Mauro Schmid got his revenge on the final stage of the Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali as he sprinted to victory to snatch the overall title.
The Swiss champion had finished second on three separate occasions in the opening four stages, but he was able to get the better of race leader Axel Laurance in a tight two-man sprint to steal the general classification in dramatic style.
With just two seconds separating the top two on GC, the final stage looked set to be a tense battle between the duo. An early breakaway was allowed a slender advantage in the opening kilometres before Team Jayco AlUla made their intentions clear as they moved to the head of the peloton to take control.
After three close second places in sprint finishes earlier in the week, the Australian squad went on the offensive and used their strength in numbers as Mountain Bike World Champion Alan Hatherly launched an attack over the final climb.
Schmid then sensed his opportunity as he jumped across to his teammate, with the pair quickly opening up a gap on the reduced group behind. However, the race dynamic changed once again as race leader Laurance bridged across to the Team Jayco AlUla pair, teeing up a tense finish.
Laurance had twice got the better of Schmid in the opening four stages, but Schmid turned the tables on his rival when it really mattered, snatching the stage win on the line and the valuable bonus seconds to seal the overall victory.
Third place on the final stage was also enough to see Hatherly join his teammate on the final general classification podium in third place overall.
Mauro Schmid:
“I think it was the perfect ending to this week. Being up there with Alan at the end was really fun and the whole team rode amazing today. I’m really happy to finally repay them with a victory, winning the general classification like this is super nice.
When I saw Laurance come back, I was a bit surprised at first because I thought we still had a good gap. I think with one more kilometre we could have survived in front and then Alan and I could push on together, so it would be difficult for the others to catch us.
I tried to attack once, but I knew that section wasn’t difficult enough to make the difference. At that point, I just had to trust my sprint. I knew that today would be a completely different sprint, after a full climb, compared to the ones on other days, where it was more of a bunch sprint. Today we were against each other, it wasn’t about positioning. Alan did a really great lead-out for me, keeping the pace high so I could bide my time. Today was another very long sprint and I’m happy to have won it.”
2026 Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali – Stage 5 Results:
- Mauro Schmid (Team Jayco AlUla) 04:01:52
- Axel Laurance ST
- Alan Hatherly (Team Jayco AlUla) +0:03
2026 Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali – GC:
- Mauro Schmid (Team Jayco AlUla) 19:01:50
- Axel Laurance +0:02
- Alan Hatherly (Team Jayco AlUla) +0:27
