bilbao, Piganzoli, Carapaz