The peloton rolled out from Mirandola for a race of just under 200 kilometres. Along the way, several classified climbs awaited, but the main challenge came in the finishing town of San Luca. There, the riders faced five local laps, each including the steep San Luca climb as the decisive obstacle. After the start, five riders formed the early breakaway.

Before entering the local laps, the breakaway was reeled in by the peloton, where the Team Visma | Lease a Bike riders were well positioned near the front. On the first of five ascents of the San Luca, the peloton was already significantly reduced. Tulett, Uijtdebroeks and young Jørgen Nordhagen reached the top comfortably among the leaders. What followed was a true battle. Uijtdebroeks tried to go clear a few times himself, but the 22-year-old Belgian’s attacks were neutralised by the other favourites. 

On the final ascent of the San Luca, Pidcock launched a powerful attack. Only Del Toro managed to close the gap to the Briton, before the Mexican went on to take the victory. Shortly afterwards, Tulett and Uijtdebroeks fought their way to sixth and eighth place respectively. 

“The guys delivered a strong team performance today,” said sports director Marc Reef afterwards. “The first key moment came on the opening ascent of the San Luca, where we had Ben, Jørgen and Tijmen (Graat) well positioned. Cian also moved up quickly, so we had four riders in front. In the finale, Cian made several good attacks, but unfortunately he didn’t get space. In the end, both Ben and Cian gave it their all to finish in the top ten, and we’re pleased with that. They showed that their form is good, especially with the upcoming races in mind.”