Belgian cyclist Van Aert wins stage one of Tirreno-Adriatico

Wout van Aert started the Tirreno-Adriatico with a win on stage one ©Getty Images

Belgium's Wout van Aert has won the opening stage of the 2021 Tirreno-Adriatico race in a sprint in Lido di Camaiore in Italy.

Van Aert of Jumbo-Visma crossed the line first after more than three and a half hours of cycling in the west of the country, finishing ahead of Australia's Caleb Ewan of Lotto Soudal and Colombia's Fernando Gaviria of UAE Team Emirates.

Italy's Andrea Vendrame of AG2R Citroen and Slovenia's Luka Mezgec of Team BikeExchange completed the top five in the stage standings.

Van Aert sits four seconds ahead of Ewan in the general classification, six ahead of Gaviria and seven ahead of Italy's Simone Velasco of Gazprom-RusVelo.

? Tutta questione di potenza e determinazione! Guarda l'ultimo chilometro del trionfo di @WoutvanAert a Lido di Camaiore!

? It’s all a matter of power and pride! Watch the final kilometre of @WoutvanAert win at Lido di Camaiore!#TirrenoAdriatico pic.twitter.com/IzKTIVUSYM
— Tirreno Adriatico (@TirrenAdriatico) March 10, 2021

The Belgian could only finish fourth at the Strade Bianche on Saturday (March 6), but showed that he had the form to lay down a claim to the Tirreno-Adriatico title this year.

He pulled past Gaviria and held off Ewan in the bunch sprint to take the stage win.

"The final straight was really long, so today it was all about the right timing," said Van Aert on his win.

"I had high speed and so when I saw the 200 metres sign and maybe a bit before, I thought not to wait and I launched my sprint.

"I had the speed to maintain it to the finish, I’m really happy."

It is only his second race of the season after prolonging his training camp in Tenerife in Spain.

The 156-kilometre flat stage was the first of seven scheduled, with the riders set to hit the hills tomorrow on the 226km route from Camaiore to Chiusdino.