Tirreno-Adriatico 2025 stage 7 preview, profiles, favourites & predictions - Milan, Philipsen, Lund and Magnier star final race sprint

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 7, which is expected to start and finish at 12:30 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 finishes off with the traditional circuit in San Benedetto del Tronto, after a stage that can see the breakaway become quite dangerous. That is because, unlike all other stages, this one is quite short - only 142 kilometers in length - and has an explosive start.

Two small climbs provide the classics specialists and those looking to make one more bid for success to attack; and the pan-flat final hours of racing will be extremely fast, which allows any escapee group to ride quite fast and try to prevent the peloton from coming back.

The finale is not overly technical, and the chances are that a bunch sprint will end up deciding the outcome of the stage.

We should see another bunch sprint decide the race but this one much more pure and at the end of an easier stage than the other bunch sprint we've seen. There it was Tobias Lund Andresen who won after a strong leadout and with some uphill gradients that burned out a few riders. The Danish sprinter certainly has the talent to replicate that win in San Benedetto del Tronto however it will be much more a game of chance than the previous one.

And the arguments for the main men remain the same, as Jasper Philipsen will have Mathieu van der Poel to back him up and in peak form; Jonathan Milan has his mega leadout which should work on paper; whilst the likes of Paul Magnier, Arnaud de Lie and Sam Welsford have all given good signs recently and can take the win if they find themselves in the right position at the right time.

Added to the equation are riders such as Pavel Bittner, Giovanni Lonardi, Danny van Poppel, Oded Kogut, Madis Mihkels, Luca Mozzato and Andrea Vendrame who should be able to do well on a bunch sprint finish.

I don't think it's reasonable to expect someone like Mathieu van der Poel or Filippo Ganna to head into the breakaway or give it a go, despite using this week to prepare for Milano-Sanremo. That is because they will be on leadout duties, but the same can't be said of Wout van Aert who is unlikely to battle in the bunch sprint and may together with Tim Rex and Timo Kielich try to form a strong group early on in the day.

This is a stage that can see a front group succeed despite the interests in the peloton, because the hilly section of the day provides that space and the finale is simply very fast where it is not easy to close down gaps. It depends a lot on the group that finds itself in front; it can be made more dangerous with the addition of riders such as Jonas Abrahamsen, Dries de Bondt, Alberto Bettiol, Julian Alaphilippe or Vincenzo Albanese - if Ben Healy himself doesn't try.

*** Jonathan Milan, Jasper Philipsen, Tobias Lund Andresen
** Sam Welsford, Arnaud de Lie, Paul Magnier
* Pavel Bittner, Danny van Poppel, Giovanni Lonardi, Madis Mihkels, Luca Mozzato, Andrea Vendrame

Pick: Jasper Philipsen

How: Regular bunch sprint.