The route of the 2024 Tirreno-Adriatico has been announced by RCS Sport, with seven days of racing combining several sprints and hilly days as well as an opening 10km time trial and a summit finish atop Monte Petrano.
The race follows largely the same formula as the past two editions, kicking off with a short, flat time trial in Lido di Camaiore on Italy's western coast in Tuscany before winding eastwards towards a penultimate day mountain stage and then the final sprint day in the city of San Benedetto del Tronto in Marche.
Monte Petrano is undoubtedly the highlight of the week of racing, rounding out the 180km stage 6 and appearing on a race route for the first time since the 2009 Giro d'Italia, where Carlos Sastre took the win ahead of Denis Menchov and Danilo Di Luca.
The stage, which is up and down all day before the challenging 10.1m, 8.1% ascent, should be the spot which decides the general classification of the 59th edition of the race. Jonas Vingegaard will no doubt be the top favourite for glory on the slopes of Monte Petrano.
The opening day on March 4 features the same seaside time trial used in the past two years, with Filippo Ganna set to take aim at his third win in a row on the out-and-back course in Lido di Camaiore.
The short TT is the opener to 1,115km of racing across central Italy, with a sprint stage to come the following day as the peloton takes on 198km from Camaiore to Follonica and a flat finish.
Stage 3 is the longest of the race at 220km and a rising finish in Gualdo Taldino. The 4% gradient of the finishing straight will put off some sprinters, though expect another large group coming to the line.
Giulianova hosts the fourth stage, another long one at 207km and a day which also features the high point of the week, the early climb of the 1,521-metre Valico di Castelluccio. The remainder of the stage is less challenging, however, it does conclude with a hilly finale and a 4.5% rise to the finish line.
Stage 5, a 146km run from Torricella Sicura to Valle Castellana, figures to be the second-toughest of the race behind the queen stage at Monte Petrano. The roads rise and fall all day, and the major climb of the stage – San Giacomo (12km at 6.2%) – at 24km from the finish will play a major part in the outcome of the day, which concludes with a 7% final kilometre.
The riders tackle Monte Petrano the next day, with the summit finish taking the place of Sassotetto, Monte Carpegna, and Prato di Tivo as the big mountain test of the race. Several smaller climbs and hills punctuate the bulk of the 180km day, though the action will be focussed within the final 10km.
The closing stage of Tirreno-Adriatico 2024 falls on March 10, taking the riders on an uncomplicated 154km run around San Benedetto del Tronto on the Adriatic coast. Jasper Philipsen and Phil Bauhaus have taken wins on the pan-flat finishing circuit in the past two editions and another mass sprint is expected to close out the race next spring.
"As in past editions, it promises to be an enthralling and spectacular Tirreno-Adriatico, full of great stars who have made the Race of the Two Seas the most prestigious one-week stage race in the world," said RCS Sport head of cycling Mauro Vegni.
"Both stages and the general classification are the territories of riders who play an outstanding and leading role throughout the season, from the Classics to the three-week races. All these conditions create great interest and ensure that there is a moment of enormous visibility for the territories, also thanks to the live TV broadcast planned globally."
