Van der Poel crushes Van Aert, Ganna, Del Toro and a bunch of hitters at Tirreno-Adriatico in tactical small-group finale.
(Photo: Getty Images )
Updated March 12, 2026 11:55AM
Mathieu van der Poel uncorked a wild long sprint to deny the best of the bunch on Thursday at Tirreno-Adriatico.
The flying Dutchman left the likes of Wout van Aert, Filippo Ganna, Matteo Jorgenson, and Isaac del Toro choking on his exhaust with a 300m sprint toward his second victory of the week at the Italian tour.
Today’s victory coming just nine days ahead of Milan-San Remo, MVDP is looking more than ready for a brawl with Tadej Pogačar over the Poggio and down the Via Roma.
“I could play a bit of a gamble, because I’d already won a stage,” Van der Poel said at the finish. “I waited for the sprint and did everything perfectly in the final kilometer, I think.
“It was a tough day. I’m glad I was able to finish it off, and I’m happy with my form,” he said.
Giulio Pellizzari and Tobias Johannessen were next-best behind Van der Poel after a tense, tactical final 10km of racing.
Visma-Lease a Bike lit the fuse of Thursday’s stage but came away empty-handed.
Jorgenson split and then controlled the group through the final 15km for Van Aert, but the Burly Belgian ultimately couldn’t match his long-time rival’s long-burning kick.
Del Toro was also active in the final but lost his leader’s jersey to Pellizzari. Bonus seconds at the line put the Italian star two seconds up on GC.
Del Toro and Pellizzari will be front and center of Friday’s extra-hilly stage. With close to 4,000m climbing across 185km, Van der Poel might struggle to secure his hat-trick before the weekend.
Results: Tirreno-Adriatico Stage 4