Tirreno-Adriatico: Van der Poel wins stage 7

Image 1 of 23

Mathieu van der Poel gave Alpecin-Fenix their second victory in two days at Tirreno-Adriatico winning in from the breakaway on stage 7. Van der Poel dug deep on the uphill finish in Loreto to catch and pass Matteo Fabbro (Bora-Hansgrohe), who had gone solo with 26km to go, inside the final kilometre. Ruben Guerreiro (EF Pro Cycling) slotted in to take second with Fabbro dropping to third.

Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) finished at the front of the peloton, which was 10 seconds behind Van der Poel, to keep his place at the top of the standings with just a time trial to come.

Van der Poel was part of a 14-man group that went clear of the bunch after more than 50 kilometres remaining. A series of attacks from Guerreiro had reduced the group to six when Fabbro made his attack with about 24km to go. The Italian's gap was never large, and it looked as if he might be reeled in with 10km remaining. He held on a little longer but Van der Poel had him in his sights as they passed under the flamme rouge.

A struggling Fabbro did all he could but he had no answer to the Dutch champion as he sped past him in the last 200 metres.

"It was a really difficult stage. From the beginning, the race was on and it never stopped. It wasn't really the plan to go in the breakaway but after an hour and a half of racing if a group goes away then it is a strong group," Van der Poel said. "I wanted to try it, but the finishing lap was really hard with a lot of steep climbs. I'm quite amazed to finish it off on such a tough stage.

"There are a lot of really good riders preparing for the Giro here and the pace is really hard. After the win with Tim Merlier yesterday, it gave us a confidence boost and I'm really happy to take a second stage win for the team."

How it happened

After a sprint stage the previous day, Sunday's 181km ride from Pieve Torina to Loreto favoured the Classics riders. With a real opportunity for the breakaway to succeed, the contest to make the escape was tough.

More than 50 kilometres would pass before a group of 14 finally snapped the elastic and built a substantial gap. Up the road went; Silvan Dillier (AG2R La Mondiale), Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix), Dries De Bondt (Alpecin-Fenix), Alessandro Tonelli (Bardiani CSF Faizane'), Matteo Fabbro (Bora-Hansgrohe), Will Barta (CCC Team), Julien Vermote (Cofidis), Davide Ballerini (Deceuninck-QuickStep), Ruben Guerreiro (EF Pro Cycling), Sergio Samitier (Movistar), Victor Campenaerts (NTT Pro Cycling), Martijn Tusveld (Sunweb), Julien Bernard (Trek Segafredo), Giovanni Visconti (Vini Zabu' KTM).

Even after the breakaway had gone clear, there was no relenting in the bunch and it was Astana who set the pace. Combined with the lumpy terrain, it made for a brutal day throughout. After maxing out at over four minutes, Astana began to reel in the band of 14. A series of attacks in the final 50 kilometres would disrupt the rhythm but none would manage to bridge the gap to the leaders.

Meanwhile, up front Guerreiro was not content with the current lay of the land and attacked on a short rise, taking Van der Poel and Fabbro with him. The group would eventually come back together, after losing Tonelli, Barta, Campenaerts and Dillier. The surge in pace and the discord in the peloton behind allowed the gap to the leading group to grow back out to over two minutes.

After a short cessation in hostilities, Guerreiro would go again on another rise with 26km to go. On this occasion, Fabbro was the only rider who could contend with the Portuguese man. Working for Van der Poel, De Bondt led the chase and reeled in the leaders close enough for Van der Poel to jump the gap with 24km to go. De Bondt would be dropped as Tusveld, Samitier and Visconti made the bridge on a fast downhill section.

Behind in the peloton the attacks continued, and Jakob Fuglsang jumped clear to join a group containing several former members of the day's breakaway. Race leader, Yates had three teammates with him and Mitchelton-Scott did not seem overly worried by the development as they took up the pace setting.

No sooner had the leading group expanded to six riders, Fabbro decided to have a go on his own. The 25-year-old built an advantage quickly with his former companions seemly unable to react immediately. There was still a long way to the finish line and with 19 kilometres remaining he had 28 seconds on the five chasers.

Fuglsang continued to make headway behind, taking five other riders with him and building and with it a minute's advantage over the bunch with 10 kilometres remaining. At 3:25 behind Yates at the start of the day, Fuglsang would need much more to threaten the top of the standings. Pushing on, he continued to drop his companions with Matthew Holmes (Lotto Soudal) and Benjamin Thomas (Groupama-FDJ) were the only ones that remained with the Dane with 9k to go.

Fabbro looked as if he might be caught at one stage but the terrain turned in his favour again with a small climb allowing him to extend his small advantage. Van der Poel used his power advantage on the flatter sections as he tried to reel in the Italian and with less than a kilometre to go Fabbro had just 11 seconds on the chasers. The gap would disappear in the climb to the finish line and Fabbro's hopes would be dashed with 200 metres to go.

Meanwhile, Fuglsang's efforts came to nought as he was caught by the peloton inside the final kilometre.