There's a thrilling end to the stage as @taogeoghegan sprints to third after a brutal ascent of the Sassotetto. Roglic takes the win and race lead, but Tao earns a 4" bonus to move closer to a GC podium 👊
Tao Geoghegan Hart close to victory at Tirreno-Adriatico: "It was one of the strangest mountain finishes I’ve ever done"
CyclingFriday, 10 March 2023 at 20:30
Tao Geoghegan Hart saw his teammates at INEOS Grenadiers fall out of GC contention one by one, and has become sole leader of the team at Tirreno-Adriatico.
“I thought this was going to be the day to make some big time differences but the weather changed all that. It was one of the strangest mountain finishes I’ve ever done. There were five kilometres of block headwind in the first half of the climb," the Briton said in a post-race interview. INEOS Grenadiers did a lot of work to set things up for the final climb, but it wasn't to be today.
The block headwind and the shortened ascent saw less difficulty than initially expected, and whilst this could be the queen stage, it ended up seeing a group of 17 riders sprint to the line. “Then there was a headwind and then a tailwind in the hairpins and straights as the road changed direction. The racing was really on and off and the wind was blowing down the mountain at us," he details.
The late attacks did not succeed and everything came back together for a sprint, where Hart was the first to launch. He did not have the legs to take the win, which was taken by new race leader Primoz Roglic, but has sprinted to third on the day.
“Even in the sprint, I thought the line was suddenly there, but we sprinted into a headwind. Another one got away, but what can you do? You’ve just got to give it your all. Now we can only see how Saturday’s last hilly stage goes," he concluded. Hart starts stage 6 in sixth place overall 19 seconds down on Primoz Roglic.
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