A strong breakaway made the 7th and final stage of the 2024 Tirreno – Adriatico the fastest ever in the 58 year history of the race, with an average speed of 47.178kph, and it came down to a bunch sprint in San Benedetto del Tronto.
Young gun Jonathan Milan won by a small margin over veteran Alexander Kristoff while Davide Cimolai crossed the line in third place. Milan also won the points classification. There was no change in the overall ranking as Jonas Vingegaard, Juan Ayuso, and Jai Hindley shared the honors of the final podium, Vingegaard being also the king of the mountains and Ayuso the best young rider.
Jonas Vingegaard, the winner of the 59th Tirreno-Adriatico Crédit Agricole, said: “It was a very hard stage to finish with. The sprinters had to chase very hard to go for the win and they did so. Luckily the team kept me out of trouble again and we were able to keep this beautiful jersey and this beautiful trophy. The trident is one of the nicest and most iconic trophies in cycling. It’s the perfect one for a former fisherman like me! I’m really happy to add it to my collection. Tirreno-Adriatico is now one of the biggest victories I have in my career. I’m very happy to have taken two stages and the overall victory. I definitely like racing in Italy. I really like the country, the food, everything basically. I won’t rule out to try and win the Giro d’Italia as well one year”.
Speaking in the press conference, the stage winner Jonathan Milan said: “We started Tirreno-Adriatico with a field of very good sprinters so it’s a real satisfaction to go away with with two stage wins and the Maglia Ciclamino. My teammates have done a great job, all the guys before Simone [Consonni] led me out. He’s been impeccable. In a stage race, there are always moments in which we make mistakes but we always try to improve. We lost each other in the lead out of the first sprint but we rode well as a team to get these two wins. Now we’ll start a sequence of classics, starting with Milano-Sanremo with a very strong team. Jasper Stuyven and Mads Pedersen are in great condition and we’ll look at supporting them the best we can. I like Milano-Sanremo very much. Time will tell if I can try and win it one day”.
Maglia Bianca Juan Ayuso said: “It would have been nice to defend the Maglia Ciclamino but when you have only one point ahead of Jonathan Milan in a stage that is made for him, better not… To have won the teams’ classification shows that we have a strong and solid team. The team was fully focused on helping me. It was nice to compare myself to some of the best climbers in the world. I’m still not there but this week shows that I’m in the right direction to be there one day”.
Stage 7 Results:
- Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) – 154 km in 3h15’51” average speed 47.179 km/h
- Alexander Kristoff (Uno-X Mobility) s.t.
- Davide Cimolai (Movistar Team) s.t.
Final General Classification:
- Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma | Lease a Bike)
- Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) at 1’24”
- Jai Hindley (Bora – Hansgrohe) at 1’52
Jerseys:
The leader jerseys of the 59th Tirreno-Adriatico Crédit Agricole are designed by SPORTFUL
- Maglia Azzurra, leader of the General Classification, sponsored by Italia.it – Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma | Lease a Bike)
- Maglia Ciclamino, leader of the Points Classification, sponsored by madeinitaly.gov.it – Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek)
- Maglia Verde, leader of the Gran Premio della Montagna Classification, sponsored by Trenitalia – Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma | Lease a Bike)
- Maglia Bianca, Best Young Rider Classification, born after 1 January 1999, sponsored by Crédit Agricole – Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates)
UAE Team Emirates has won the Teams Classification
Statistics:
- Jonas Vingegaard is the second Danish winner of Tirreno-Adriatico after Rolf Sorensen (1987, 1992).
- At 21 years 5 months and 23 days Juan Ayuso (2nd) is the youngest rider on the final podium since Thomas Dekker won the 2006 edition at 21 years 6 months and 8 days.
- Jai Hindley is the 3rd Australian on the final podium after Cadel Evans (3rd in 2010, winner in 2011) and Rohan Dennis (2nd in 2017).
- Isaac Del Toro, 4th on GC, is the second Mexican in the final top-10 after Raul Alcalà, 3rd in 1991 and 2nd in 1992.
At 47.179 kph, this was the fastest ever stage in Tirreno-Adriatico’s history, beating the record of 45.946 kph, by Greg Van Avermaet in Cepagatti, 2016. - Jonathan Milan is the first Italian with 2 bunch sprint wins in one edition of the Tirreno-Adriatico since Paolo Bettini in 2006 (stage 1 and 2).
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