"I was really at my limit during the climb" - Mathieu van der Poel has mixed feelings after missing out on Tirreno win for a second day in a row

Mathieu van der Poel has now finished on the podium of two consecutive Tirreno-Adriatico stages. Whilst it's proof of good form ahead of Milano-Sanremo, the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider hoped to have net the win today, which didn't come as a result of a lull in the peloton.

However, perhaps it was not possible for the pieces of the puzzle to fit today for the 30-year old. The final ascent of the day was ridden within the limits of the strongest climbers, and only attacked in it's very last meters. If the attacks had came earlier, the Dutchman might not have survived and been in contention for the staqge win.

“I was really at my limit during the climb. I didn't think I would survive that. I managed it and then I had to gamble, because I was alone at the end," van der Poel told Het Laatste Nieuws. "In the end it all quieted down a bit and the escapee won. It's a shame I didn't win a stage, but all in all I am happy with my performance".

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The group, because of the pace that wasn't overly high in the final climb, managed to stick relatively compact and that allowed van der Poel to be in the chasing group to Fredrik Dversnes. However, the peloton failed to catch the Norwegian who succeeded from the day's breakaway, reaching the finish line with only seven seconds to spare.

"This was also a situation that was comparable to Milano-Sanremo. The climb here at the end was a lot harder than the Poggio and you only had 200 kilometers of racing instead of 300 to San Remo," he described. Van der Poel had sprinted to third place behind Olav Kooj and Rick Pluimers the previous stage, but this time around he did win the sprint in the group - only this was a sprint for second place.

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