The German sprinter Phil Bauhaus won the third stage of the Tirreno-Adriatico long-distance cycling race and thus celebrated his first victory of the season.
In the difficult finish line of the 225 km longest section between Volterra and Gualdo Tadino, the 29-year-old from Bocholt from Team Bahrain-Victorious came out ahead of the Italian Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) after a top tactical performance.
“To be honest, I thought that today’s stage would be too difficult for me. But the team believed in me and motivated me,” said Bauhaus, who had only finished 13th in the mass sprint the day before: “I would do the last stage on Sunday Now we’d like to win. But we have to stay realistic – the standard of sprints is very high here.”
Bauhaus was positioned perfectly in the crucial phase by his teammate Nikias Arndt (Buchholz) and was ahead in the winding finale. For Bauhaus it was the 21st victory as a professional and the second at Tirreno-Adriatico. In 2022 he won the seventh stage of the “Race Between the Seas”.
Arndt came tenth, Marius Mayrhofer (Tübingen/Tudor Pro Cycling Team) also landed in the top ten in a strong eighth place.
Spain’s exceptional talent Juan Ayuso once again successfully defended the overall lead; the 21-year-old from UAE Team Emirates did not have to fend off an attack from tour winner Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike).
On Thursday there are 207 demanding kilometers from Arrone to Giulianova, and on Friday there is the difficult stage with the climb to San Giacomo. The long-distance journey ends on Sunday in San Benedetto del Tronto.
In his first tough test of the year, Vingegaard will not face any of his supposedly biggest tour rivals. While Tadej Pogacar is taking a break after his impressive triumph at the Strade Bianche, the new Bora Hansgrohe captain Primoz Roglic and the Belgian Remco Evenepoel are taking part in the Paris-Nice stage race, which is taking place at the same time.