In the Marche region, the 2026 edition of Tirreno-Adriatico took a new turn this Friday with the traditional “muri” stage. The battle for the general classification intensified once again, and Clément Braz Afonso managed to position himself just behind the race favorites. After a hilly and demanding final, the 26-year-old crossed the line in fifteenth place and now sits sixteenth overall.
Although the first part of the week had already brought its share of challenges at Tirreno-Adriatico, a completely different test awaited the riders this Friday in the “Race of the Two Seas.” No fewer than 4,000 metres of elevation gain were on the menu for the stage between Marotta-Mondolfo and Mombaroccio. While there were no major climbs to overcome, the route was extremely hilly. A real showdown between the leaders was expected, though the profile also offered a potential opportunity for a breakaway to succeed. That is why the Groupama-FDJ United cycling team went on the offensive during the first thirty minutes of racing. “Brieuc and Kevin had slightly heavy legs at the start, but Lorenzo, Valentin, and Rémy tried to get into the breakaway,” explained Yvon Caër. “They had to try many times, and unfortunately, we just missed the right move with Valentin and Lorenzo. They counterattacked behind eight riders, but the peloton didn’t let them go, especially since Van der Poel was with them. We missed that goal, and then we refocused on being present in the final”.
“Physically, we were in the mix” – Yvon Caër
The final consisted of two very demanding 21-kilometer loops, the breakaway still held a solid advantage approaching it, while the peloton exploded on a 500-meter wall at more than 10%, thirty-five kilometres from the finish. Clément Braz Afonso managed to follow the right group and was soon joined by Brieuc Rolland, as well as Valentin Madouas and Kevin Geniets after a slight delay. “I’m quite happy with the team because when there were only about thirty-five riders left in the peloton, we still had four there,” confirmed Yvon. “That’s pretty good and it shows we were physically in the mix.” Unfortunately, at the end of the first loop, Kevin Geniets was taken out of contention due to a puncture, and the group of favorites increased the pace to close the gap to the two remaining breakaway riders. At the bottom of the final climb, Julian Alaphilippe and Michael Valgren still had a one-minute lead, and the battle quickly erupted among the favorites. Brieuc Rolland, Valentin Madouas, and Clément Braz Afonso then tried to hold on as best they could behind the main GC contenders.One kilometre from the summit, Clément Braz Afonso even briefly rejoined the top riders in a group of about fifteen men before everything split apart again. At the finish line, 56 seconds behind stage winner Valgren and 45 seconds behind the new race leader Isaac del Toro, the French climber eventually secured fifteenth place. “It’s a really interesting final from him,” commented Yvon. “He’s just behind the ten strongest riders. It proves his consistency and confirms that he’s becoming a real asset on this type of course. I’m also quite pleased with Valentin. He was really active at the start of the race trying to get into the breakaway and put in a lot of effort, but he was still there in the final, even if he lost a little bit of ground on the last climb. It shows his condition is becoming very interesting, which is encouraging.” The Breton rider finished 25th on the day, while Clément Braz Afonso now sits 16th overall. “We want to take the risk to try to achieve something better,” added Yvon. “Tomorrow, Clément will be one of the riders who tries to get into the breakaway in order to fight for the win and, mechanically, improve his overall ranking.”
