Taddei Pogachar made his intentions clear for a second consecutive stage win at Tirreno-Adriatico on Wednesday, again gaining a 3-second bonus in the intermediate sprint in the last 30km to move closer to the overall lead.

The Tour de France winner jumped out on the final climb in the Umbrian town of Amelia, 27km from the line, and continued his offensive after the sprint, threatening the sprinter teams for 15km, perhaps the leader of overall rival Quick-Step Alphavinir, Remco Evenpole, and dealt a psychological blow to his overall rival, Quick-Step-Alfavinir's leader.

However, the young Belgian seemed to call Pogachar's bluff and did not go with Pogachar, instead sending his teammate Julien Alaphilippe to attack. However, Pogachar, along with UAE Team Emirates teammates Marc Soler, Alaphilippe, and Tao Geoghegan Hart (Ineos Grenadiers), counter-bluffed to set up the attack.

They were eventually swept away by the sprinter teams with 10km to go, with Pogachar finishing 23rd behind stage winner Caleb Yuan (Lotto Soudal). Pogachar's win was only a bonus 3 seconds, but its significance was far greater and far more attractive.

"I wasn't going to attack," Pogachar tried to suggest.

"I caught the break and had a three-second gap, so I took it into a sprint. There was a gap and there were good riders in front of me, so I did my best."

Pogachar admitted that the attack was a preview of what was to come in the mountain stages of Bellante on Thursday and Fermo on Friday, and especially in the mountain stage of Monte Carpegna on Saturday.

"The next few days will be hard stages with small hard climbs," he said.

Pogachar planned his attack later that day, warning Lemko Evenpole and the other riders who would challenge him on Tirreno-Adriatico that every second counted.

"When you get a chance, you take it. That's cycling," he said of Tuesday's attack, which earned him a one-second time bonus.

"It's a fun race. We were there, we went for it, and we got it, and we're going to try not to waste a second."

Pogachar is aggressively racing to make up the seven seconds he lost to Evenpoel in the opening time trial. He is now only 3 seconds behind his biggest rival and 14 seconds behind race leader Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers).

Thursday's first uphill finish in Verante is sure to be a battle for every second. It will be a thrilling finale, with Pogachar and Evenpoel bumping shoulders for the first time.

The last 4km of the stage is a 7% climb with a hairpin curve at 750m remaining. The riders who make it out of this hairpin will sprint to the finish line for the stage win and the 10-6-4 second prize money awarded to the first three riders.

Pogachar said he was confident of his chances against Evenpole and the other riders in the uphill finish.

"I don't know if I'm faster than him in those finishes. We will see in a few days which one is faster," he said enthusiastically.

"There are a lot of riders here, not just Lemko. You can't focus on just one rider. But I'm excited to start racing hard and competing with everyone."