Greig Leach

Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) managed to claim the overall lead by just beating out Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) at the line in Stage 6. His victory gave him bonus seconds leaving him 8 seconds ahead of Sagan and 7 seconds ahead of the previous race leader, Zdenek Stybar (Etixx-Quickstep). The short 10 kilometer course made it possible for the Slovakian sprinter, Sagan, to have a legitimate chance of beating the Belgium rider for BMC. Van Avermaet would have the advantage of knowing the time splits of Sagan who had left this start gate four minutes earlier. In the end, Sagan's ride was almost enough but Van Avermaet ceded only 7 seconds to the reigning Road World Champion, Sagan. So as he crossed the line, Van Avermaet knew he had won Tirreno-Adriatico.