Tirreno - Adriatico 2022 (7.03-13.03)

[Krzysztof_O]

After fantastic edition last year (voted here as the best stage race) we are looking forward to fireworks this year again. The race starts with a TT this time but the route, as usually, is mostly hilly with one mountain stage. The first stage will initially shape the GC (some climbers can lose 30-60 seconds). Stages 4 & 5 with interesting hilly finales will make some changes in the GC surely but it's stage 6 that will decide the race: no flat section in the last 45 km with two consecutive ascents of steep Carpegna (6 km @10%, the first of them is much longer). This could be an epic stage with long-range action alert!

Tadej Pogacar is the favourite here ofc. He's the defending champion (superb ride last year) and #1 in the world. If he feels good he can even do a long-range attack during cold and difficult stage 6. Obviously we don't know if he's as good as last year (maybe not) and the race can be very tight to the end. Jonas Vingegaard is the man to watch surely - arguably the only guy (except the Slovenian duo) who recently proved to have great skills in both TTs and mountains. Maybe one day it will be him who ends Slovenians GT dominance and, as last weekend showed, he's in form. Remco Evenepoel is one of contenders as well - he should get some gap (smaller or bigger) over other GC guys but those steep ascents during stage 6 can be challenging, especially against a monster like Pog.

Other stars include Alaphilippe (who will shine during hilly stages), Ganna (TT duel with Remco?), Carapaz, Cavendish and Lopez. Hopefully we will have a great race to watch.

 

[Boes]

Pogacar will win this bike race. Top 3 for Remco as an encouraging GC result.

 

[Earns1985]

Really looking forword to the battle between Pogacar and Evenepoel. Bad thing is, that there are only two stages GC wise which really matter. The route really could be better. The one from Paris-Nice looks much better..

 

[Samamba]

Chance that there is snow on Carpegna?

 

[pablohidalgo7]

After seeing his form in Drome, I hope for Jonas to beat both of them; Pogacar and Remco. It may not be the perfect course for him without more mountain stages and a hilly TT, but he also has the skills on this route to make it a challenge.

 

[RedheadDane]

Am I blind? There seems to be something rather important missing from the OP...

Startlist for Tirreno-Adriatico 2022 (procyclingstats.com)

 

[search]

was there any reason given to start this on Monday already? Probably to make room for Milano Torino?! Can't say I'm a big fan of this even larger overlap with Paris-Nice

 

[hayneplane]

was there any reason given to start this on Monday already? Probably to make room for Milano Torino?! Can't say I'm a big fan of this even larger overlap with Paris-Nice

Maybe there was rider feedback asking for a bigger gap before MSR as given how epic TA was last year a lot of the big names that went deep in this race were burned out and a little below their best in the classics that followed.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

was there any reason given to start this on Monday already? Probably to make room for Milano Torino?! Can't say I'm a big fan of this even larger overlap with Paris-Nice

ASO were reportedly unhappy because T-N was increasingly attracting the stronger field because it's much easier to combine it with Strade, that is less strongly the case now. It's a lose-lose for us as fans as the Strade field is not as good this year as a result and RCS got Milano-Torino the week before Sanremo as compensation, which they've proceeded to mutilate...

 

[Skijumper Roglic fan]

From Monday on, we‘ll get to see what we‘ve been waiting for for so long: Tadej vs Remco.

I think Tadej is already in really good shape. Remco also looked really good already this season. I see a 1-2 of Tadej-Remco here.

Pogi is the better bike racer: he climbs better than Remco, time trials better, sprints better, recovers better, has better bike handling skills. In Tirreno, I think he will win the GC.

Remco should become 2nd rank in Tirreno. He‘s really good, but not good enough to beat Pogi.

 

[AlfaLum]

Monte Carpegna stage will be a very interesting one for sure. Pogacar likely to beat everybody there. Mostly interesting to see whether Evenepoel will again have an issue with longer (not very long) steep climbs.

For now it can got both ways for me, but the scenario where a couple of other riders will end up in front of Remco on that stage seems a bit more likely.

 

[houtdffan]

Really looking forword to the battle between Pogacar and Evenepoel. Bad thing is, that there are only two stages GC wise which really matter. The route really could be better. The one from Paris-Nice looks much better..

There are 4 GC stages. The TT, stages 4, 5, and 6.

Stage 1 favors Remco. Stage 4 may also. However, 5 and 6 scream Pogacar BIG TIME

 

[Earns1985]

There are 4 GC stages. The TT, stages 4, 5, and 6.

Stage 1 favors Remco. Stage 4 may also. However, 5 and 6 scream Pogacar BIG TIME

Don´t think that we will see huge gaps on stage 4 and 5. For the main GC contenders it will most likely be the bonus seconds and perhaps few seconds on that two stages.

 

[AlfaLum]

Don´t think that we will see huge gaps on stage 4 and 5. For the main GC contenders it will most likely be the bonus seconds and perhaps few seconds on that two stages.

Stage 5 is super heavy…

 

[Netserk]

There are 4 GC stages. The TT, stages 4, 5, and 6.

Stage 1 favors Remco. Stage 4 may also. However, 5 and 6 scream Pogacar BIG TIME

A 20 km circuit with this climb (done thrice) will only see a sprint between favourites, no gaps of significance:

 

[Earns1985]

Stage 5 is super heavy…

This had been the result in 2017 stage 5 with the same finale..

Rnk	Rider	Team	UCI	Pnt	Time
1	SAGAN Peter	BORA - hansgrohe	60	50	5:00:05
2	PINOT Thibaut	FDJ	25	30	,,
3	ROGLIČ Primož	Team LottoNL-Jumbo	10	18	,,
4	THOMAS Geraint	Team Sky		13	,,
5	MOLLEMA Bauke	Trek - Segafredo		10	,,
6	URÁN Rigoberto	Cannondale-Drapac Pro Cycling Team		7	,,
7	DUMOULIN Tom	Team Sunweb		4	,,
8	QUINTANA Nairo	Movistar Team		3	,,
9	DENNIS Rohan	BMC Racing Team		2	,,
10	ŠPILAK Simon	Team Katusha Alpecin		1	0:06
11	BERNAL Egan	Androni - Sidermec - Bottecchia			,,

 

[Blanco]

From Monday on, we‘ll get to see what we‘ve been waiting for for so long: Tadej vs Remco.

I think Tadej is already in really good shape. Remco also looked really good already this season. I see a 1-2 of Tadej-Remco here.

Pogi is the better bike racer: he climbs better than Remco, time trials better, sprints better, recovers better, has better bike handling skills. In Tirreno, I think he will win the GC.

Remco should become 2nd rank in Tirreno. He‘s really good, but not good enough to beat Pogi.

Actually I'm waiting to see Tadej vs Jonas, cause that duel will decide the overall. I don't think Remco will play major part. He'll end up top 10 though...

 

[Ilmaestro99]

From Monday on, we‘ll get to see what we‘ve been waiting for for so long: Tadej vs Remco.

I think Tadej is already in really good shape. Remco also looked really good already this season. I see a 1-2 of Tadej-Remco here.

Pogi is the better bike racer: he climbs better than Remco, time trials better, sprints better, recovers better, has better bike handling skills. In Tirreno, I think he will win the GC.

Remco should become 2nd rank in Tirreno. He‘s really good, but not good enough to beat Pogi.

Finally we can see the dream battle we've always wanted, Eddy Merckx vs Simon Spilak !!!!

 

[Nirvana]

Chance that there is snow on Carpegna?

With the situation seen now by the ECMWF model there will be snow already on the coast between Friday and Sunday, but it's too early to assess because there is still a week and antizonal patterns are even harder to predict. The only sure thing is that will be pretty cold for late in the season and windy the whole week with the situation likely worsening by midweek.

 

[SafeBet]

Pogi is the better bike racer: he climbs better than Remco, time trials better, sprints better, recovers better, has better bike handling skills. In Tirreno, I think he will win the GC.

Pog doesn't time trial better than Remco in normal conditions.
Perhaps at the end of a GT and / or in a TT with a climb, but not here.

Pogacar is obviously the favorite for the GC though.

 

[Red Rick]

Detailed profiles from stage 5 and 6 finals?

Think only Vingegaard can challenge Pogacar. If Evenepoel has 30s + going into Carpegna Pogacar just takes off on the first ascent and its over for Evenepoel anyway

 

[Netserk]

Detailed profiles from stage 5 and 6 finals?

Think only Vingegaard can challenge Pogacar. If Evenepoel has 30s + going into Carpegna Pogacar just takes off on the first ascent and its over for Evenepoel anyway

https://twitter.com/x/status/1484210049631334415

View: https://twitter.com/LasterketaBurua/status/1484210049631334415

 

[tobydawq]

This had been the result in 2017 stage 5 with the same finale..

Rnk	Rider	Team	UCI	Pnt	Time
1	SAGAN Peter	BORA - hansgrohe	60	50	5:00:05
2	PINOT Thibaut	FDJ	25	30	,,
3	ROGLIČ Primož	Team LottoNL-Jumbo	10	18	,,
4	THOMAS Geraint	Team Sky		13	,,
5	MOLLEMA Bauke	Trek - Segafredo		10	,,
6	URÁN Rigoberto	Cannondale-Drapac Pro Cycling Team		7	,,
7	DUMOULIN Tom	Team Sunweb		4	,,
8	QUINTANA Nairo	Movistar Team		3	,,
9	DENNIS Rohan	BMC Racing Team		2	,,
10	ŠPILAK Simon	Team Katusha Alpecin		1	0:06
11	BERNAL Egan	Androni - Sidermec - Bottecchia			,,

Yeah? That was one of Sagan's best ever wins, it doesn't mean the route is easy...

 

[SafeBet]

Yeah? That was one of Sagan's best ever wins, it doesn't mean the route is easy...

But it's a good reference for Evenepoel's performance. Spilak was 10th at 6" that day.

 

[Netserk]

The circuit is slightly different this time, more compact and with a different hill ~2 km out. I wish they would have added one or two more laps of it.