The first road stage is already very challenging! The uphill finish is demanding and should produce some nice gaps, not to mention the length of 228 kilometers. Rafal Majka will try to make up some of the lost time from yesterday, but this is not his favorite type of stage. As for me, Leopold König and Patrick Konrad aren't present, so I am Rafals main domestique. With Peter Sagan also having ambitions, it should be an interesting stage for us!

A 13 men group quickly gained more than 4 minutes advantage on the pack. Unfortunately, we missed the move, but it would be a long day for the riders out in front.

I was feeling pretty horrible today and Peter didn't seem to be on his best either, but Rafal said he wanted to try something in the finale, so Jan Barta and Matteo Pelucchi started to take part in the relays to bring the escapees back.

Fast forward 90 kilometers, our work had paid off. The final four remaining escapees were caught on the penultimate climb, and we were very well positioned with myself, Lukas Pöstlberger, Peter and Rafal.

On the foot of the final climb, the peloton was still fairly much together, so with both of us not feeling too well, Peter and I decided to try and set up an attack for Rafal. I hit the front and increased the pace!

Shortly after, Peter attacked with Rafal, but unfortunately a couple of other riders on his wheel as well.

And it came to nothing. The acceleration wasn't strong enough and Peter wasn't able to keep it up for long, so everything got back together.

Towards the flamme rouge, I'm slowly dropping in the main group, just hoping for no time gaps, while Adam Yates attacks up front.

Alejandro Valverde wins the stage just in front of Alaphilippe and Rui Costa. Majka and Sagan finish within that first group ...

... while I once again can't keep up.

This was really frustrating. I didn't have great legs all day, and trying to get away with Peter and Rafal was extremely exhausting. But still, 51 riders finished before me today, which is certainly not my ambition. Once again: I can't wait to be able to ride for myself!

We've got a flat stage today to recover from yesterday's endeavours. The stage isn't entirely flat, and with 200 kilometers again quite long. But while us climbers will try to regenerate, the team's goal today is clear: Peter Sagan needs to win this, and nobody else!

After a hectic start, Jan Barta managed to sneak his way into the break of the day. A massive relief for us, since we would have been in charge of the peloton otherwise, with Peter as the top favorite for the day.

The group was mostly filled with pure rouleurs or sprinters and it showed. Despite riding not that quickly, Jan left his fellow escapees behind on the only classified climb of the day. Five of his former eight companions would make it back to him on the flat though, as he didn't want to go alone for the rest of the day.

On a small descent, Matteo Pelucchi crashed. We sent Lukas Pöstlberger back, but the two of them couldn't catch up. A vital part of our sprint train was gone. Meanwhile, the escapees around Jan still had an advantage of almost 3 minutes, but they wouldn't last all the way.

As we didn't have a dedicated lead out anymore, Peter decided to go solo in the finale - something he's done very successfully before. And once again he seemed to know how to pick'em. Quick-Step and Dimension Data were setting up for Gaviria and Cavendish, respectively, and Peter was right behind them.

And he proved to have the right timing! Despite Dimension Data being in front first, Peter stayed in Gaviria's wheel, and his patience was rewarded. He made the jump right in time and takes a fantastic win!

Masterblaster01 wrote:
Yeah! Great win for Sagan proving he doesn't need a train like many other sprinters!

sutty68 wrote:
Great win for Sagan and the team

VoetsT wrote:
Nice win

Ian Butler wrote:
Yes, Peter!

django2341 wrote:
I just started to read this and couldn't stop. Great read! Keep it up

I hope the high fitness level early in the season won't hurt Emus performance in in july

It gets interesting. As with both of my previous races this year, there's one stage in this Tirreno - Adriatico that seems destined to shape the GC. It's the climb up to the Monte Terminillo, an ascent that has been featured many times in the Giro, as a finish most recently in 2010 when Chris Anker Sörensen won the stage.

There's no real tactic involved today. Rafal isn't the quickest climber out there, so we'll be steadily going our way up and see how far it takes us. I'll try to stay with him for as long as I can, and then find my own rhythm.

Let's jump right into it, since virtually nothing has happened until this point. Six men were still about a minute in front, but no good climber was among them. We were in good position with Lukas Pöstlberger and Jay McCarthy still with Rafal and myself.

I realized quickly that I wouldn't be able to stay so far in front all climb, and as Jay still felt well, he kept protecting Rafal while I dropped back a little.

For a while, the pace was slow and steady, but when the Movistar and Astana suddenly increased it, I found myself at the back of the ever-shrinking group - to my shock though, Rafal was right there with me.

But not for long. When Fabio Aru attacked, he was straight back at the front. No one directly reacted to the attack, though.

As soon as they did, Rafal didn't seem to have the legs to follow. Or did he once again just kept going at his own pace?

I had found that pace for me - at least I was hoping I had. Without looking left or right, I pedaled upwards, one kick at a time.

For Rafal, that own pace turned out to be the right thing to do. One by one, he picked up most of the riders that had attacked, until only five of them were left ahead.

A sixth place was his reward, which means 7th overall. Once again maybe not the ideal result, but certainly nothing to sneeze at either.

The same is true for me as I sprint with everything I have left towards place 16. Nothing overwhelming, but not too bad either.