Davide Bais is Tirreno-Adriatico’s first King of the Mountains

After yesterday’s time trial, today Tirreno-Adriatico had its first road stage. Still in Tuscany, still close to the Tyrrhenian Sea, a long ride south towards a sprint dominated by Milan, where Giovanni Lonardi finished 13th after excellent teamwork involving lead-out efforts from Mirco Maestri, Fran Muñoz and Andrea Pietrobon.

Between the start and the finish, there was a key moment in the race when Davide Bais and Alessandro Tonelli broke away from the peloton to join the lone attacker Tarozzi and contest the only KOM of the day. In Canneto, Bais was the first to crest followed by Tonelli. The result? The first KOM jersey of the race of the two seas (the ITT was flat and didn’t count toward the climbers’ classification) now belongs to the rider from Trentino. “Our move was successful… and improvised” explains Davide. “After the intermediate sprint at km 112, since the solo escapee was within reach, we consulted with the team car and decided to go for it together. We worked well as a duo and I’m happy to wear the green jersey for the fourth year in a row, I’ve never managed to keep it until the end before but I hope I’ll succeed this time!”

His sports director Stefano Zanatta commented: “By now, this strong start at Tirreno-Adriatico is becoming a tradition. The spirit the guys raced with today is exactly what we need to keep the level high in the coming days.”

Tomorrow the race resumes from Follonica, heading east to metaphorically cut Italy in half. The terrain will become more undulating and the GC contenders will start to be put to the test: Team Polti VisitMalta is ready to work for Davide Piganzoli.