The Tirreno-Adriatico starts with a traditional team time trial in Lido di Camaiore. The 21.5 kilometres route on the Tyrrhenian coast is fast and flat.
The 2nd stage hugs the Tuscan coast and should fancy the fast men. The only climb is crested shortly after the start.
Stage 3 amounts to 239 kilometres, which is the longest distance in this Tirreno-Adriatico. It is a hilly race with a punchy finale with a 20% ramp just before the line.
The Tirreno-Adriatico’s Queen Stage begins and ends with a long climb and in between the riders face a string of short and sharp hills. The final haul up to the Sassotetto ski resort amounts to 13.1 kilometres and is averaging 7.3%.
Michele Scarponi is remembered in the 5th stage. The route runs to a local circuit in Filottrano, his home town and also the place where he was killed in a training crash. The race ends with a punchy ascent to the line.
Stage 6 amounts to 153 kilometres and ends in Fano, which last served as a host to a major race when Mark Cavendish sprinted to victory in the 2012 Giro d’Italia. A bunch sprint is the most likely outcome in the Tirreno’s penultimate leg, too.
The last stage of the race is a flat individual time trial of 10.05 kilometres. The route is familiar as for years now the Race of the Two Seas closes on the straight roads of San Benedetto del Tronto along the Adriatic Sea.
Tirreno-Adriatico 2018: Route maps, height profiles, and more
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