'We all work so hard for this' – Michael Valgren escapes to victory on stage 5 of Tirreno-Adriatico, taking first WorldTour win in eight years

This time last week, EF Education-EasyPost had no WorldTour wins in 2026. As of Friday, the American squad now has two, with Michael Valgren escaping to victory on stage five of Tirreno-Adriatico.

The Dane attacked early on Friday, staying ahead of the peloton for almost 150km. He dropped his final breakaway companion, Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor Pro Cycling) on the last climb, soloing to victory. It is his first WorldTour win for eight years.

Behind, Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) led the favourites in to climb into the race lead, with Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) finishing third. The previous race leader, Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe) finished 19 seconds behind Del Toro, ceding the blue jersey as a result, and is now 23 seconds behind the Mexican overall. Jorgenson moved up to third on GC.

Del Toro moved off the front of what remained of the peloton with around 5km to go, with only Jorgenson able to follow on the climb of Santuario del Beato Sante.

"It's unbelievable," Valgren said. "We all work so hard for this, and I had a good winter at home with all my family, and the team supported me. I just had a baby, one month ago, and so it's for them, and for the team. I'm speechless.

"It was a really hard start with a lot of attacks, and I bridged across and we worked really well together. In the end, I thought I had good legs all day, so I wanted to make an early attack, and Julian [Alaphilippe] came with me, and we worked well together. In the end, it was such a hard day. We were pushing all day and I just had amazing legs and luck."

In 2022, Valgren crashed heavily at the Route d’Occitanie, which left him with a list of horrendous injuries, including a fractured pelvis, dislocated hip, damage to his ACL and MCL ligaments in his knee as well as a shattered meniscus.

The 34-year-old spent time on EF's development team as he rebuilt his body, and his career. Four years on, he is back on the world stage, winning races.

Two stages remain of Tirreno, although only Saturday's will likely see a general classification battle.

Results

Tirreno-Adriatico, Stage 5: Marotta-Mondolfo > Mombaroccio (184km)

1. Michael Valgren (Den), EF Education-EasyPost, in 4:43:33
2. Isaac del Toro (Mex), UAE Team Emirates - XRG, +11s
3. Matteo Jorgenson (USA), Visma-Lease a Bike, at same time
4. Tobias Halland Johannessen (Nor), Uno-X Mobility, +24s
5. Giulio Ciccone (Ita), Lidl-Trek, +28s
6. Giulio Pellizzari (Ita), Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, +30s
7. Primož Roglič (Slo) Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, at same time
8. Alessandro Pinarello (Ita) NSN Cycling, +40s
9. Michael Storer (Aus) Tudor Pro Cycling, +41s
10. Santiago Buitrago (Col), Bahrain Victorious, at same time

General Classification after stage 5

1. Isaac del Toro (Mex), UAE Team Emirates - XRG, in 20:10:40
2. Giulio Pelizzari (Ita), Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +23s
3. Matteo Jorgenson (USA), Visma-Lease a Bike, +34s
4. Primož Roglič (Slo), Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, +44s
5. Giulio Ciccone (Ita), Lidl-Trek, +1:05
6. Tobias Halland Johannessen (Nor), Uno-X Mobility, +1:08
7. Alessandro Pinarello (Ita) NSN Cycling, +1:24
8. Ben Healy (Ire), EF Education-EasyPost, at same time
9. Magnus Sheffield (USA), Ineos Grenadiers, +1:27
10. Santiago Buitrago (Col), Bahrain Victorious, +1:28