Del Toro all but seals GC with clinical victory on Tirreno-Adriatico stage 6

Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) all but sealed the GC at Tirreno-Adriatico in style by punching his way to victory on the steep slopes in Camerino on stage 6. 

The Mexican kept his composure and weathered the storm as his closest challengers, Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Matteo Jorgenson (Visma | Lease a Bike), launched attacks in the finale.

Only Jorgenson remained with the race leader inside the final 200 metres, but then Del Toro launched his powerful sprint to landed his first stage victory of the race. With final stage set to be for the sprinters in San Benedetto del Tronto on Sunday, the Mexican is on the brink of overall victory.. 

Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) passed Jorgenson just before the line to take second on the stage, three seconds behind Del Toro. Meanwhile, Pellizzari had to settle for fourth in his hometown after his late attacks, nine seconds behind the stage winner.

Del Toro's fourth win of the 2026 season extends his lead in the GC to 42 seconds over Pellizzari, while Jorgenson closed the gap to the Italian and now lies third at 43 seconds.

From the flag drop, the action was on, with the likes of Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech) and Wout van Aert (Visma | Lease a Bike) among those on the attack. After a competitive battle to escape from the peloton, seven riders drew themselves clear. 

These included Vincenzo Albanese (EF Education-EasyPost), Clément Braz Afonso (Groupama-FDJ United), Walter Calzoni (Pinarello-Q36.5), Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers), Timo Kielich (Visma | Lease a Bike), Gregor Mühlberger (Decathlon CMA CGM) and Guillermo Thomas Silva (XDS Astana)

Kevin Vermaerke (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) suffered a nasty fall with 67km remaining, grazing past a concrete fence before hitting a post. Thankfully, the American was able to remount and was treated by the medical car as he chased to get back into the bunch.

Onto the climb to Camerino, Braz Afonso and Mühlberger pushed ahead from their breakaway companions with 61km remaining

There was a tangle up in the peloton with 60km remaining involving Brieuc Rolland (Groupama FDJ-United) and Javier Romo (Movistar), which saw the latter hit the deck. Both riders were quickly up and running, though. 

Meanwhile, Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) launched an attack from the peloton and quickly linked up with his teammate Albanese, who had dropped back from the breakaway.

Carapaz bridged to the second group with 45km remaining, with the front duo a minute ahead and the peloton at nearly two minutes from the front of the race.

The adventure would shortly end for the chasers when they were swept by the peloton with 36km, while Braz Afonso and Mühlberger continued to push on. 

Visma pushed the pace with 24km remaining with Tim Rex and then Wout van Aert, which saw the front duo’s gap rapidly shrink, but Braz Afonso and Mühlberger battled well to hold a gap which was teetering around 15 seconds. The catch to the breakaway was made with 7km remaining 

Van Aert threw a spanner in the works when the Belgian launched an attack with 4.5km remaining, with Jayco AlUla initially leading the chase. Van Aert built a 10-second advantage into the final ascent with 3km remaining as Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) danced his way past the Belgian as the road began to rise.

Pellizzari attacked from behind with 2.5km to go, but Del Toro ) responded instantly, dragging the rest of the riders to the Italian. 

A series of counterattacks from Michael Storer (Tudor) followed as the Australian attempted to snap the elastic, but none stuck. Pellizzari tried once more and created some daylight with Del Toro leading the chase, all the while Healy remained 10 seconds clear.

Pellizzari bridged to Healy's wheel under the flamme rouge and quickly took control of the tempo, going solo with 800 metres remaining.

Del Toro accelerated from the chase group with 700 metres remaining, bringing Matteo Jorgenson (Visma | Lease a Bike), Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) and Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) across. 

Once the catch was made, Del Toro made another dig, before Jorgenson went over the top, dragging the duo clear of the rest

Jorgneson led out the sprint, but it was Del Toro who launched first and quickly opened an advantage and would take the stage win as he all but sealed the GC.