Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar sees off Wout van Aert to win Tirreno-Adriatico

Milan: Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar won the Tirreno-Adriatico on Tuesday after the seventh and final stage of the ‘Race of the Two Seas’, claiming his second overall victory of the year. The Slovenian finished 1 minute and three seconds ahead of Belgian Wout van Aert in the overall standings after limiting his losses in the 10.1km time-trial at San Benedetto del Tronto. Spain’s Mikel Landa of Bahrain finished down the field on Tuesday but remained third overall, at 3min 57sec, in the race which ended on Italy’s Adriatic coast. “It’s a fantastic start to the season,” said Pogacar who followed on from his success in the UAE Tour. “But now I already need a little bit (of) rest before continuing the season. “I felt good today, a little bit fatigued after all the racing. It was a fast race, I was prepared well and I’m super happy to take this win.” UAE Team Emirates rider Pogacar, who clinched last year’s Tour de France in the time trial on the penultimate day, was fourth on Tuesday, 12 seconds behind Van Aert. The Belgian set a blistering pace for a surprise win ahead of Swiss Stefan Kung and Italian time trial world champion Filippo Ganna. “Almost all the best time-trial specialists are here,” said the Jumbo-Visma rider. “It’s the first time I go for GC (general classification), and I was only beaten by the Tour de France winner.” “I guess it’s a pretty good start.”