Supreme Jasper Philipsen wins the sprint race in Tirreno-Adriatico | Cycling

The flat stage has already been circled in red on the agenda by the runners in advance. A leading group of four riders was allowed to break away, but the dominant teams didn't really give them any space. They were caught more than 35 kilometers from the finish and the runners chose their location.

Belgian Tim Merlier was first in the sprint race. It quickly became clear that it was too early when his compatriot Philipsen spun off the wheel and crossed the line several bike lengths ahead. “Last year, I took my first win in the second race of the Tirreno-Adriatico, so I'm very happy to achieve that at the first opportunity,” Philipsen said afterwards.

“As usual, it was a tough final. I had trouble with the acceleration, but I was still able to do the race I wanted. I didn't put much effort into the sprint for this race, because I'm usually good at that. I trained a little more with the aim of doing the classics.

Merlier finished second, and Eritrea's Binyam Girmay appeared to be third, but was disqualified. So Axel Zengel offers one position. The best Dutchman was Casper van Ouden in sixth place. Juan Ayuso, who won Monday's opening time trial, remained in the leaders' jersey.

For Flipsen, who achieved the largest number of victories this season last year (nineteen), this was the first victory in 2024.

This is how the classification stands: