Julian Alaphilippe will show his rainbow stripes this week at the “Race of the Two Seas”.
Three stages that the sprinters will just love, two for the puncheurs (with the one in Castelfidardo standing out with its excruciating gradients), a summit finish on Prati di Tivo (14.5km, 7%) – back in the race after an eight-year hiatus – and the traditional flat individual time trial in San Benedetto del Tronto will make up the course of the 56th Tirreno-Adriatico, which takes place between 10-16 March.
Last weekend, Julian Alaphilippe was again one of the protagonists at Strade Bianche, staying true to his character and putting in an offensive display on the white gravel roads on his way to finishing on the podium. The UCI World Champion will continue his Italian campaign at Tirreno-Adriatico, a race where he captured two stage victories at his debut in 2019, part of a versatile Deceuninck – Quick-Step team which won’t be short of options.
Davide Ballerini, who so far this season has racked up three victories, including Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, will be back in action after a puncture scuppered his chances of featuring in the Strade Bianche finale, with Danish Champion Kasper Asgreen, João Almeida and Zdenek Stybar joining him from the team that took on Tuscany’s dirt roads on Saturday. The squad for the “Race of the Two Seas” will be rounded out by Alvaro Hodeg and Bert Van Lerberghe.
“We had a solid weekend of racing in Italy and we don’t want to stop. We come to the start of Tirreno-Adriatico with a team comprising many riders who know this race, a solid team that is capable of fighting on all fronts and has the desire to rack up more good results. The race has a bit of everything for everyone and we hope to make an impact on the stages and display the same Wolfpack spirit that has helped us amass eight victories so far since the start of the season”, said sports director Davide Bramati.
