Tirreno-Adriatico 2019 Route stage 2: Camaiore

Tirreno-Adriatico 2019 Route stage 2: Camaiore – Pomarance

Thursday 14 March - The 2nd stage of the Tirreno-Adriatico is a hilly race of 195 kilometres to Pomarance. Zdenek Stybar and Geraint Thomas are previous victors in Pomerance, respectively in 2016 and 2017.

The finale is a copy of two years ago, which means the race concludes with a moderate climb of 12 kilometres. The uphill begins with a section at 4.5% before an intermediate false flat continues to the last 2 kilometres at 4.7%. In 2017, Geraint Thomas attacked with Bob Jungels and Jonathan Castroviejo on the false flat, while Damiano Caruso leapt across. Thomas forged ahead alone and opened up a gap more than 20 seconds. The others were swept up by the peloton, where Tom Dumoulin set off in pursuit in the last kilometre, but the Dutchman fell 9 seconds short and the Welshman took the win.

Following a climb straight after the start the first half of this year’s 2nd stage is played out on the flat. The gradual climb to Castellina Marittima will bring a slight change of pace and the riders move through the village at an elevation of 371 metres after almost 100 kilometres in the saddle.

The highest point of the day – of the Tirreno-Adriatico even – is reached at kilometre 148. Serrazzano is located at 540 metres above sea level and at 47 kilometres from the line. An undulating descent leads to a short climb to Pomarance. The riders get a quick glance of the arrival town with almost 30 kilometres left to race.

The route continues further downhill. Following a 2 kilometres ascent the riders move through Saline di Volterra. Two more left turns and the 12 kilometres final climb on the Strada di Cerreto to Pomarance appears. It starts out with irregular gradients – peaking out at 16% – before a false flat leads to the last 2 kilometres at almost 5%.

The first three riders on the line win time bonuses of 10, 6 and 4 seconds, while two intermediate sprints (at kilometre 138.8 and at kilometre 158.4) come with 3, 2 and 1 seconds.

The race is expected to finish around 16:20 – local time.

Another interesting read: results/race report stage 2 2019 Tirreno-Adriatico.