Tirreno-Adriatico: Strong effort puts Masnada into seventh overall

Race report | Wednesday 09 September 2020 - 17:08

Italian rider makes a significant jump in the general classification.

A very long and undulating stage was on cards Wednesday at Tirreno-Adriatico, taking on a rolling course that featured two ascents of the Poggio Murella climb before the finish in Saturnia, a small Tuscan town renowned for its hot springs and first settled by the pre-Classical Greek people, followed by the Etruscans and then by the Romans.

Once again, the breakaway dominated the day, but their adventure came to an end on the last hill of the day, where Florian Sénéchal was the first to attack, a move that brought him a ten-second gap over a peloton that began to fragment on the double-digit gradients which were taking its toll with each meter ticked off.

On the 21% slopes the big moves came, and when this happened, Fausto Masnada was there for Deceuninck – Quick-Step, part of a select ten-man group that got clear. Over the top of the excruciating Poggio Murella, two riders opened up a gap which they then carried all the way to the finish, where Michael Woods (EF Education) prevailed. Making his first stage race appearance for the Wolfpack, Masnada put in several turns to limit the deficit and even threw in a pair of accelerations, before crossing the line in eighth place, 20 seconds down on the winner.

Three stages into Tirreno-Adriatico, the Bergamo native is Deceuninck – Quick-Step’s highest-placed rider in the general classification, in seventh place, having shown some strong legs just two days before the mountain top finish to Sarnano-Sassotetto.

 

Photo credit: ©Justin Setterfield / Getty Images

Race details

1 Michael Woods
EF Pro Cycling
5:19:46
2 Rafał Majka
BORA - hansgrohe
0:01
3 Wilco Kelderman
Team Sunweb
0:20
4 Patrick Konrad
BORA - hansgrohe
0:20
5 Aleksandr Vlasov
Astana Pro Team
0:20
6 Sergio Henao Montoya
UAE Team Emirates
0:20
7 Tanel Kangert
EF Pro Cycling
0:20
8 Fausto Masnada
Deceuninck - Quick Step
0:20
9 Jakob Fuglsang
Astana Pro Team
0:20
10 Geraint Thomas
INEOS Grenadiers
0:20
21 James Knox
Deceuninck - Quick Step
0:33
55 Florian Sénéchal
Deceuninck - Quick Step
4:09
100 Davide Ballerini
Deceuninck - Quick Step
13:22
111 Bert Van Lerberghe
Deceuninck - Quick Step
18:22
123 Stijn Steels
Deceuninck - Quick Step
20:19
125 Iljo Keisse
Deceuninck - Quick Step
20:19

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