While half the pro peloton are getting their European stage racing season underway on the other side of the Alps at Paris-Nice, the other half will be racing from sea to sea at Tirreno-Adriatico.
The Italian WorldTour race is younger than its French counterpart, in its 59th edition, but no less important, offering the biggest test of the season so far to many of the biggest names of the peloton.
Its space between Strade Bianche and Milan-Sanremo means that it shares many of the same riders, with a few more general classification hopefuls thrown in for good measure.
Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) will get his WorldTour season underway at Tirreno, following his dominant performance at O Gran Camiño just over a week previously. The Dane will be very much looking forward to the two hors categorie climbs included on the route.
Other GC riders looking to get their European season's off with a bang include previous winner Simon Yates (Jayco AlUla), and his twin brother Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates), should the latter get over the crash and concussion he suffered at the UAE Tour.
Ben O'Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) will attempt to continue the form he showed in the Middle East, while Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) will have an opportunity to ride for himself in the absence of his team's new flagship signing, Primož Roglič.
Tao Geoghegan Hart (Lidl-Trek) will ride his first WorldTour race since his crash at the Giro d'Italia last May.
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The absence of Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike), Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) and Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) should open up the punchy stages to other Classics riders.
Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers), Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) and Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) will be among those hoping to make the most of days like stages three and four, where the route is consistently lumpy without getting too mountainous.
There are sprinters on the provisional start list, good ones too, in Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan), Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step). The latter already has three WorldTour sprint wins to his name this season, but will likely only get two opportunities.
The route consists of seven stages: a completely flat 10km individual time trial, followed by a likely sprint finish, two days for the Classics riders or the breakaway, two days for the climbers, and a nailed on sprint finish.
The riders will pass through four regions of Central Italy, from Tuscany to the Marche.
Stages three and six are the particular highlights. The former is a 220km test with barely a flat road in sight, the perfect preparation race for an Ardennes Classic. It depends how it is raced by the GC riders, but it could well be a day for Pidcock or Healy.
Stage six has 3544 metres of climbing in 180km, with multiple tests before the final ramp up to Cagli, Monte Petrano. This works out at 10km at 8%, and will surely decide which way the overall victory will head.
Tirreno-Adriatico 2024 riders to watch
Jonas Vingegaard
Visma-Lease a Bike
*****
The Dane comes into Tirreno-Adriatico in seemingly top form, having ripped apart O Gran Camiño last weekend, winning three stages and the overall. He did the same last year and went on to have a mildly disappointing Paris-Nice, so all is not set, but he is the outstanding favourite for the whole event.
Tom Pidcock
Ineos Grenadiers
****
Tirreno-Adriatico seems like a race made for the Ineos Grenadiers man. Pidcock has only raced it once before - last year - but the punchy stages will be the key battlegrounds for the 24-year-old. He will hope to keep building his form towards bigger targets, like Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
Adam Yates
UAE Team Emirates
****
Should he have bounced back from the concussion he suffered at the UAE Tour, Yates should be in the mix for the overall at Tirreno. He is an expert at week-long stage race, and has finished second on GC here before. If he has not recovered, his teammate Juan Ayuso is one to watch.
Jasper Philipsen
Alpecin-Deceuninck
****
The pick of the sprinters at Tirreno, Philipsen is yet to open his account in 2024, although he has hardly been presented with a good opportunity, having raced just Opening Weekend. The six-time Tour de France stage winner will be looking to measure himself up against his former teammate, Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step).
Ben Healy
EF Education-EasyPost
****
The Irish champion begins his third year at WorldTour level with a lot of expecation behind him. His stage win at the Giro d'Italia last year was won on similar terrain to stage three of Tirreno, so look out for him there. His fourth place overall at the Volta ao Algarve shows that he can't be discounted on all but the most mountainous of days.
Ben O'Connor
Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale
****
O'Connor's victory on Jebel Jais was the Australian's first WorldTour victory since March 2022, so he will hope to keep showing his form in Italy. Along with his compatriot Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Dani Martínez (also Bora), he will be looking to match Vingegaard on stage six.
Adam is Cycling Weekly’s news editor – his greatest love is road racing but as long as he is cycling, he's happy. Before joining CW in 2021 he spent two years writing for Procycling. He's usually out and about on the roads of Bristol and its surrounds.
Before cycling took over his professional life, he covered ecclesiastical matters at the world’s largest Anglican newspaper and politics at Business Insider. Don't ask how that is related to riding bikes.
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