Van Avermaet used the bonus seconds that came with the win well. Today, he lost seven seconds to Sagan, but kept the blue leader's jersey on his back by one second to win the overall. Sagan jumped from third to second overall.
In the mix zone while Belgian Van Avermaet celebrated, the world champion appeared upset when asked about yesterday winning move.
Sagan and his Tinkov team tore apart the sixth stage in Abruzzo. Sagan broke free with team-mates Oscar Gatto and Daniele Bennati after claiming first at the intermediate sprint. He ganged up with Zdenek Stybar and his Etixx-QuickStep team-mates and Sky's Michal Kwiatkowski.
Van Avermaet rode shotgun on the express train, saying in defence that his team-mates Damiano Caruso and Tejay van Garderen were in the group behind.
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Peter Sagan leading the group that also contained Greg Van Avermaet
(Image credit: Watson)
"His defence... I also had team-mates behind. Also Etixx had teammates behind! I don't know," Sagan added.
"I've been many times in escapes with Vincenzo Nibali and Joaquím Rodríguez here in Tirreno and they pulled harder. That's not my style to win like that. However, I can't say anything because cycling is like that: one pulls and another no. Everyone decides what to do."
"OK the race goes how it goes," he said. "If they had not cancelled the stage we wouldn't even be here to fight [for the GC], that's true. Tirreno went well, I lost by one second. I'm not upset, I'm content with how it went. Maybe even more motivated."
Watch: Pro bikes - Peter Sagan
The world champion will start Milan-San Remo on Saturday as one of the race favourites with Michael Matthews (Orica-GreenEdge), Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) and Van Avermaet.
"My form could be the best in the world, but results count," he added. "So we are going to have to see after the classics how it goes."
He said little else. Sagan and his handlers quickly left the mix zone for Tinkoff's neon yellow bus, which will drive towards Milan and the first monument of the 2016 season: Milan-San Remo.
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Gregor Brown is an experienced cycling journalist, based in Florence, Italy. He has covered races all over the world for over a decade - following the Giro, Tour de France, and every major race since 2006. His love of cycling began with freestyle and BMX, before the 1998 Tour de France led him to a deep appreciation of the road racing season.
