Tirreno-Adriatico 2025 stage 1 preview, profiles, favourites & predictions - Can Van Aert, Roglic or Hayter battle Filippo Ganna in early time trial?

Tirreno-Adriatico 2026 is taking place from the 9th to the 15th of March and is, as is the case every year, one of the most important races of the spring. It not only provides sprinters, time trialists and climbers with golden opportunities in one of Italy's top events; but also provides the classics specialists with ideal races to prepare for their big goals. We preview stage 1, which is expected to start and finish at 12:40 and 15:45CET.

The race was created back in 1966 and as the name suggests, it takes rider riders from the Tyrrhenian sea all the way to the Adriatic; crossing central Italy from west to east with a variety of stages that suits all types of riders. Dino Zandegù won the first edition, but it didn't take long for big international names to join the race; even if Paris-Nice was always in the same slot, calendar-wise. The six consecutive GC wins of Roger de Vlaeminck from 1972 to 1977 boosted the race to the highest of levels possible, and lots of legends have cemented their name in the week-long stage-race.

Francesco Moser, Giuseppe Saronni, Joop Zoetemelk and Tony Rominger are riders who won throughout the 20th century; whilst this century a few editions did not have mountain stages which increased the variety of overall winners. Classics specialists such as Paolo Bettini and Óscar Freire won it at their prime; Fabian Cancellara won it back in 2008 and even Greg Van Avermaet took the title in 2016 most recently...

However the quality of the winners over the past 15 years is outerwordly, with many of the world's very best climbers winning the overall classification at the prime of their career. Cadel Evans, Vincenzo Nibali, Alberto Contador, Nairo Quintana, Primoz Roglic, Simon Yates, Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard... It's hard to image a better list. In 2025 Juan Ayuso inserted his name amongst the greats, winning the overall classification after winning the queen stage, dethrnoing a Filippo Ganna who showed the very best climbing legs of his career.

The race starts off as usual right by the Tirreno sea coast and it is with an 11.5-kilometer long time trial. This provides the specialists with an opportunity right from the get go; and simultaneously the GC riders have a key day in the fight for the blue jersey.

The course is pan-flat and very fast, however, in these 11 kilometers it is possible to open up visible gaps that will not be easy to close down. A day for everyone to go at their maximum, as the blue jersey is also within reach in the next few explosive days.

It is hard to imagine Filippo Ganna isn't going to win this stage, he has done it several times and the course is simply perfect for him, quite short and pan-flat, without technical sections. It's an ideal course to put in the raw power on the bike and without Remco Evenepoel, Joshua Tarling on Juan Ayuso at the start line then there isn't really a competitor who would ordinarily be able to contest it with the Italian.

This isn't to say there will be no-one who can challenge him, Ethan Hayter has certainly evolved against the clock over the past year and also has the ideal conditions for himself. We do have Wout van Aert at the start but I wouldn't expect more than a modest result as the discipline has become less of a focus over recent years.

The GC battle will be interesting with Antonio Tiberi, Matteo Jorgenson and who knows, perhaps Primoz Roglic too, trying to take time on Isaac del Toro. It's unlikely for the gaps to be significant, however at the UAE Tour in a similar distance, they weren't meaningless at all.

We may see other riders such as Ilan van Wilder, Alberto Bettiol, Jonathan Milan, Magnus Sheffield and Brandon Rivera over the top results whilst of course you should also expect Mathieu van der Poel to be in the mix and testing his form.

*** Filippo Ganna
** Ethan Hayter
* Wout van Aert, Primoz Roglic, Matteo Jorgenson, Antonio Tiberi, Ilan van Wilder, Mathieu van der Poel, Jonathan Milan

Pick: Filippo Ganna