Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) sixth and third stage winner in a row and fly to final victory

Slovenian Primoz Roglic won his third consecutive stage in Tirreno-Adriatico on Saturday, and took the final victory, on the eve of the final stage on Sunday, contested on a flat course. Roglic reinforced his leader’s blue jersey by running around with a small group of tough guys on the cobbled streets on the heights of Osimo Village. Britain’s Tao Geoghegan Hart finished second, ahead of Portugal’s Joao Almeida.

This sixth stage, with the false air of the Ardennes classic, presented the peloton with 193 km cut by several not very long “walls” but with proportions of more than 10%, even 15% in some places. Jumbo-Visma, Roglic’s team, was clearly aiming for a stage victory: the yellow jerseys had worked for a long time not to slip away from the eleven riders who started too early.

Roglic, Power and Control

Once the escapees were recovered, 40 km from the goal, Wout Van Aert worked his captain Roglic, before letting go on the last difficulty. But the Slovenian himself dominated all his opponents to secure victory. Roglic was ahead of the goal line in Britain’s Osimo Tao Geoghegan Hart and Portugal’s Joao Almeida. The Portuguese settles for second on the podium of the year (at 19s) and the Briton third (at 23in), and Thibaut Pinot, tenth at 1’11, is the French first.

“It was a very tough day but I had a great team’ said the Slovenian at the end, after running a small group of eight strong men at the top of Osimo village, at the end of a scenic but formidable climb up the cobbled fairways.It’s crazy to win 3 stages. In the end it was very tactical and complicated, and there were a lot of riders who (generally) stood up in a few secondsexplained the Jumbo-Visma rider, who is back in competition this week.

Barring an accident, the “Bahrain Race” is a winner. Sunday’s final stage, a 154km loop around San Benedetto del Tronto, presents a flat profile and should be reserved for sprinters.