Monday’s penultimate stage at the Tirreno-Adriatico provoked mixed reactions on Italian team Lampre-Merida as Damiano Cunego clinched the KOM jersey while Filippo Pozzato chose to call it quits.

"I'm happy because the victory in the KOM rewards all the efforts I made during these past days,” Cunego explained. “As was the case yesterday [Sunday], today [Monday] too I was willing to attack and I could join a good breakaway. It's a pity the bunch didn't give us too much advantage, but I'm satisfied: I did something good for cycling fans, for the team and for myself, and I'm aware that my condition is increasing."

Pozzato did what almost one third of the peloton chose to do; quit the race during the stage. As he explained afterwards, "It started raining and the weather got so cold. I'm recovering from a cold, so I did not want to risk any relapses prior to the up-coming challenges and therefore I preferred to stop."