While Jasper Philipsen had time to look back at his rivals and then celebrate his first win of 2024, every other sprinter at this year’s Tirreno-Adriatico could only regret what went wrong and left them several bike lengths behind the Belgian in Follonica.
Tim Merlier (Soudal-Quick Step) was second but had huge regrets about his late decision to dive into the final corner with 350 metres to go. He ended up leading out Philipsen and gifted him the win.
Biniam Gimay (Intermarché-Wanty) crossed the line in third place but was soon relegated to 134th on the stage, at the back of the peloton, for squeezing Alex Zingle (Cofidis) along the barriers. He was also hit with a 500 Swiss franc fine.
The likes of Caleb Ewan (Jayco-AlUla), Corbin Strong (Israel-Premier Tech), Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious) and Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) were all outside of the top eight on the stage. Miln was also given a warning by the UCI commissaires for ‘intimidation directed at a rider’.
Mark Cavendish was not able to even contest the sprint after puncturing with 25km to go at the start of the finishing circuit.
He tried to chase back on the team but the UCI commissaires applied a ‘barrage’, holding back the team car and forcing the Manxman to chase in the wind with a teammate. He finished 171st and stopped to tell a commissaire his thoughts on their decision.
Philipsen was piloted by trusted lead-out man Jonas Rickaert, who ensured he was well-placed before the right turn with 350 metres to go. He then took full advantage of Merlier's decision to dive down the inside and then lead out the sprint.
“It seemed like he was doing a lead out…” Philipsen said of Merlier.
“There was still 300 metres to go, and so I knew that if I took his wheel, I’d have a good chance of overtaking him.”
Merlier was not happy with the outcome of the sprint. “It was a really hectic, crazy bunch in the final,” he lamented.
“We followed position but we were a bit too far back in the last kilometre, so before the last corner I went all in and then tried from far. But I was on the inside of the corner and so lost speed. It was too early but I gave it a try but I was second this time.
“For the moment, I haven’t finished out of the top three in sprints, so I can be happy with my shape. I’m looking forward to more sprints.”
The 225km third stage is from the hilltop town of Volterra to Gualdo Tadino and cuts across Tuscany via Siena into Umbria on rolling country roads. The gradual climb to Casacastalda could hurt some sprinters, with the final three kilometres coming up to the centre of the village at 2.3%.
Philipsen will surely be the rider to beat yet again.
