One, two, three accelerations enough for the powerful Ayuso, who scores a double victory in the Queen Stage of Tirreno

Juan Ayuso has won the sixth stage in Tirreno-Adriatico. The Spaniard from UAE Team Emirates - XRG was the strongest on the tough final climb in the queen stage to Frontignano. With 3 kilometers to go, he broke away from his competitors and scored a double victory: he claimed the leader's jersey from the competitive Filippo Ganna.

The somewhat dull Tappa dei Muri, Friday's hill stage, did not deliver what was expected. The favorites kept their legs still for a long time, allowing Fredrik Dversnes, an early breakaway rider, to claim victory. This meant that the differences in the GC were still minor, and everything would be decided in the queen stage: the sixth stage promised to provide fireworks with the uphill finish.

Before the riders reached the final climb to Frontignano, they had to climb a lot. It was an opportunity for a strong breakaway group, and one did indeed materialize. Magnus Cort (Uno-X Mobility), Gianni Vermeersch (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Andrea Vendrame (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Jasper Stuyven (Lidl-Trek), Samuele Battistella (EF Education-EasyPost) and Andrea Pietrobon (Polti VisitMalta) broke away from the start. Later in the stage, Chris Hamilton (Picnic PostNL) and Benjamin Thomas (Cofidis) managed to join them.

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GC contenders must get rid of Ganna on final climb

Despite the constantly rolling terrain on the way to the final climb, things remained relatively calm. The leading group worked well together (despite Thomas's bizarre near-crash), but the peloton was chasing. Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe took the lead for leader Jai Hindley. Tom Pidcock's men also contributed: the climbers saw their chance, but they still had to deal with leader Filippo Ganna, who had already announced that he would love to keep the blue jersey.

It would be difficult for the leading group because the peloton was still significant, and the final climb started with a margin of just over a minute. The steepest kilometers were in the middle, where it had to happen. Isaac Del Toro increased the pace in favor of top favorite Juan Ayuso. This caused problems for Ganna, but Laurens De Plus and Cian Uijtdebroeks also suffered, and it was not a good day for the Belgians. The breakaway riders were caught when the pace of the Mexican from UAE Team Emirates was dropped.

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Ayuso pushed hard on the most difficult part

It was a day of disaster for the favorites, as Simon Yates also lost contact. When Del Toro was caught, Ayuso immediately attacked. He didn't push full out, but he certainly tested his competitors. A new acceleration showed that Hindley, Pidcock, and Mikel Landa could keep up. Antonio Tiberi, Derek Gee, and Ben Healy had a more challenging time. The Spaniard from UAE Team Emirates wanted nothing more than to escape his competitors: he accelerated repeatedly, but Pidcock and Hindley gave him little room.

The man in the white jersey finally broke away with three kilometers to go. He quickly gained a nice lead and extended it. Thus, he won the queen stage and also took over the leader's jersey from Ganna. Ganna held on very well and managed to maintain a podium spot in the GC. Pidcock finished second in the stage, ahead of Hindley.

Results stage 6 Tirreno-Adriatico 2025

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