The 22-year-old Mexican wrested the lead right back on Friday, when he finished second to the valiant Micheal Valgren (EF Education–EasyPost), the only rider remaining from a long breakaway, who managed to hold off the late charge by del Toro and Visma–Lease a Bike’s Matteo Jorgenson to take his first WorldTour win in eight years. “It’s unbelievable,” the 34-year-old Dane said. “We all work so hard for this…. I just had a baby one month ago, and so it’s for [the family], and for the team. I’m speechless.”
Del Toro won only one stage, that was Saturday’s stage 6, which included three ascents of the short, steep Camerino (2.7km @ 9.5%, with ramps of 20 and 22%) in the final 60km, including the climb to the summit finish. Jorgenson and teammate Wout van Aert tried everything to crack the young Mexican on that final ascent, and there were attacks by Pellizzari, his teammate Primož Roglič, Ben Healey (EF-Education–EasyPost), Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) and others, but del Toro simply bided his time, waited until the final 700 meters to launch his attack and easily won the stage, with Halland Johannessen and Jorgenson finishing second and third, 3 seconds adrift.
Del Toro’s final winning margin was 40 seconds over Jorgenson and 42 seconds Pellizzari – a win that was neither flashy nor dominant; it was only inevitable.
The irresistible van der Poel
Who is the best all-around male cyclist in the world? Many people say that it is Tadej Pogačar, and they have a very good argument. But I suspect that it is Alpecin–Premier Tech’s Mathieu van der Poel. I came to that opinion after watching him win stages 2 and 4 of the race. In stage 2, the eight-time cyclocross world champion had to dig very deep to outkick del Toro and Pellizzari. Two days later he survived four classified climbs and 2,700 meters of climbing and was part of a select group led by van Aert and Jorgenson up the final climb, the Tortereto (1.5km at 8.4%), 12.5km from the line.
On the flat, 4km from the finish, Jorgenson attacked, was caught and then led the group into the final kilometer. Riding in support of del Toro, Jan Christen attacked at 800 meters and was chased down by van Aert. More attacks followed, including by Filippo Ganna (INEOS Grenadiers) with 500 meters left to ride. And all the while van der Poel kept his cool, finally surging to the front 250 meters from the line and holding off Pellizzari and Halland Johannessen. They didn’t have a chance; no one had a chance. I don’t think anyone can beat van der Poel on his terrain and in the form he’s in, not even Tadej Pogačar. He is now, at age 31, better than ever and (virtually) unbeatable when riding seriously for the win.
For good measure, he was in front of and driving the peloton on much of the ascent of the only climb (8.4km @ 4.6%) of Sunday’s stage 7 in an attempt to drop rivals to Alpecin–Premier Tech’s sprinter, Jasper Philipsen. And he kept riding in front, on what looked to be an extended training ride, when the group hit the flats. Unfortunately, he dropped Philipsen and most of the sprinters on the climb, but they caught up with 65km left to ride, and van der Poel finally gave it a rest. (For more on Philipsen, see below.)
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Where is Wout van Aert at?
It was strange watching Wout van Aert riding in the service of Jorgenson on a stage he would have fancied three years ago, before injuries and what appeared to be a loss of confidence reduced his effectiveness. Late last year, he announced that he would target the cobbled Paris-Roubaix and Tour of Flanders this year, races he has not yet won. Flanders takes place on April 5 and Paris-Roubaix comes a week later. That gives him three weeks to reach top shape because he will face either Pogačar or van der Poel – or both! – in these races.
From the evidence of his performance in this Tirreno-Adriatico, he has a way to go before he reaches that level. On Saturday’s tough stage, he stayed with the GC group until the final ascent of the Camerino, where he attacked from the bottom of the climb to give Jorgenson a platform. But the attack was short-lived and the Belgian soon retired to the side of the road, eventually finishing 21st, 3:05 behind del Toro.
“We took our chance. I think Matteo is just a little short,” he told Sporza. We wanted to make a bid for the overall victory. Our goal was to isolate del Toro, and that worked out pretty well. But the final climb was so difficult that it came down to a man-to-man battle. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much we could do tactically.”
His next race is in Milan–San Remo, which will no doubt be another training and learning ride. “It’s hard to simulate this in training,” he said. “Here, the pace is set by someone else, and you have to respond to breakaways. . . . There have been a few stages where I could do my thing. I’ve come close to victory. I’m satisfied with how I feel, but patience is a virtue.”
I have always been a fan of the Belgian’s, but watching both him and van der Poel ride in this race, I have to say that I can’t see how he will defeat him in the Tour of Flanders or Paris-Roubaix. He has yet to win a race this year, though he came close in stage 4, but started his sprint much too soon and finished a well-beaten fifth behind van der Poel. But I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
Not much for sprinters
This Tirreno has not been a feast for lovers of the bunch sprint, about which I have mixed feelings. However, I am an admirer of Lidl-Trek’s Jonathan Milan and his head-bobbing powerful attacks in the final stretch of a stage or one-day race. But sometimes he thinks that he is the sprinting version of Superman. Why else would he begin a sprint as early as he did on stage 2? The sprint was slightly uphill, and Milan either underestimated the gradient or overestimated his strength, for he was caught and passed by no fewer than six riders, some of whom he would usually have for breakfast.
The inevitable sprint in the final stage was marred by a crash in a curve 2.4km from the finish, which took down Philipsen and held up other sprinters, such as Paul Magnier (Soudal Quick-Step). That opened the door for Milan, who was riding ahead of the crash, and he raced right through it, winning the final-stage Tirreno sprint for the third year in a row, ahead of Sam Welsford (INEOS Grenadiers) and Laurent Rex (Soudal Quick-Step).
Final General Classification 2026 Tirreno-Adriatico
- Isaac del Toro, UAE Team Emirates–XRG 28:02:14
- Matteo Jorgenson, Visma–Lease a Bike +0:42
- Giulio Pellizzari, Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe +0:43
- Tobias Halland Johannessen, Uno-X Mobility +1:14
- Primož Roglič, Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe +1:21
- Giulio Ciccone, Lidl-Trek +1:26
- Santiago Buitrago, Bahrain Victorious +1:49
- Ben Healey, EF-Education–EasyPost +1:55
- Magnus Sheffield, INEOS Grenadiers +2:02
- Alessandro Pinarello, NSN Cycling +2:06
