"Descent demon" Vine takes second win with final stage of Coppi e Bartali, Tulett holds on and takes overall win

It had already been four days of intense racing in Italy. In the hills of Emilia-Romagna, stage wins and the leader's jersey kept changing hands: four days, four different winners, and three different leaders. Caleb Ewan won the first stage, after which he lost the leader’s jersey to stage winner Paul Double. Double then handed over the jersey to Magnus Sheffield in the stage won by Jay Vine. On Friday’s fourth stage, it was Ben Tulett’s turn, delivering a double blow by taking both the stage and the lead. But the final stage promised to be an exciting showdown, with the route to Forlì still offering plenty of opportunities.

It made for a furious start to the day. A strong breakaway of nine riders, including Pascal Eenkhoorn (Soudal Quick-Step), broke free. But the pace in the peloton remained high, and they were reeled back in after just an hour. The race was so intense that early splits formed in the peloton. Around 50 riders broke clear with 90 kilometers to go, and the group was gradually whittled down. As a result, no breakaway was able to get away. In the wet conditions, everyone struggled, and that meant riders like Ewan and Alberto Bettiol (XSD-Astana) didn’t finish the stage.

As the race progressed, the "peloton" kept thinning out. With 30 kilometers to go, only 30 riders remained in the lead group, with one final ascent of the Rocca delle Caminate still on the program—a jagged but not overly difficult climb. Attacks began at the base, and Lorenzo Nespoli from the continental MBH Bank Ballan CSB team managed to break away. But it didn’t take long for the big names to make their move. The first came from Vine, who launched a chase. Sheffield attacked behind him as well, forcing Tulett to respond.

By then, Vine had caught and dropped the lone Italian and dove into the descent toward the finish in Forlì. The Australian from UAE Team Emirates – XRG only extended his lead from there, while the group behind came back together: Sheffield and Tulett gave each other no breathing room. In the end, Vine crossed the line solo with a comfortable lead. Behind him, the sprint for second place was won by Davide Donati (Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe), ahead of Alexey Lutsenko (Israel–Premier Tech).