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The UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider finished second to Ganna in the opening 11.5k time trial in Lido di Camaiore and has been waiting for the Italian to crack ever since.

Though the stage is short compared to most days of this year’s tough Tirreno-Adriatico route, the 163km of racing will be another day in the Apennine foothills.

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There are two climbs in the final 100km and then the 7.7km climb to the Frontignano finish at 1327 metres. The average gradient of 7.8% is deceiving, as the final two kilometres near the hilltop are at only 6.4% but the gradient from 5.8km to 11.7km to go is a harder 8.3%.

22-year-old Ayuso is only 22 seconds down on Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) in the GC. He leads Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) by seven seconds, and Derek Gee (Israel-Premier Tech) by 12 seconds.

Laurens De Plus (Ineos Grenadiers), Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek), Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Tom Pidcock (Q36.5) and Mikel Landa (Soudal-QuickStep) are at least 30 second down on Ayuso and so will have to attack early on the final climb if they want any chance of climbing the GC.