Tobias Lund Andresen (Decathlon-CMA CGM) sped to victory on stage 3 of Tirreno-Adriatico, coming from behind to score the win in Magliano de' Marsi ahead of Arnaud De Lie (Lotto-Intermarché) and Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Premier Tech).
The Dane's French team had battled with Lidl-Trek in the final leadout for the sprint to conclude the 221km stage, and it was Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek), who went long to launch the dash for the line.
However, the Italian jumped too early and wouldn't add to his four career stage wins at the race, instead fading to finish seventh. Lund Andresen, perfectly positioned in the slipstream, came through to hit the front at the death and take his third win of the season.
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Further back, De Lie overtook Philipsen late on to fill out the podium, while Paul Magnier (Soudal-QuickStep) was fourth.
"My plan was to do a long sprint. Everyone has cold legs and we basically had it pretty easy in the last bit. The legs were cold with no effort, so a long sprint normally everyone can do the same when you're really cold. So, I just wanted to be there first," Lund Andresen said after the stage.
"Amazing. You asked me before the start what a win in Tirreno would mean. With how big the race is, it's one of the biggest races of the year, so to take a win here is amazing.
"It's been unbelievable so far. I probably didn't even believe myself that I could take such a big step this year, but it just keeps on giving and my team is so amazing."
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The third stage, the longest of the race, passed with no real drama, with no major breakaway even going away. As a result, the day was all focussed on the final sprint finish.
There was no GC movement on the stage, then, with Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) retaining the race lead, four seconds up on Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), and 14 up on Magnus Sheffield (Ineos Grenadiers).
(Image credit: Getty Images)
How it unfolded
Stage 3 of Tirreno-Adriatico would see the riders tackle the longest stage of the race, a 221km run from Cortona to Magliano de' Marsi, the first stage of the race suited for a sprint finish.
The stage featured 2,400 metres of elevation, but only one classified climb, the 2.5km, 5.2% Todi after 81.8km. The final 40km of the stage would feature some undulating terrain, but not enough to put off the sprinters.
Following the opening time trial and a tough day out on Tuesday's gravel finish in San Gimignano, there was little appetite for attacking in the early kilometres of the stage. The grim, rainy conditions riders had to endure throughout the day didn't help, either.
There was no serious breakaway attempt as the flag dropped to start the stage. Instead, only Diego Sevilla (Polti-VisitMalta) went on the move after 8km.
The Spanish racer ventured out alone and was let go by the peloton, gaining a five-minute lead over the opening 40km of the stage, though he had little hope of lasting to the finish line.
Behind, sprinter's teams such as Lidl-Trek, Soudal-QuickStep and Alpecin-Premier Tech – working for Jonathan Milan and Jasper Philipsen – took to the front of the peloton.
Out front, Sevilla led the race over the climb of Todi, picking up five mountain points in the process. Joan Bou (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) was second for three points, while Manuele Tarozzi (Bardiani CSF-7 Saber) was third for two points.
The result meant that Sevilla moved into the mountain classification lead ahead of Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech), his 10 points leading from Bou on six.
From there, there was little reason for Sevilla to continue on alone, and so the 30-year-old sat up and waited for the peloton, eventually getting brought back into the fold with 129km still to run.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Nobody in the peloton was willing to launch a counter-attack in the cold and wet weather, and so the race continued with the peloton rolling into the final 100km as one. A brief race neutralisation at 90km provided a little drama, with the peloton forced to slow down at a level crossing for a train to pass.
At 57km to go, the day's only intermediate sprint at Casette offered up three, two, and one bonus seconds. Danny van Poppel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) led the race across the line ahead of Andrea Vendrame (Jayco-AlUla), while Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) snapped up a single bonus second in third place.
Everything stayed together in the peloton following the sprint, with Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Lidl-Trek) and Silvan Dillier (ALpecin-Premier Tech) reprising their roles at the front of the group, where they had worked all stage long.
At 25km to go, things livened up as a trio of riders jumped off the front of the peloton. Ethan Hayter (Soudal-QuickStep), Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility), and Liam Slock (Lotto-Intermarché) were in the move, but they would only gain a handful of seconds before getting caught 5km later.
Following hours of largely uninterrupted rainfall, the bad weather eased up at the finish, with the peloton racing on dry roads towards Magliano de' Marsi. The closing 10km brought the usual battle for space at the front as the sprint squads battled for supremacy.
The likes of Picnic-PostNL, Decathlon-CMA CGM, Ineos Grenadiers, Lidl-Trek, Soudal-QuickStep, and Alpecin-Premier Tech were all up there at the front heading into the final kilometres.
Into the last kilometre, it was Decathlon and Lidl who led the way to launch the sprint, with the US team launching Jonathan Milan early. The Italian had gone too early, however, and it was Tobias Lund Andresen who was in prime position behind. He was able to hang onto Milan's wheel and then jump clear in the final metres to take the stage win.
Dani Ostanek is Senior News Writer at Cyclingnews, having joined in 2017 as a freelance contributor, later being hired full-time. Her favourite races include Strade Bianche, the Tour de France Femmes, Paris-Roubaix, and Tro-Bro Léon.
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