Place Name: P.Za Giacomo Matteotti
Address: P.Za Giacomo Matteotti 15, 55041 Camaiore Lucca, Italy
Details: March 9, 2026
As is tradition, the 61st Tirreno-Adriatico kicks off seven days of action in Lido di Camaiore for a race against the clock. The 11.5KM course couldn't be more straightforward. In previous years, the organizers have had the riders go around four corners of a city block to head back to the finish line. This year however, it's straight up the beach, a 180 degree turn and a return trip back to the finish. Pure time trialists always shine here but GC riders in good form will be in contention as well. The gaps won't be huge but they will determine the pecking order for the stages to come. Being so short, the speeds will be high and we'll likely see 25 riders within 30 seconds of the best placed GC rider with the stage favorite, Filippo Ganna, potentially taking the win by 10-15 seconds given his form so far this season.
GC riders to watch this week: Antonio Tiberi, Santiago Buitrago, Magnus Sheffield, Giulio Ciccone, Lennert Van Eetvelt, Jai Hindley, Giulio Pellizzari, Primož Roglič, Matteo Jorgenson, Michael Storer
Sprinters to watch this week: Jasper Philipsen, Tobias Lund Andresen, Sam Welsford, Jonathan Milan, Arnaud De Lie, Oded Kogut, Corbin Strong, Paul Magnier, Pavel Bittner, Wout van Aert, Giovanni Lonardi, Danny van Poppel
Opening stage contenders: Filippo Ganna, Ethan Hayter
It was a near perfect day with crystal clear skies shining down on the turquois blue water of the Tyrrhenian Sea with the Northern range of the Apeninnes in the background. After the first 40 minutes of the race, Alan Hatherly of Jayco AlUla was in the hot seat with the GC and top stage favorites still to come. The first of the GC favorites out of the gate was Isaac del Toro of UAE-XRG who was 6 seconds up on Hatherly at the intermediate but, like so many others, faded in the second half and finished 6 seconds down on the South African.
The first rider to eclipse Hatherly was Magnus Sheffield of Ineos who bettered the time by 4 seconds but only 1 minute later, Max Walscheid of Lidl-Trek sprinted to the line and finished on the same time as Sheffield. When the time was broken down further, Walscheid was up by less than half of one second to take the provisional lead. Ineos had more cards up their sleeves however and put Thymen Arensman in the top spot, 4 seconds fast than Walscheid with their Ace yet to start.
The overwhelming favorite of the day was Filippo Ganna of Ineos and he did not disappoint. The Italian ITT Champion set the best intermediate time by 3 seconds but the second half was a tri-colore blur. Ganna crossed the line 22 seconds faster than Arensman and took the stage win and the first leader's jersey with an average speed of 56.868KM/HR. Arensman hung on for second place with Walscheid in for third.
Nearly all of the GC contenders finished within 30 seconds of Sheffield, the best placed potential GC rider, with the exception of Richard Carapaz of EF-Education EasyPost. The Ecuadorian struggled to the finish and was 50 seconds down on the American.
Tags: Tirreno-Adriatico, 2026, Tirreno-Adriatico 2026, Stage 1, March, ITT, Lido di Camaiore, Alan Hatherly, Magnus Sheffield, Max Walscheid, Thymen Arensman, Filippo Ganna