A Polish rider won the race for the first time,[5] as Team Sky's Michał Kwiatkowski took the overall victory; Kwiatkowski took the race lead after gaining bonus seconds on the fifth stage, and maintained the lead to the end of the race. Kwiatkowski finished 24 seconds clear of Damiano Caruso (BMC Racing Team), while the podium was completed by another Team Sky rider, Geraint Thomas, a further 8 seconds behind Caruso. In the other classifications, Jacopo Mosca (Wilier Triestina–Selle Italia) won the orange jersey as points classification winner, while Nicola Bagioli (Nippo–Vini Fantini–Europa Ovini) won the mountains classification and its accompanying green jersey. The young rider classification and the white jersey was won by Lotto–Soudal's Tiesj Benoot, in fourth place overall, while the teams classification was won by Astana.
Teams
As Tirreno–Adriatico was a UCI World Tour event, all eighteen UCI WorldTeams were invited automatically and obliged to enter a team in the race. Four UCI Professional Continental teams competed, completing the 22-team peloton.[6]
The route of the 2018 Tirreno–Adriatico was announced on 12 January 2018.[7] As part of the route, a stage finish in Filottrano was scheduled in honour of Michele Scarponi, who died the previous April.[8]
In the 2018 Tirreno–Adriatico, four jerseys were awarded. The general classification was calculated by adding each cyclist's finishing times on each stage. Time bonuses were awarded to the first three finishers on all stages except for the time trials: the stage winner won a ten-second bonus, with six and four seconds for the second and third riders respectively.[30] Bonus seconds were also awarded to the first three riders at intermediate sprints; three seconds for the winner of the sprint, two seconds for the rider in second and one second for the rider in third.[30] The leader of the general classification received a blue jersey.[31] This classification was considered the most important of the 2018 Tirreno–Adriatico, and the winner of the classification was considered the winner of the race.
The second classification was the points classification. Riders were awarded points for finishing in the top ten in a stage. Unlike in the points classification in the Tour de France, the winners of all stages – with the exception of the team time trial, which awarded no points towards the classification – were awarded the same number of points. Points were also won in intermediate sprints; five points for crossing the sprint line first, three points for second place, two for third and one for fourth. The leader of the points classification was awarded an orange jersey,[31] a change from the red jersey awarded in 2017.
There was also a mountains classification, for which points were awarded for reaching the top of a climb before other riders. Each of the sixteen climbs was categorised as either Superior-, or single-category, with more points available for the more difficult, Superior-category climb to Sassotetto.[31] For this climb, the top seven riders earned points; on the other climbs, only the top four riders earned points. The leadership of the mountains classification was marked by a green jersey.[31]
The fourth jersey represented the young rider classification, marked by a white jersey.[30] Only riders born after 1 January 1993 were eligible; the young rider best placed in the general classification was the leader of the young rider classification.[30] There was also a classification for teams, in which the times of the best three cyclists in a team on each stage were added together; the leading team at the end of the race was the team with the lowest cumulative time.[30]
