The 2015 Tirreno–Adriatico was the 50th edition of the Tirreno–Adriatico stage race. It took place from 11 to 17 March and was the third race of the 2015 UCI World Tour. The race was one of the most important races in the early part of the cycling season and was used by riders preparing both for the Grand Tours and for the classics season.
The route of the 2015 edition started and finished with individual time trials, one of which was rescheduled from a team time trial shortly before the race began. In between, the race consisted of two stages suitable for sprinters, one for puncheurs and two for climbers. The key stage of the race was stage 5, which involved a summit finish on Monte Terminillo. The defending champion from the 2014 edition was Alberto Contador (), who was expected to be challenged by three of the strongest stage racers in the world, Nairo Quintana (), Vincenzo Nibali () and Chris Froome (). Froome, however, pulled out shortly before the race.
The first individual time trial was won by Adriano Malori (), who kept the lead for the first two stages. Greg Van Avermaet () and Wout Poels () won the next two stages, each taking the race lead for one day. The queen stage to Monte Terminillo was won by Quintana, who took the overall lead and was able to defend it to the end of the race. Bauke Mollema () finished second, 18 seconds behind Quintana, with Rigoberto Urán () third.
Peter Sagan () won the points classification, after he won one stage and finished in the top ten on three others. The mountains classification was won by Carlos Quintero (), while Quintana won the young rider classification as a consequence of his overall race victory.
Teams As Tirreno-Adriatico was a UCI World Tour event, all 17 UCI WorldTeams were invited automatically and were obliged to send a squad. Five Professional Continental teams received wildcard invitations.
Pre-race favourites The key stages on the general classification were expected to be the time trials and the summit finish. The race was originally expected to be the first contest of the season between the four riders expected to contest the Tour de France: the 2014 Tirreno–Adriatico champion Alberto Contador (), the 2013 Tirreno–Adriatico champion Vincenzo Nibali (), Nairo Quintana () and Chris Froome (). Shortly before the race, however, Froome withdrew on account of a chest infection (he had also withdrawn at the last minute in 2013). Following Froome's withdrawal, Contador was seen as the main favourite for the race; he had demonstrated his form when he and Froome fought a close battle in the Vuelta a Andalucía weeks earlier. Nibali, however, had not yet shown good form in the 2015 season, while Quintana had not raced for several weeks following a crash. Other riders considered to have a chance in the general classification included Rigoberto Urán (), Joaquim Rodríguez (), Dan Martin () and Thibaut Pinot ().
As well as losing Froome from the general classification battle, the race also lost one of the riders expected to challenge for stage wins. Marcel Kittel () withdrew from the race with a virus. The principal sprinters left in the race were Mark Cavendish (), Elia Viviani (), Tyler Farrar () and Sam Bennett (). The race was also notable as the first time when Peter Sagan raced alongside Contador in the team; Sagan was expected to feature both on the sprint stages and on the uphill finish on stage 3.
Route
Tirreno–Adriatico was an important race in the early part of the road cycling season. It was the third UCI World Tour race of the year, running at the same time as Paris–Nice. The two races compete for prestige and for the best riders. Tirreno–Adriatico was an important test as part of riders' preparations both for the Grand Tours and for the classics races, such as Milan–San Remo. The race generally took the riders east across central Italy, from the Tyrrhenian Sea to the Adriatic Sea – the race is therefore sometimes known as the "race of the two seas" – and the Italian names of the seas give the name Tirreno–Adriatico.
The race was originally intended to begin with a team time trial around Lido di Camaiore. This was expected to be a difficult test and to result in significant gaps in the general classification. Heavy wind and rain in the week before the race, however, forced the race organisers, RCS Sport, to change this stage. Though the start and finish lines were unchanged, the stage was shortened, first to , then to ; it was also changed to be an individual time trial. This was expected to result in smaller gaps; it was a particular blow to the team, who had based most of their squad around the team time trial.
Stage 2 was a fairly flat stage, expected to suit the sprinters preparing for Milan–San Remo. Stage 3 was also unlikely to change the general classification, though it included a steep uphill finish. The key stages, however, came on the weekend. Stage 4 was a difficult, mountainous stage with a downhill finish. The following day's route had a summit finish on the climb of Monte Terminillo. Stage 6 was another fairly flat stage and the race ended on the Adriatic coast with another individual time trial in San Benedetto del Tronto.
+Stage characteristics and winnersStageDateCourseDistanceTypeWinner 1 11 March Lido di Camaiore Team time trialIndividual time trial 2 12 March Camaiore to Cascina Flat stage 3 13 March Cascina to Arezzo Hilly stage 4 14 March Indicatore (Arezzo) to Castelraimondo Medium-mountain stage 5 15 March Esanatoglia to Monte Terminillo Mountain stage 6 16 March Rieti to Porto Sant'Elpidio Hilly stage 7 17 March San Benedetto del Tronto Individual time trial
Stages
Stage 1 11 March 2015 – Lido di Camaiore, , individual time trial (ITT)
Stage 1 was originally intended to be a team time trial, but bad weather (high wind and torrential rain) in the week leading up to the event made this impossible. The race organisers reduced the race to a individual time trial; on the day of the race, this was shortened by a further . The course was based in the Lido di Camaiore holiday resort on the Tyrrhenian coast and was entirely flat. The out-and-back course meant that the riders had a tailwind on the first half of the course and a headwind on the second.
The early benchmark time was set by Daniel Oss (), who completed the course in 6' 08". A good time was also set by Peter Sagan (), whose time was 6' 10" and who was the best young rider in the stage. Sagan did well to set such a good time, since he hit a pavement early in his ride and nearly fell. Oss kept the lead for a long time, but was eventually overtaken by Matthias Brändle (). Brändle, however, was immediately overtaken by Adriano Malori (), the Italian national time trial champion – who won the closing time trial of the 2014 Tirreno–Adriatico – with a time of 6' 04". Maciej Bodnar (), Steve Cummings () and Greg Van Avermaet () all came close to Malori's time, but were unable to beat it. The principal favourite for the stage, former world time trial champion Fabian Cancellara (), finished one second behind Malori, who therefore won the stage, winning both the blue jersey of the overall leader of the race and the red jersey of the points classification leader.
Rigoberto Urán () was the fastest of the general classification contenders, finishing 19th on the stage, 10" behind Malori. Vincenzo Nibali () was the first of the three major favourites for the race, one second behind Urán. Alberto Contador () and Nairo Quintana () both lost time.
Stage 2 12 March 2015 – Camaiore to Cascina,
The second stage of the race was a route from Camaiore, the location of stage 1, to Cascina. The course started with one and a half laps of a circuit around Camaiore, including the only two categorised climbs of the day, before heading south-east towards the city of Lucca. After leaving Lucca, the course turned west, then headed north to enter Cascina. In Cascina, the riders completed two laps of a finishing circuit. Although the final circuit was flat, there were three roundabouts, a sharp turn and a bridge in the final .
An early breakaway was formed on the circuit around Camaiore. This was made up of seven riders: Edoardo Zardini (), Danilo Wyss (), Cristiano Salerno and Patrick Konrad (), Camilo Castiblanco, Carlos Quintero (both ) and Martijn Keizer (). The breakaway built up a lead of over six minutes and took all the mountains classification points. Wyss won the first ahead of Quintero; Quintero beat Wyss on the second climb. Wyss went on to take the jersey for the leader of the mountains classification thanks to his better general classification standing after the stage. The breakaway was carefully controlled by the sprinters' teams − principally and − and with remaining the breakaway had less than three minutes' lead. The gap was reduced to less than 90 seconds as the peloton entered the finishing circuit with remaining.
About later, Zardini attacked and was followed by Quintero and Salerno. These three riders continued alone; they had less than a minute's lead as they entered the final lap of the circuit with remaining and were caught soon afterwards. There was a crash in the peloton from the finish, which eliminated Matteo Pelucchi () from contention, as well as causing some delay for 's general classification rider Adam Yates.
Going into the final kilometres of the race, several teams were competing at the front of the peloton. , and all tried to set up their sprinters, with Zdeněk Štybar particularly prominent. led the group under the flamme rouge with remaining, as Edvald Boasson Hagen attempted to lead out his teammate Tyler Farrar. In the final few hundred metres, however, there was a large crash. Mark Cavendish () suddenly moved right, clashing wheels with Elia Viviani (). Cavendish was unable to continue sprinting, while Viviani was thrown from his bike while riding at over . Several other riders were brought down in the incident, including Sacha Modolo () and Luka Mezgec (). This crash left a small group of 12 riders to contest the stage finish. Jens Debusschere (), riding in the colours of the Belgian national champion, outsprinted Peter Sagan () on the line; Sam Bennett () finished third. Thanks to the time bonus he won for coming second, Sagan moved up into second place overall, on the same time as Malori. Debusschere, meanwhile, moved into the lead of the points classification.
It was revealed after the stage that Cavendish's sudden movement had been caused by his chain falling off the big chainring. The loss of power caused him to swerve right and Viviani was unable to avoid him. Viviani suffered cuts and abrasions from the crash, though he avoided any broken bones and was able to complete the stage. were keen to investigate the incident, as Tom Boonen had suffered a similar problem in the Tour of Qatar.
Stage 3 13 March 2015 – Cascina to Arezzo,
Stage 3 took the riders on a route from Cascina to Arezzo. The route was very similar to stage 3 of the previous year's race, with a long route east, including two categorised climbs, and a finishing circuit in Arezzo. In the 2015 edition, the riders did five laps of a circuit. The final of the circuit was difficult: it was uphill, with one section of 11%, there was a narrow gate and one section of road was cobbled. On the previous year's stage, Peter Sagan had beaten Michał Kwiatkowski () in the sprint.