Tirreno-Adriatico 2025 Stage 2

March 11, 2025 There are a few bumps on the 192KM road to Follonica but nothing that should stop the sprinters from having a crack at a bunch finish. Manuele Tarozzi of VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè was the lone, brave attacker on the day. He had 4 minutes 30 seconds on the peloton, but with 125KM to go and a flat run to the finish, his time time in the front would be numbered. Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier of Lidl-Trek and Steven Kruijswijk of Visma-Lease a Bike were pace setting in the bunch as they rolled along through lush fields of green, a true sign that Spring is arriving. Tarozzi took 3 seconds at the Intermediate Sprint point with 80KM to go. The peloton were interested in the remaining 2 and 1 seconds available. UAE-XRG rode a full lead out for Juan Ayuso but it was Jonathan Milan of Lidl-Trek that grabbed second for 2 seconds leaving Ayuso with just 1. The gap went down to 50 seconds after the sprint and Davide Bais and Alessandro Tonelli of Polti-VisitMalta went on the attack to bridge to Tarozzi with 78KM to go. Bais and Tonelli caught Tarozzi with 73.5KM to go, 6KM before the only KOM of the day. Tonelli was first to attack Tarozzi for the mountains points, 1.5KM from the top. Tarozzi clawed his way back but Bais countered with 550M to the top which was one effort too much for Tarozzi to respond to. The three leaders were eventually caught, bringing the race all back together. With 38KM to go, Pepijn Reinderink of Soudal Quickstep and David Gaudu of Groupama-FDJ came down in the feed zone after a touch wheels. Reinderink was able to get back up but Gaudu unfortunately had to abandon. With 27KM to go, the pace in the bunch increased as they were entering the one lap circuit around Follonica. Ineos put a lot of pressure on through the twisting streets and the relatively open stretches outside of Follonica. The bunch was stretched in single file and anyone at the back would be working extremely hard to stay in contact. The bunch was storming toward the finish with Lidl-Trek, Uno-X Mobility, and Picnic-PostNL having the most resources near the front under 3KM to go. Soudal Quickstep took over and led until 1.3KM to go when Lidl-Trek started their lead out with intent. They had the numbers so the fight was to get on Jonathan Milan's wheel. Simone Consonni led Milan through the all important final corner 350M from the line. Consonni took so much speed through the corner that no one had a chance to challenge Milan when he went with 225M to go. The position through the last corner was pivotal as second through fourth all finished in the same position that they took the turn in with Maikel Zijlaard of Tudor Pro Cycling in second, Paul Penhoët of Groupama-FDJ in third, and Olav Kooij of Visma-Lease a Bike in fourth. Consonni did such a good job in the lead out that he came across in fifth place.