Michael Valgren (EF Education EasyPost) won stage 5 of Tirreno-Adriatico. The Danish classic specialist took off out of the breakaway with one lap of the finishing circuit left to ride in the hilly 187km stage from Marotta-Mondolfo to Mombaroccio. Only Julian Alaphilippe could stay with him. On the final climb, Valgren attacked opened up a gap, grinding up horrendous slopes to the summit at the Santuario Beato Sante, no one was going to stop him. He took his first victory since 2021.
“It was a really hard start with a lot of attacks, and I bridged across and we worked really well together. In the end, I thought I had good legs all day and Julian came with me, and we worked well together. In the end, it was such a hard day. We were pushing all day and I just had amazing legs and luck.”
-Michael Valgren
Look back…
Tirreno-Adriatico 1986: Luciano Rabbottini (Vini Ricordi Pinarello), the unexpected winner of the 1986 Tirreno-Adriatico escaping alongside Palmiro Masciarelli (GIS) during stage 1. He won the stage and took the lead, never to relinquish it.
Harold Tejada (XDS Astana) showed his grit to take victory in stage 6 of Paris-Nice.The Colombian climber counter-attacked over the top of the Cote de Saignon, summited inside the final 5 kilometres. Tejada flew to XDS Astana’s second victory after Max Kanter stage 2 victory, French national champion Dorian Godon (Ineos) took second ahead of Lewis Askey (NSN).
“It’s a very emotional moment for me, my first World Tour win for the team, and it comes from lots of perseverance. It’s Hugh for me to win in Paris-Nice, a race of high calibre with riders such as Jonas, Dani. I’m delighted to raise my arms.”
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