Place Name: Via San Matteo
Address: Via San Matteo 1, 53037 San Gimignano Siena, Italy
Details: March 10, 2026
The riders head out of Camaoire for the first road stage on a 206KM trek to the UNESCO site at San Gimignano. The first 120KM offers a gentle introduction to racing as the course heads South along the coast on perfectly flat terrain. Once in San Pietro in Palazzi, the route takes the riders inland through Casino di Terra and Ponteginori and into the hills of Tuscany. The first climb of the day to Pomarance is uncategorized but, after 8.4KM at 3.5%, there is an intermediate sprint with 3, 2, and 1 bonus seconds on offer. A short descent leads into more climbing, this time to the categorized Castelnuovo Val di Cecina, a 9.7KM rise at 3.3% with the last 1,700M spiking up to 9%. A few short climbs follow, each around 5.5%, leading the riders to the village of Colle Val d'Elsa and the finale of the stage. The final 6.5KM of the day rise up to San Gimignano in two steps. The first is 1,200M at 7.6% and is entirely on the sterrato gravel roads. The gravel continues over a short flat section and then turns to pavement for the last 1,300M which rises at 7.1% to the line. The finale is curated purely for the Classics riders with a few punchy climbs back to back and a little gravel to add to the excitement. The stage has Mathieu van der Poel written all over it.
Arm warmers were common among the riders at the start with a cooler, more overcast day forecasted ahead. Four riders got away immediately as the flag dropped with Manuele Tarozzi of Bardiani CSF 7 Saber, Joan Bou of Caja Rural-Seguros RGA, Alessandro Iacchi of Solution Tech NIPPO Rali, and Diego Pablo Sevilla of Polti-VisitMalta. They had a maximum lead of 3 minutes and still had nearly all of that with 109KM remaining. In the peloton, Visma-Lease a Bike were working along with Alpecin-Premier Tech and Ineos who all had ambitions for the stage win.
The bunch rolled through the beautifully green, rolling Tuscan landscape alongside the Cecina River and terracotta tiled villas. The hills arrived with 79KM to go but it was still Jack Haig of Ineos, Silvan Dillier of Alpecin-Premier Tech, and Steven Kruijswijk of Visma-Lease a Bike pulling the bunch on the lower slopes up to Pomarance. Iacchi took the uncontested sprint for maximum points in Pomarance with 70KM to go. The peloton was still relaxed and maintained a very manageable gap under 2 minutes.
Nuclear stacks peppered the valley below on the ascent of the Castelnuovo Val di Cecina as drops of rain started to come down making the surface glisten and sheen. The pace in the bunch quickened which threatened the prospect of the break taking the Mountains Points. Sevilla sprang forward 500M from the top but he was pursued by Bou. Sevilla had enough power to kick one last time to lift him to the line first to take maximum points. Just 40 seconds later, the peloton came charging over the top to position for the descent which was dappled with wet spots.
Fortunately, there were no issues on the downhill. Ineos descended at a reasonable pace but it was quick enough to close the final few seconds on the break who were caught with 39KM to go. Ineos bossed the peloton by lining up with their entire team on the front but other teams used the ramp up to the hilltop town of Casole d'Else to improve their position. By the top with 24KM to go, Visma-Lease a Bike, NSN Cycling, UAE-XRG, and Decathlon CMA CGM were all battling for their spot on the road.
Rain returned in the last 17KM and the road was thoroughly soaked. The intensity ramped up with 12KM to go to position for the downhill into a sharp left turn into the gravel sector. Race leader, Filippo Ganna of Ineos, took the front of the peloton by force to lead his teammates and the following peloton safely down the hill. It was a mad scramble to make the turn in a good position and many of the teammates of the pre-race favorites did their part to ensure their leaders were at the front.
The first to hit the serrato was Julian Alaphilippe of Tudor Pro Cycling. Mathieu van der Poel of Alpecin-Premier Tech followed but not for long. The Dutchman went to the front and put the power down as if he was riding over the cobbles of the Muur van Geraardsbergen. Matteo Jorgenson of Visma-Lease a Bike and Isaac del Toro of UAE-XRG were the only ones to be able to hold his wheel on the rough, freshly laid, gravel track. Through an uphill left bend, Jorgenson's rear wheel spun out from under him and he went down. Unfortunately for del Toro, there was nowhere for him to go and he was temporarily help up.
Del Toro recovered well and with 5KM to go, he was just 5 seconds behind van der Poel and had Giulio Pellizzari of Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe for company. Del Toro and Pellizzari were able to come back to van der Poel on a short gravel descent to make three in the lead with 4KM to go. Del Toro decided to take the lead and hit the gas every chance he could when the road went up. The three riders were together when the gravel went to pavement with 1,400M to go. Del Toro had the GC in mind and decided to just ride on the front to create as much of a gap to other contenders as possible. Inside 300M to go, the group crossed under the old ramparts of San Gimignano and the surface changed to wet, large paving stones. Pellizzari launched first at 200M but it was a long way to go up the line. Van der Poel was on the wheel but struggled to come around. Only in the last 100M did van der Poel take the lead. Van der Poel made one last effort to seal the victory and hit the line first to take his second win of the season. Del Toro had enough in the tank to pip Pellizzari for second place and 6 bonus seconds with Pellizzari taking 4 seconds.
In the chase, second overall, Thymen Arensman of Ineos, crashed and looked alright but it took him a while to get up and he did not rejoin the rest of the GC group. Tobias Johannessen of Uno-X Mobility came across the line in fourth at 15 seconds, 2 seconds in front of the majority of the GC favorites. The main casualties of the day were Jai Hindley of Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe who lost 57 seconds on del Toro and Pellizzari, and Arensman who lost 1 minute 38 seconds.
Tags: Tirreno-Adriatico, 2026, Tirreno-Adriatico 2026, Stage 2, March, Camaiore, San Gimignano, Manuele Tarozzi, Joan Bou, Alessandro Iacchi, Diego Pablo Sevilla, Jack Haig, Silvan Dillier, Steven Kruijswijk, Julian Alaphilippe, Mathieu van der Poel, Matteo Jorgenson, Isaac del Toro, Giulio Pellizzari