Jasper Philipsen snatches stage 3 of Tirreno-Adriatico in Foligno after Mathieu van der Poel heroics
/dnl.eurosport.com/sd/img/placeholder/eurosport_logo_1x1.png){kind=logo}
Updated 08/03/2023 at 17:14 GMT
Jasper Philipsen and his Alpecin-Deceuninck team picked up their first wins of the season after a brilliant tactical display on stage 3 of Tirreno-Adriatico. A fantastic lead-out by Mathieu van der Poel in the closing stages allowed teammate Philipsen to hit the front at the finish ahead of Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious) and Biniam Girmay (Intermarche-Circus-Wanty).
Tirreno-Adriatico Stage 3 highlights: Philipsen wins sprint finish
Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) timed his late attack to perfection to emerge victorious from a bunch sprint on stage 3 of Tirreno-Adriatico.
Philipsen had team-mate Mathieu van der Poel to thank for a fantastic lead-out to pave the way for the Belgian’s victory with 125 metres to go.
The win is both Philipsen's and Alpecin-Deceuninck’s first of 2023.
Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious) was second with Biniam Girmay (Intermarche-Circus-Wanty) completing the podium.
Filippo Ganna remains the overall race leader.
“Always nice to win,” said Philipsen afterwards. “After a team effort like this, to win is even more nice.
“The start of the season didn’t go like we all hoped with the team but it’s still early and I knew we just had to stay calm and do like we did in previous years and the wins would come.
“A team effort like today with Oscar [Riesebeek] pulling the peloton all day and the team keeping me in a good position.
“And in the end with Mathieu, I didn’t really have to make a long sprint because his lead-out was so strong and that makes it so nice.”
With the first 170km of the stage resembling more of a leisurely afternoon ride, there was very little action to report as the peloton seemed content to take in the Tuscan scenery.
An early break of four riders was eventually reeled in at 70km to go in the most noteworthy action of the day ahead of the finish.
Davide Bais (Eolo–Kometa) extended his King of the Mountains classification lead as well as taking the intermediate sprint.
Such was the serene nature of the stage, the riders were actually ten minutes slower than the schedule at one point.
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2023/03/08/3618501-73679148-2560-1440.jpg)
Jasper Philipsen of Belgium and Team Alpecin-Deceuninck celebrates at finish line as stage winner ahead of Phil Bauhaus of Germany and Team Bahrain Victorious during stage 3 of the 58th Tirreno-Adriatico 2023
Image credit: Getty Images
The pace picked up into the final 30km, but the peloton remained together until Wout van Aert made his move in the final 10, backed by his Jumbo-Visma teammates.
The lead group grew however, approaching the finish with different riders taking turns at the front amid the twists and turns in the road approaching Foligno, before Alpecin-Deceuninck hit the front and van der Poel piloted his teammate to the win.
"I'm super happy," van der Poel said afterwards. "I think yesterday we just missed out on the win and today we did everything perfect. I'm really glad and I hope that this is the start for more victories for the team.
"I don't go for GC or anything so if I'm in the first echelon it's good and if I'm not then it's not a drama. But for sure I'm glad we came back so I could help Jasper in the sprint."
- - -
Stream the 2023 cycling season live and on-demand on discovery+ and eurosport.co.uk
Scan me
Related Topics
Share this article
Advertisement
Advertisement