Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) took an impressive victory in the first stage of the 2021 Tirreno-Adriatico, holding off pure sprinters likes of Caleb Ewan and Fernando Gaviria.
After he started the road season with a 4th place in Strade Bianche, Wout Van Aert was back to his best quickly in the 156km opening stage of Tirreno-Adriatico and is already thinking about winning the general classification.
“The final straight was really long, so today it was all about the right timing,” he said after the stage win.
“I had high speed and so when I saw the 200m sign and maybe a bit before, I thought not to wait and I launched my sprint. I had the speed to maintain it to the finish. I’m really happy,” Van Aert said.
“For sure, I think today and at Strade Bianche we saw a strong (Jumbo-Visma) team. We’re in high spirits and big motivation for this week; starting with a win is perfect for the GC. We’ll see what the next stages bring but we’ve already achieved one goal today.”
Van Aert goes into the blue leader’s jersey for stage two, a 202km hillier stage from Camaiore to Chiusdino.
