Tirreno-Adriatico podium eludes Derek Gee despite valiant effort on penultimate day

While Juan Ayuso was climbing to the win and race lead on the penultimate stage of the 60th Tirreno-Adriatico, Derek Gee was making a bid to achieve the podium after three days in at the fourth Race of the Two Seas. Alas, Filippo Ganna, the man who started the day in the blue leader’s jersey, salvaged his podium spot and stymied the Canadian. Gee finished sixth on the day. Last season he was third at the Critérium du Dauphiné.

The GC Situation

After five stages, Stage 1 victor Ganna still held onto the blue leader’s jersey, 22 seconds ahead of Ayuso, 29 seconds ahead of that cat killer Antonio Tiberi and 34 second up on Gee.

The Course

The penultimate stage was all about the big climb at the end, HC-rated Frontignano, 7.6 km of 7.9 percent. Ganna would try hold fast on this big test, the climax of the final day for GC skirmishing.

An octet of fugitives, three of whom were within 3:30 of Ganna’s lead, slipped their traces early. Stage 3 winner Andrea Vendrame led the race on the road for a couple of hours. Ayuso’s UAE-Emirates and Red Bull powered the peloton before Q36.5’s Canadian Nickolas Zukowsky started to drive for Tom Pidcock. The 2023 national champion was the pack’s locomotive for about 35 km.

Except for the briefest of descents, the road rose from 34 km to go onward. As the peloton sliced and diced looking to put their GC riders in the best position for the hairpin before the climb, a Red Bull rider and Israel-Premier Tech rider rubbed shoulders. The gap to the break was down to 1:30 by the foot of Frontignano.

The fugitive group immediately split on the steep grades. Tiberi’s Bahrain-Victorious whipped along the fragmenting peloton. Then UAE-Emirates’s Isaac del Toro and Adam Yates took over to create a front group without Ganna and absorb the remnants of the breakaway.

Ayuso rode away. Pidcock, Jai Hindley and Mikel Landa chased. Gee and Ben Healy made up Group 3, Tiberi behind them. Gee bridged to the Pidcock trio, but the Brit endeavored to dump the Canadian. Tiberi then caught and passed Gee. Ganna dug deep to stay on the podium.

Sunday sees the race finally reach the Adriatic Sea. The bottom of the descent of the stage’s only climb marks the midway point of the day.

2025 Tirreno-Adriatico Stage 6
1) Juan Ayuso (Spain/UAE-Emirates) 4:14:02
2) Tom Pidcock (Great Britain/Q36.5) +0:13
3) Jai Hindley (Australia/Red Bull) s.t.
6) Derek Gee (Canada/Israel-Premier Tech) +0:20

2025 Tirreno-Adriatico GC
1) Juan Ayuso (Spain/UAE-Emirates) 25:33:17
2) Antonio Tiberi (Italy/Bahrain-Victorious) +0:37
3) Filippo Ganna (Italy/Ineos) +0:38
4) Derek Gee (Canada/Israel-Premier Tech) +0:42