Pogacar and Thomas stranded within sight of the line after bizarre ride, Merlier beats Milan in millimeter sprint

The race started in Novara, a town situated between Milan and Turin, where Tim Merlier had claimed his first major tour victory three years earlier. From this starting point, the riders headed south, facing a route that seemed to favor sprinters due to the absence of significant threats.

Unusually, there was no early breakaway, often a key feature in races, but on Monday, no one took the initiative. Only Lilian Calmejane (Intermarché-Wanty) and Davide Ballerini (Astana Qazaqstan) briefly moved ahead of the drowsy peloton to snatch some mountain points on the day’s one and only climb toward Lu (3.8 km at 3.8%). They quickly rejoined the pack after the climb.

Following an intermediate sprint won by Jonathan Milan, a rather peculiar situation unfolded. A large group containing all the sprinters sped away from the sluggish main peloton. Alpecin-Deceuninck had nearly its full sprint team go along and decided to push the pace.

Teams like Bahrain Victorious (Phil Bauhaus), Polti Kometa (Giovanni Lonardi) and Movistar (Fernando Gaviria) were taken by surprise and had to work hard to catch up, causing more splits in the peloton. GC contenders like young rider Cian Uijtdebroeks (Visma | Lease a Bike), Lorenzo Fortunato (Astana Qazaqstan) and Esteban Chaves (EF Education-EasyPost) also found themselves unexpectedly behind, forcing their teammates to chase.

With about forty kilometers to go, the peloton came back together, allowing the riders to regroup and head towards the final stretch more calmly. The action resumed with an intermediate sprint in Cherasco, offering bonus seconds. Connor Swift managed to snatch a second from Pogacar, who still added two seconds to his lead. Thomas also gained a second on Daniel Felipe Martinez (BORA-hansgrohe).

The road to the Italian village included a climb of 1.2 kilometers at a 6.1 percent gradient, followed by a further hundred meters of climbing over twelve kilometers in two stages. The race pace intensified again thanks to efforts from BORA-hansgrohe (Martinez), INEOS-Grenadiers (Geraint Thomas), Soudal Quick-Step (Tim Merlier) and Groupama-FDJ (Laurence Pithie), creating a more tense and chaotic atmosphere.

Following a four-kilometer descent, the road climbed again at 5.3 percent over the course of 1.6 kilometers. Thymen Arensman showed marked improvement compared to previous days, but Pogacar was the center of attention. He joined a move by Mikkel Honnoré (EF Education-EasyPost), with Thomas also catching up. The Dane quickly dropped off, and Pogacar and Thomas pressed on together. In the final straight, however, they were caught by the peloton, where Jonathan Milan seemed headed for victory. But, starting his sprint from too far back, he was overtaken by Merlier at the line. Incredible!