Pascal Ackermann took victory on stage one of Tirreno-Adriatico 2020 with an amazing seated sprint threading his way between the riders and the barrier, passing Fernando Gaviria on the line, winning by a tyre width.
Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates) looked like he had the win in the bag with 50 metres to go, but Ackermann (Bora-Hansgrohe) came from about 15 wheels back to somehow make his way through the tightest of gaps.
It was a hectic finale that saw a nasty crash take out some of the sprinters hoping to contest the day including Tim Merlier (Alpecin-Fenix) and Alberto Dainese (Team Sunweb).
How it happened
The 2020 Tirreno-Adriatico started with a 133km stage starting and finishing in Lido di Camaiore.
The stage had laps of two circuits with three laps taking in a climb and two laps of the flat finishing circuit.
The early break was made up of seven riders including Marco Canola (Gazprom-RusVelo), Nathan Haas (Cofidis), Paul Martens (Jumbo-Visma), Simon Pellaud (Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec), Veljko Stojnić (Vini Zabù-KTM), Daniel Savini (Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè) and Julien Simon (Total Direct Energie).
The battle for the mountains jersey was intense with riders attacking and counter-attacking with Haas coming out on top. The Australian will wear the mountains jersey for stage two.
It was the descent on the penultimate ascent of the climb, with 75km to go, where Pellaud and Martens kicked on away from the other riders who weren't working well together.
The new leading duo quickly pulled out an advantage of 1-30 over the other riders from the break who were caught at 65km to go.
UAE Team Emirates, Team Sunweb and Deceuninck - Quick-Step controlled the pace in the peloton for the majority of the day.
Haas kicked out of the peloton to take the last two points available confirming his mountains jersey before slotting back into the group.
Michael Matthews (Team Sunweb) managed to take one bonus second in the intermediate sprint ahead of Manuele Boaro (Astana), moving the Australian up to fourth in the general classification.
Pellaud and Martens were caught as they crossed the finish line for the penultimate time as they headed into the last lap and 19km to go.
A large crash taking out Belgian champion, Merlier, and young Italian sprinter, Dainese, among other with 1.5km to go.
But it was Ackermann who managed to thread his way through the tightest of gaps to beat Gaviria by the smallest of margins on the line.
Results
Tirreno-Adriatico 2020, stage one: Lido di Camaiore to Lido di Camaiore (133km)
1. Pascal Ackermann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe, in 2-57-55
2. Fernando Gaviria (Col) UAE Team Emirates
3. Magnus Cort (Den) EF Pro Cycling
4. Szymon Sajnok (Pol) CCC Team
5. Davide Cimolai (Ita) Israel Start-Up Nation
6. Andrea Vendrame (Ita) Ag2r La Mondiale
7. Jonas Rickaert (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
8. Romain Seigle (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
9. Piet Allegaert (Bel) Cofidis
10. Pascal Eenkhoorn (Ned) Jumbo-Visma, all at same time
Tirreno-Adriatico 2020, stage one general classification
1. Pascal Ackermann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe, in 2-57-55
2. Fernando Gaviria (Col) UAE Team Emirates, at 4s
3. Magnus Cort (Den) EF Pro Cycling, at 6s
4. Michael Matthews (Aus) Team Sunweb, at 9s
5. Szymon Sajnok (Pol) CCC Team, at 10s
6. Davide Cimolai (Ita) Israel Start-Up Nation
7. Andrea Vendrame (Ita) Ag2r La Mondiale
8. Jonas Rickaert (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
9. Romain Seigle (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
10. Piet Allegaert (Bel) Cofidis, all at same time
