Ayuso lifts Neptune's trident after winning Tirreno-Adriatico race

SAN BENEDETTO DEL TRONTO, Italy (AP) — Spanish cyclist Juan Ayuso secured overall victory in the weeklong Tirreno-Adriatico race on Sunday, with Jonathan Milan winning the bunch sprint to take the final stage of “The Race of the Two Seas.”

Ayuso had taken the lead from Filippo Ganna on Saturday, with a superb solo attack to triumph atop the hardest mountain stage of the race, and he finished safely in the peloton in San Benedetto del Tronto to get his hands on one of cycling’s most distinctive trophies – after finishing runner-up last year.

The giant trophy of the sea-to-sea race is shaped like Neptune’s three-pronged trident.

Ganna, who had slipped to third the previous day, managed to move up to second after picking up an intermediate time bonus. The Italian ended the race 35 seconds behind Ayuso and just one second ahead of compatriot Antonio Tiberi.

Milan — another Italian — beat Sam Bennett by a wheel in the bunch sprint for the line, with Olav Kooij third.

Paul Magnier crashed just behind them, while fighting for position, bringing down a number of other cyclists.

It was Milan’s second stage win in this year’s Tirreno-Adriatico, matching last year’s tally, where he also won the final stage.

The 147-kilometer stage (91-mile) started in Porto Potenza Picena and included two climbs before finishing with five laps of a flat, 15-kilometer circuit along the seafront.

AP cycling: https://apnews.com/hub/cycling

Italy's Jonathan Milan, right, wins the seventh stage of the Tirreno Adriatico cycling race, from Porto Potenza Picena to San Benedetto Del Tronto, Italy, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (Massimo Paolone/LaPresse via AP)

Spain's Juan Ayuso Pesquera celebrates winning the Tirreno Adriatico cycling race, in San Benedetto Del Tronto, Italy, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (Massimo Paolone/LaPresse via AP)

Italy's Jonathan Milan wins the seventh stage of the Tirreno Adriatico cycling race, from Porto Potenza Picena to San Benedetto Del Tronto, Italy, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (Massimo Paolone/LaPresse via AP)

Spain's Juan Ayuso Pesquera celebrates winning the Tirreno Adriatico cycling race, with second placed Italy's Filippo Ganna, left, and third placed Ita;y's Antonio Tiberi, following the seventh and final stage from Porto Potenza Picena to San Benedetto Del Tronto, Italy, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (Massimo Paolone/LaPresse via AP)

Spain's Juan Ayuso Pesquera holds the trophy after winning the Tirreno Adriatico cycling race, in San Benedetto Del Tronto, Italy, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (Massimo Paolone/LaPresse via AP)

Spain's Juan Ayuso Pesquera celebrates winning the Tirreno Adriatico cycling race, in San Benedetto Del Tronto, Italy, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (Massimo Paolone/LaPresse via AP)

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Richard “Dick” Codey, a former acting governor of New Jersey and the longest serving legislator in the state's history, died Sunday. He was 79.

Codey’s wife, Mary Jo Codey, confirmed her husband’s death to The Associated Press.

“Gov. Richard J. Codey passed away peacefully this morning at home, surrounded by family, after a brief illness,” Codey's family wrote in a Facebook post on Codey's official page.

"Our family has lost a beloved husband, father and grandfather -- and New Jersey lost a remarkable public servant who touched the lives of all who knew him," the family said.

Known for his feisty, regular-guy persona, Codey was a staunch advocate of mental health awareness and care issues. The Democrat also championed legislation to ban smoking from indoor areas and sought more money for stem cell research.

Codey, the son of a northern New Jersey funeral home owner, entered the state Assembly in 1974 and served there until he was elected to the state Senate in 1982. He served as Senate president from 2002 to 2010.

Codey first served as acting governor for a brief time in 2002, after Christine Todd Whitman’s resignation to join President George W. Bush’s administration. He held the post again for 14 months after Gov. Jim McGreevey resigned in 2004.

At that time, New Jersey law mandated that the Senate president assume the governor’s role if a vacancy occurred, and that person would serve until the next election.

Codey routinely drew strong praise from residents in polls, and he gave serious consideration to seeking the Democratic nomination for governor in 2005. But he ultimately chose not to run when party leaders opted to back wealthy Wall Street executive Jon Corzine, who went on to win the office.

Codey would again become acting governor after Corzine was incapacitated in April 2007 due to serious injuries he suffered in a car accident. He held the post for nearly a month before Corzine resumed his duties.

After leaving the governor’s office, Codey returned to the Senate and also published a memoir that detailed his decades of public service, along with stories about his personal and family life.

“He lived his life with humility, compassion and a deep sense of responsibility to others,” his family wrote. “He made friends as easily with Presidents as he did with strangers in all-night diners.”

Codey and his wife often spoke candidly about her past struggles with postpartum depression, and that led to controversy in early 2005, when a talk radio host jokingly criticized Mary Jo and her mental health on the air.

Codey, who was at the radio station for something else, confronted the host and said he told him that he wished he could “take him outside.” But the host claimed Codey actually threatened to “take him out,” which Codey denied.

His wife told The Associated Press that Codey was willing to support her speaking out about postpartum depression, even if it cost him elected office.

“He was a really, really good guy,” Mary Jo Codey said. “He said, ‘If you want to do it, I don’t care if I get elected again.’”

Jack Brook contributed reporting from New Orleans.

FILE - New Jersey State Sen. and former Democratic Gov. Richard Codey is seen before New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy delivers his State of the State address to a joint session of the Legislature at the statehouse, in Trenton, N.J., Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)