The final day at Tirreno Adriatico saw the peloton take on the traditional finish into San Benedetto del Tronto with a mostly flat affair that lends itself to a bunch sprint finale. Rolling out from the start line, a three rider breakaway managed to escape almost immediately, quickly building up an advantage of over three minutes where it plateaued.

Committing to setting up a sprint finish for Alberto Dainese, Martijn Tusveld and Chris Hamilton tirelessly worked at the front of the bunch alongside the other sprint teams to keep things under control. As the kilometres ticked by, the peloton slowly reeled in the breakaway and inside the last ten kilometres the catch was made. Moving up well as a unit, the team fought hard to maintain their position at the front of the bunch, with last-man Nikias Arndt delivering Dainese onto a good wheel at one kilometre to go.

On the hectic run-in the battle for position was fierce though but Dainese followed the wheels well, biding his time into the headwind before launching a really strong sprint, charging past several riders in the kick to the line and ending with a strong fifth place. While with no gaps between the GC favourites today, Thymen Arensman ends the race overall in a brilliant sixth place after a hard week of racing from the team.

Speaking after the stage Dainese said: “It was the last day of Tirreno and we really wanted the race to finish in a sprint. We controlled it with Martijn and Chris, and it was really nice to see the guys riding like that for me. The feeling was good after a hard week and a tough stage yesterday. In the finish Nikias did a good job and I could find a space to go for the sprint in the last few hundred metres. I couldn’t fully overtake everyone but it was a nice top five and it’s a good way to end the race and gives us confidence for the next sprints.”

Team DSM coach Matt Winston added: “We had a clear goal today to go for the sprint with Alberto so we chased on the front throughout the stage and made sure that the break didn’t stay away. I think the guys did a really good job today. They were together coming into the final and we brought Alberto and the rest of the guys into a good position for those closing kilometres. Alberto did a good sprint in the finish there to take fifth and I think it’s a really positive step in the right direction for us.”