Del Toro secures Tirreno-Adriatico title as Milan scorches to sprint win

Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) secured overall victory at Tirreno-Adriatico, while Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) delivered a thunderous sprint to win stage 7 in San Benedetto del Tronto for the third year in a row.

Milan struck out from distance after being guided through to the front by Edward Theuns, and the Italian had the strength to hold off Sam Welsford (Ineos) and Laurenz Rex (Soudal Quick-Step) to take the win.

The finale was marred by a crash with a shade under 2km to go that saw Paul Magnier (Soudal Quick-Step) and Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Premier Tech) among the fallers.

Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility) had attacked on the final lap of the finishing circuit, and the Norwegian led deep into the final kilometre, where he was eventually pinned back by a rampant Filippo Ganna (Ineos).

Del Toro was caught behind the late crash, but he was already well inside the 3km to go safety zone and he was confirmed as final overall winner. He finished 40 seconds ahead of Matteo Jorgenson (Visma | Lease a Bike), who nabbed the bonus seconds needed to move ahead of Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) in the overall standings.

While the eventual bunch sprint was as inevitable as the gentle crashing of the Adriatic against the shore in San Benedetto on Sunday afternoon, this stage was not without deviations from the preordained script.

Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech) had already highlighted his pre-Milan-Sanremo form with two stage wins, but he seemed eager to deliver another flex ahead of La Primavera. How else to explain his remarkable cameo on the climb of Ripatransone with 90km remaining?

When Van der Poel began setting the tempo at the head of the peloton, it initially seemed as though his sole intention was to burn off some of teammate Jasper Philipsen’s sprint rivals, and Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Intermarché) and Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) were among those distanced.

But when Philipsen himself lost contact near the summit, Van der Poel simply kept on going, whittling the front group down to just 23 riders. After leaving over the top, Van der Poel continued over the other side and led the race into San Benedetto del Tronto for the first time. All told, he spent the bones of 30km on the front of the race before swinging off. As if we didn’t know it already, he’s ready for the rendezvous on the Cipressa next Saturday.

Philipsen and Milan rejoined the front group on the first lap of the 15km circuit in San Benedetto del Tronto, with De Lie eventually catching back up with a little over 30km remaining.

In the meantime, the bonus sprint with 45km to go had been keenly contested, with Wout van Aert leading out his Visma | Lease a Bike teammate Matteo Jorgenson to pick up the bonus seconds needed to lift him above Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and into second place overall.

Pellizzari made a defiant and perhaps playful attack immediately afterwards, but it was clear that the podium order had now been settled. The coalition of sprinters’ teams hit the front for the final three laps of the race, ensuring that the day would produce the anticipated bunch finish.