Del Toro finished eleven seconds behind the winner together with Matteo Jorgenson (Team Visma | Lease a Bike). He made up 19 seconds on Giulio Pellizzari, who now has to relinquish the lead, and on Primoz Roglic (both Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe). They came in sixth and seventh, with Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobiliy) and Giulio Ciccone (Lidl - Trek) in between. All of them were part of a leading group that Del Toro had broken away from on the final climb.

For Valgren, who won the Amstel Gold Race in 2018, it was his first victory in almost five years. It was the ninth victory in his professional career. The now 34-year-old had already shown at the start of his season at Strade Bianche that he is once again a force to be reckoned with.

Valgren in baby bliss

"It's incredible to win again after such a long time. We all work so hard for it," said the day's winner in his interview. "I had a really nice winter with my family. They have supported me. We had a baby a month ago. This win is for him and for the team."

A serious injury in particular threw Valgren off track for a long time. In June 2022, Valgren had a serious fall and suffered a dislocated hip, a fractured pelvis and a knee injury, from which he only recovered slowly. "After my injury, it was difficult to get back to my level. I managed to do that, but I had to find a higher level to keep up with the riders of today - that's how cycling develops. But somehow I made the leap this winter."

Del Toro already made the big leap a year ago. Now he has hit back against his old training mate Pellizzari. He now has a 23-second lead over the Italian and one more over the new third-placed Jorgenson. "It's a great feeling to be back at the top, because we've done a really great job as a team," said the Mexican. "We worked hard and it paid off. My plan was to secure the jersey again today and I intend to keep it tomorrow. It's always nice to have a bigger lead, but I'm happy with 23 seconds. Anyone who is still in the top seven of the overall standings is a rival for me."

>> Tirreno-Adriatico 2026: Route and stages in detail

Tirreno-Adriatico 2026 - Results of the 5th stage

How the 5th stage of Tirreno-Adriatico 2026 went

It was an unusual start to stage 5 of the Tirreno, as it was two-time stage winner Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech) who launched the first attack. However, the peloton did not want to let the Dutchman go. And so, shortly afterwards, a prominent and unusual duo gave it a go. Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor Pro Cycling) and Jonathan Milan (Lidl - Trek) tried together, but had just as little chance.

It was only after around 50 kilometres that a leading group finally formed. This time Alaphilippe had made it. But Georg Zimmermann (Lotto Intermarché) had also made it into the seven-man group, as had the day's winner Valgren. Other stragglers tried, but were unable to close the gap by the halfway point of the race and abandoned the attempt. The group made it over the Monte delle Cesane with a lead of four and a half minutes, with Zimmermann in particular having major problems keeping up.

Signs of a breakaway victory

With 50 kilometres to go, on the climb to Monte della Mattera, and thus also shortly before the start of the final lap, which had to be completed twice, the breakaway still had a lead of three and a half minutes. While Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe had previously set the pace in the peloton, UAE Emirates - XRG now took over. And that had consequences. With 35 kilometres to go, the gap between the breakaway riders had shrunk by another minute, and there were only around 50 riders in the peloton.

With 26 kilometres to go, Valgren and Alaphilippe broke away from the group when they went on the offensive. The duo went into the final 20-kilometre lap with a 20-second lead over Zimmermann, Jack Haig (INEOS Grenadiers) and Emiel Verstrynge (Alpecin-Premier Tech) and two minutes on the peloton. With ten kilometres to go, it didn't look too bad for the double lead-out to actually be able to fight for the stage win. They had one and a half minutes on the group with all the classement favourites around Pellizzari and Del Toro.

Del Toro shakes off Pellizzari and Roglic on the final climb

At the foot of the final climb, Valgren left his fellow rider Alaphilippe behind. At the back, Roglic went on the offensive and reduced the GC riders to seven. Del Toro also kept pushing the pace, but was unable to shake off his big rivals for the time being. Richard Carapaz then attacked at the 3000 metre mark - and chased down his team-mate at the front. However, Del Toro caught up with the Ecuadorian. But he did not get Valgren back.

However, Del Toro was able to distance Pellizzari and Roglic in the final metres of the climb, with only Jorgenson remaining on the Mexican's rear wheel. The two reached the finish eleven seconds after the winner.