Swiss champion Mauro Schmid sprinted to a solid second place on the opening stage of the Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali.
The result sets up the former race winner for a strong week of racing as the 26-year-old looks to mount a general classification fight at the event he last won in 2023.
The punchy first stage saw a breakaway go clear after the first categorised climb of the day, with Team Jayco AlUla content to remain in the peloton and help out with the pace making.
The escapees were comfortably reeled back in before the ascent of La Morra, with the summit of the category two climb coming with 10km to go. Team Jayco AlUla attempted to force the pace over the climb, but a strong headwind prevented any gaps from opening up.
With no splits appearing, the squad switched their focus to a sprint finish as the bunch raced into Barolo. Schmid battled hard for position through the technical final kilometre and launched his sprint early ahead of the last corner.
In the end, only Axel Laurance could overhaul the Swiss rider before the line, with the Schmid holding on to take valuable bonus seconds for the runner-up spot.
Mauro Schmid:
“The boys helped me position for the sprint and I launched quite early because I was a little bit blocked in the middle. I was more or less in front until 100 metres to go and then before the corner I got passed by Laurance.
In the end I think second place in a finish like this, with quite a big group in a sprint, this is maybe the maximum I could do today. I think it was really important to get through today because I think today was more about there being a good chance to lose the GC if the gaps opened up in the sprint.
Also, there were quite a lot of crashes, so I’m happy I stayed out of it, and I think nobody from our team was involved in any crashes, so that’s already a pretty good start. I think the bonification seconds will also be quite important for this race, so that’s a super good situation to start now already with six seconds.”
2026 Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali – Stage 1 Results:
1. Axel Laurance 3:44:52
2. Mauro Schmid (Team Jayco AlUla) ST
3. Diego Ulissi ST
Photo: Sprint Cycling
