Tirreno-Adriatico 2021 - Mads Wurtz Schmidt sprints to victory while Tadej Pogacar keeps lead

Updated 15/03/2021 at 18:05 GMT

The breakaway stuck on Stage 6 of Tirreno-Adriatico and Mads Wurtz Schmidt (Israel Start-Up Nation) claimed the win as he powered past his rivals down the stretch. Brent Van Moer (Lotto Soudal) finished second but couldn't catch Wurtz Schmidt as he raced to the line. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) retained the overall lead ahead of the final stage.

Schmidt claims Stage 6 at Tirreno-Adriatico

Mads Wurtz Schmidt won Stage 6 of Tirreno-Adriatico after sprinting to victory from a five-man breakaway.

The Israel Start-Up Nation rider proved the strongest in the closing stretch and beat Brent Van Moer (Lotto Soudal) and Simone Velasco (Gazprom-RusVelo) to the line.

Emils Liepins (Trek-Segafredo) had been in the break but was dropped on the final climb.

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There was no change in the general classification ahead of the final stage - a 10.1km time trial on Tuesday - as Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) retained his overall lead of 1:15.

Watch Pridham’s brilliant celebration as Schmidt triumphs

For Wurtz Schmidt, this was his first win at WorldTour level and he said it "means the world" to him.

"I haven’t won since I turned pro. It’s a huge relief, it’s what I’ve been fighting for, for the last five years.

"It was a hard start. First I tried with two other guys but we didn’t get away. Then I got away the second time with this group and we worked really well together.

"We all had in mind that we had to go hard in the break all the way to break the morale in the peloton, and we succeeded with that. We worked really well together. It was a super hard stage but I felt good when we came into the final."

The breakaway made their move with 140km remaining on the stage and quickly opened up a sizable lead.

‘Don’t want to see that again!’ – Carr suffers horrendous-looking crash during Tirreno–Adriatico

Simon Carr (EF Education-Nippo) suffered a nasty crash in the peloton with 60km to go when a team-mate appeared to be in his sight and he hit a road sign at speed.

The six breakaway riders worked well together and ensured they stayed nearly two minutes ahead of the peloton before battling down the final straight.

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