Tirreno-Adriatico

Wednesday was a rain-lashed day at the Italian race, which scheduled the longest stage of this year: 239 kilometers from Follonica to Colfiorito. The route was peppered with a couple of classified climbs, including an 18km one that concluded just four kilometers from the finish, and all these only added to the difficulty of the stage. It goes without saying that the peloton didn’t have any problems in bringing back the two breakaways of the day, the last of which was caught on Colle di San Lorenzo.

Despite the many attacks that came as the peloton crested the summit of the final climb and a couple of last-ditch attempts in the last kilometer, it eventually came down to a reduced bunch sprint won by Andrea Vendrame (Decathlon AG2R) after almost six hours and a half from the start.

Mattia Cattaneo was the first Soudal Quick-Step rider to cross the line, together with the small peloton, and the experienced Italian – who started the day seventh on the overall ranking of his home race – made a jump of two places thanks to his solid ride. Cattaneo is now fifth, just a couple of seconds off the podium, ahead of the hilly stage to Trasacco, a small town in the Bruzzo region.

Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele / Getty Images