Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious) has captured a crash-marred stage 3 of Tirreno Adriatico, a rugged 225-kilometre trek between Volterra and Gualdo Tadino, with stage 2 winner Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceunink) one of the fallers within sight of the line.
Second on the draggy uphill rise to the finish was Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek), with Kevin Vauquelin (Arkea-B&B) in third.
After a pronounced acceleration by EF Education-EasyPost on the one classified climb of the day, the Casacatalda, shrinking the bunch to some 80 riders and denting a lot of riders ambitions.
Even as the slope reared again in the closing kilometres, Philipsen remained stubbornly close to the front, but a crash on a sweeping left-hand bend left him on the ground and out of contention.
Bauhaus’ victory, Bahrain’s first WorldTour win of the season, came after he swept past Vauquelin and remained unaware, he said later, of around six riders falling in two separate incidents just behind.
Milan did his utmost to regain contact in the closing metres, only for the German sprinter to maintain a painfully narrow but sufficient gap at the line.
“When I checked the profile, it was pretty much on the limit for me,” Bauhaus, the winner of Tirreno’s last stage in 2022, said afterwards. I was suffering on the last climb, but the team believed in me. Yesterday [Tuesday] evening, they said, 'It’s a good chance for you.'
“Into the last kilometre, I was in perfect position, and luckily, I had the legs to do a good sprint. I’m super happy to have my first win this year.”
Stage 1 winner Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) maintained his overall lead for a third day, although Milan’s third place saw him take four seconds back on the Spaniard and oust Ayuso from the overall lead in the points ranking as well.
How it unfolded
A very chilly start to the day in Volterra greeted the riders, with gusts of snow and freezing rain dampening the startline atmosphere. But that didn’t stop Jan Stöckli (Corratec-Vini-Fantini) from quickly making a move for the second day running, and he was joined in the break by Samuele Zoccarato (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè.)
The duo’s gap yawned open to over 11 minutes at a maximum, notably more than the highwater mark of five minutes conceded to the more powerful four-man break of the day on stage 2. But once again, even the two Italians’ bigger advantage could not stop the gap from slowly curling downwards again as the stage moved into its second, critical half.
Neither of the two breakaways bothered to waste any energy fighting it out at the stage’s one intermediate sprint, with Neilsen Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) snatching the final second on offer for third place. As the rain teemed down intermittently, an exhausted Stöckli was, in any case, unable to continue ahead for much longer, dropping back to the bunch with 80 kilometres to go.
Even as they approached the one classified ascent of the day, the gently rising Casacatalda and his breakaway moved towards its fifth hour, Zoccarato still remained out front, his jaw sagging slightly with the effort as he pushed on to the grim end. However, the relentless upward grind of the seven-kilometre ascent, combined with a notable step up in pace in the pack and the tough conditions in the first half of the stage, all but forced Zoccarato to throw in the towel.
A line of pink-clad EF Education-Easy Post then made their presence known, with James Shaw and, above all, Richard Carapaz putting in a fine effort.
Race leader Ayuso seemed to handle the pace without excessive difficulty, though, and as Carapaz roared over the summit in first place, pre-race GC favourite Vingegaard slotted into fourth in the line - as if to remind the unsettled, strung-out bunch that he remained very much part of the overall game.
The peloton swelled notably on the fast descent, only for EF Education to reopen the throttle on the draggy final climb to the finish. Yet the sight of Jasper Philipsen taking off his rain jacket at the end of a line of three more Alpecin-Deceunink riders as they edged to the front on the lefthand side of the road, made it clear that a bunch sprint, albeit of some 80 riders at most, could be on the cards.
Alpecin’s determined bid to keep any late attackers from going clear succeeded completely, and although Israel-Premier Tech made it even harder at the front in the last kilometre, with Philipsen sitting on wheel five of the line, it was clear who remained the reference point. Philipsen moved up again in the last 500 metres, only for various riders, including himself, to fall and skid at speed into the barriers on the lefthand curve, giving Bauhaus an even clearer run home and his first victory of the season.
Stage 4 from Arrone to Giulianova, at 207 kilometres, is slightly shorter than Tuesday’s stage, with one key defining element early on being the toughest ascent in the race so far, the 25-kilometre Valico di Castelluccio. However, though such a major ascent may see a large break go from the gun, there’s no telling whether the lumpy second half will be hilly enough to keep the sprinters from getting their third chance of victory at Tirreno-Adriatico in four days.
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