Tirreno-Adriatico stage 3: Phil Bauhaus wins as Jasper Philipsen crashes

Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious) earned his first victory in over a year in a difficult sprint on stage 3 of Tirreno-Adriatico, with stage favourite and ciclamino jersey wearer Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) crashing out of contention in the final 500m.

Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) was well-placed throughout the sprint but could only manage second as Bahrain Victorious timed their launch to perfection.

Bauhaus’ teammates and leadout Damiano Caruso and Nikias Arndt celebrated his win - his first since January 2023 - before he even crossed the line.

Milan didn’t come away entirely empty-handed, claiming the pink jersey as he moved ahead of Juan Ayuso in the points standings.

Kévin Vauqelin (Arkea-Samsic) jumped too early and came third in a chaotic end to a long and largely uneventful stage, escaping a touch of wheels by Philipsen which also brought down a few other riders.

A 220km transitional stage from Volterra to Gualdo Tadino, this was in theory classed as a day for the fast men. But with a few bumps along the way, a classified climb at Casacastalda in the last 20km, and a technical finish featuring a hike uphill in the final 3km, there was always potential for the race to be blown open close to the end.

And while the bunch reformed after the climb, the switchbacks and turns in the final proved decisive, as Philipsen and a few others crashed into the barriers on a 90-degree turn.

“To be honest when I checked the profile I thought it was pretty much on the limit for me. I was suffering on the last climb but the team believed in me the whole day, yesterday evening they said it was a good chance for me. In the last kilometre I was in the perfect position and luckily I had the legs to do a good sprint. I’m super happy to have my first win this year," Bauhaus said at the finish.

“I didn’t know there was a crash, I was really focused. I knew I was in a perfect position, I was happy I could keep my power to the line.”

Following two sprint stages the GC standings remained the same. Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) stays in the maglia azzurra with Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) one second behind and Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) a further 11 seconds back.

How it unfolded

Swiss rider Jan Stöckli (Corratec-Vini Fantini) and Italian Samuele Zoccarato (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè) attacked almost from the gun. Representing two local ProTour teams, their lead ballooned out to over eleven minutes after 40 kilometres of racing.

The peloton were content to sit back and conserve energy with the intermediate sprint not until the 140km mark of the mammoth 220km stage. Stöckli and Zoccarato stayed out in front until the sprint at Sant'Arcangelo, around 80km from the finish, where the Swiss rider took full points and moved to top of the points classification as well.

Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) out-sprinted race leader Ayuso for the one bonus second, cutting the Spaniard’s lead over him to 26 seconds.

Having claimed the points, and likely tired from two days in the break, Stöckli then dropped away leaving Zoccarato alone at the front.

After a dry first half of the stage the weather turned sour, changing the colour of the stage and the likely victors after a long slog through the wet, chilly Tuscan countryside.

With the rain lashing down it was a dispiriting task for Zoccarato and after a near-60km solo ride he was caught about halfway up the day’s major climb. Everyone else seemed equally miserable, with pre-race favourite Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) forced to endure the cameras filming him at the roadside as he struggled to shed an outer layer in the grim weather.

EF Education-EasyPost set the pace on the 7km climb’s toughest sections, gearing up for Alberto Bettiol to challenge for the win and aiming to discard as many sprinters as possible.

Richard Carapaz’s GC hopes were largely over following a disastrous time trial on stage 1, but he showed his climbing prowess as the peloton strung themselves out behind him. Carapaz, Ben Healy and Bettiol took the KOM points in that order, putting the Ecuadorian into the green climber’s jersey at the end of the day.

As the riders descended into a complicated and uphill final Alpecin-Deceunick swung back onto the front, with stage 2 winner Philipsen still looking strong in the twists and turns approaching the line in Gualdo Tadino.

But Philipsen was among several riders caught out on a sharp turn in the last 500m, crashing into the barriers and ending his challenge for a second consecutive stage win.

Milan was well protected by his team on the classified climb and excellently positioned in the last 1.5km, but Bauhaus had a better lunge for the line and took his first win of the season.

EF Education-EasyPost’s blistering pace on the climb wasn't enough to manoeuvre their man into top spot and Bettiol had to settle for fourth place.

Bauhaus won the concluding sprint stage to the race in 2021 and said it “would be great” to repeat the victory, adding: "I need to be realistic, there are so many good sprinters here, but I showed today that I also can win. I hope to do another good sprint on the last day."