Steve Cummings took an opportunist victory at Tirreno-Adriatico in Foligno, taking advantage of Dimension Data’s numbers in the finale of the stage and the presence of Edvald Boasson Hagen in the front peloton.

Cummings confirmed that he was riding for the Norwegian when he sat on the late attack but could not resist going for victory in the final kilometres. The former team pursuit rider took alone and never looked back, winning alone, 13 seconds ahead of local resident Salvatore Puccio (Team Sky), who understandably banged his handlebars in frustration after finishing second.

“With three kilometres to go the win was served on a plate to me and so I took it,” Cummings explained in the past-stage press conference.

“We were riding for Edvald because he’s started off the season really strong but he hasn’t taken a big win yet. With 10km to go I was marking the other guys, acting as a policeman and closing the gaps to make sure nobody got away. I was fortunate the get in the move but I was not allowed to pull.”

“I’m really happy we won because the team was strong. We had two riders behind me who controlled things. It’s a great team victory.”

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