'My biggest victory' - Juan Ayuso seals Tirreno-Adriatico overall, as Jonathan Milan sprints to victory on stage 7

Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates XRG) secured the second GC victory of his career on Sunday, wrapping up the overall at the seven-day Tirreno-Adriatico.

The final stage was won by Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) in a sprint finish in San Benedetto del Tronto, where the race closed on Italy’s Adriatic coast.

The victory brought Milan's fifth of the season, cementing his status as one of the peloton's fastest finishers. Ayuso, too, has enjoyed a strong start to the year, having won the Faun Drome Classic and Trofeo Laigueglia before coming to Tirreno-Adriatico, where he took the GC lead with a resounding victory on Saturday’s queen stage.

He took a 37-second buffer into the final day, and finished safe in the bunch, winning the coveted golden trident.

"The trophy, for sure, is the coolest, and the nicest one I have. It's going to have a special place at home," Ayuso smiled afterwards.

"I think we can probably say it's my biggest victory, this one as well with País Vasco [Itzulia Basque Country], but here I also won a stage, so I think it's the best performance I've done until now."

The UAE Team Emirates XRG rider's big ambition this season will be the Giro d'Italia, where he will set out to defend his teammate Tadej Pogačar's title.

"The Giro's a big goal," Ayuso said, "but it's three weeks. It's a different story, it's a different kind of race. This race is really hard to win, and the Giro is another step. We'll take it day by day, and race by race, first we have [Volta a] Catalunya."

Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) placed second overall at Tirreno-Adriatico, 35 seconds behind Ayuso, and just one second ahead of Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious), who completed the podium.

How it happened

With five laps of a fast finishing circuit scheduled, the peloton eased into the first half of the final stage of Tirreno-Adriatico. Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) opened up a small gap to the peloton at one point, but the bunch regrouped over the climb of Ripatransone, the day’s only vertical challenge with 90km to go.

Two uneventful laps in San Benedetto del Tronto followed, before a bonus-second sprint spiced up proceedings.

Aided by his Italian compatriot Milan, Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) darted out of the pack to take all three seconds – a small sum, but a significant amount, as it saw him leapfrog Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) in the overall standings, and reclaim second place.

Save for a short-lived attack by Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost), no breakaway dared to wriggle free ahead of the flat finale.

The speed at the front of the race nudged over 60km/h into the final few kilometres, before a sequence of right-hand bends took the sting out of the bunch. Jayco AlUla tried to lead under the flamme rouge for Dylan Groenewegen, but once again it was Lidl-Trek who took up the charge, towing Milan to the line.

The Italian, known for his 2,000-watt max power, was the first to launch his sprint, doing so with 200m to go. With his tongue wagging in his mouth, Milan kicked on to claim his second stage win of this year’s edition.

“I’m super-happy about this victory here in Tirreno,” he said afterwards. “I have to say that I suffered a bit, but I made it to the finish line.”

Unbeknown to the tearaway winner, there was a small pile-up in the sprint for the top 10, as Soudal Quick-Step’s 20-year-old sprint hope Paul Magnier crashed and slid across the asphalt. It was the second time the Frenchman had come off his bike on the day, and he crossed the line in tears.

“I hope no one is hurt really bad,” Milan said.

Results

Tirreno-Adriatico 2025, stage seven: Porto Potenza Picena > San Benedetto del Tronto (147km)

1. Jonathan Milan (Ita) Lidl-Trek, in 3:08:08
2. Sam Bennett (Irl) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale
3. Olav Kooij (Ned) Visma-Lease a Bike
4. Jake Stewart (GBr) Israel-Premier Tech
5. Paul Penhoët (Fra) Groupama-FD
6. Giovanni Lonardi (Ita) Polti VisitMalta
7. Maikel Zijlaard (Ned) Tudor Pro Cycling
8. Natnael Tesfatsion (Eri) Movistar
9. Casper van Uden (Ned) Picnic PostNL
10. Clément Venturini (Fra) Arkéa-B&B Hotels

Final general classification

1. Juan Ayuso (Spa) UAE Team Emirates-XRG in 28:41:24
2. Filippo Ganna (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers, +35s
3. Antonio Tiberi (Ita) Bahrain Victorious +36s
4. Derek Gee (Can) Israel-Premier Tech +42s
5. Jai Hindley (Aus) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, +53s
6. Tom Pidcock (GB) Q36.5 Pro Cycling, +56s
7. Mikel Landa (Spa) Soudal Quick-Step, +1:05
8. David De La Cruz (Spa) Q36.5 +1:32
9. Pello Bilbao (Spa) Bahrain Victorious, +1:32
10. Mattia Cattaneo (Ita) Soudal Quick-Step, +1:38