Just three days after tackling the white roads of Tuscany, the peloton encountered them again this Tuesday at Tirreno-Adriatico. Although there was only a single gravel sector in the final, it proved enough to cause some damage. Mathieu van der Poel took victory in San Gimignano, while Brieuc Rolland crossed the line in 29th place, 35 seconds behind the leading trio.
The day after the traditional time trial in Lido di Camaiore, a far more unusual stage awaited the peloton this Tuesday at Tirreno-Adriatico. On the way to the medieval town of San Gimignano, in the heart of Tuscany, the organisers had included a little extra taste of Strade Bianche. A five-kilometre gravel road had to be tackled with less than seven kilometres remaining, before a final ramp towards the finish in the town centre. Naturally, this is where the race was expected to be decided, after a very flat first part of the stage and a few rolling sections approaching the final. An early breakaway of four riders initially led the way, but it was brought back before the final fifty kilometres. “The stage was relatively calm until the final, especially in the last twenty kilometres on wet roads,” explained Yvon Caër. “The long descent with fifteen kilometres to go was already important for positioning ahead of the sector. Some riders were understandably worried about slipping or crashing, but Clément was very well positioned at the entrance by Lorenzo.” When the peloton turned left to enter the sector, which began with a steep ramp, the young Frenchman was riding around twentieth position.
“Brieuc did a strong final,” –Yvon Caër
However, he was unable to hold that position after an incident in front of him. “Unfortunately he had to put a foot down because of a crash,” Yvon said. “He was dropped because of that, which is a shame because given his position he would probably have been our best card at the finish. Brieuc, meanwhile, did a strong final, but he entered the gravel section a bit too far.” While Mathieu van der Poel, Isaac del Toro and Giulio Pellizzari broke away on the gravel sector to fight it out for the win, the young Breton managed to enter a chasing group and eventually crossed the line in 29th place, 35 seconds behind the Dutch winner. Around twenty seconds later, Clément Braz Afonso and Kevin Geniets also reached the finish. “As expected, positioning at the entrance of the sector largely determined the outcome, but we rode a decent climb,” Yvon concluded. “The gaps will matter for the general classification but won’t be decisive. Tomorrow should be one for the sprinters, and those who raced Strade on Saturday really need to recover. We’ll spend a quieter day in the bunch in order to prepare for the battle over the next three stages.”
