Tour of the Alps podium history | 2017 edition | 2019 edition | Start list
Stage 1 | Stage 2 | Stage 3 | Stage 4 | Stage 5

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Friday, April 20: 5th & final stage, Rattenberg - Innsbruck, 164.2 km

Stage 5 map, profile & organizer's preview

Mark Padun wins the final stage. I think we'll be seeing more of this rider.

The race: Here's the organizer's final report:

The Tour of the Alps speaks French: it’s Thibaut Pinot’s feast. The Groupama-FDJ managed to defend the lead in the final stage ending in Innsbruck, taking home the overall success he had barely missed in 2017

A beautiful 2018 Tour of the Alps found its worthy conclusion today, Friday April 20th, in Innsbruck, capital of Tyrol, where the next UCI Road World Championships will take place in September. Winning the second edition of the new Euroregional project was Thibaut Pinot, the Groupama-FDJ Frenchman that last year, on his debut, saw the overall win vanish for a matter of seconds, to the advantage of Geraint Thomas.

That defeat was hard to swallow. In 2017, after winning the ending stage in Trento, he had said: “I love this race and these places, next year I will be back to win.” Thibaut kept his word, in spite of no stage wins on the occasion, and did it by distancing by 15 seconds Domenico Pozzovivo (Bahrain-Merida) and Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana), both on his sides on the final podium. Overall fourth place for possibly the most expected rider in the race, Chris Froome, the leader of Team Sky, whose team failed the bid of a fourth consecutive win. Generally speaking, the Tour of the Alps showed a competitive Froome, maybe not yet at his best, but certainly eager to show up and test himself and his rivals. Faring slighly below the expectations was Fabio Aru (UAE Team Emirates), who finished in sixth place, also behind George Bennett (LottoNL-Jumbo): like at the Alpe di Pampeago, also in Innsbruck the Italian couldn’t hold up the pace of the strongest rivals.

Meantime, the finishing line in Innsbruck brought luck to another emerging prospect: 21-year-old Ukrainian Mark Padun (Bahrain-Merida) celebrated in the fifth stage, Rattenberg-Innsbruck (164,2 km), his first pro win, breaking away solo from the nine-man group that came on top of the three times up the Olympia Climb, the main ascent of the upcoming UCI Road World Championships.

The day had started with a nine-man breakaway – Bidard (Ag2r-La Mondiale), Bagioli (Nippo Vini Fantini), Rodriguez Garaico (Euskadi-Murias), Anton (Team Dimension Data), Gavazzi (Androni Giocattoli), Andreetta (Bardiani Csf), Senni (Bardiani Csf), Guy (Israel Cycling Academy), Mosca (Wilier Triestina Selle Italia) – who opened up to 10 minutes on the chasing peloton before entering the final circuit. But as soon as the leading teams started pushing for good, their advantage faded quickly. Anyway, Spaniard Rodriguez could be happy with the KOM green jersey, whilst Pascal Eenkhoorn (LottoNL-Jumbo) secured the intermediate sprints’ red jersey. The white jersey remained on the shoulders of Ben O’ Connor (Dimension Data), overall seventh and real revelation of this Tour of the Alps.

After the breakaway was reeled in atop the second time on the Olympia Climb, Miguel Angel Lopez tried to surprise the fellow leaders on descent, followed later by Pozzovivo and Pinot. The three leaders of the GC have remained upfront until 5 km to go, when the peloton led by Chris Froome and his key domestique Kenny Elissonde finally managed to bring them back, before the decisive kick by Padun.

“I had been thinking of that in the previous laps,” told the Ukrainian youngster, “I realized there could be some space to go, and I’d rather try and miss than regret not going. It’s just my third race this year, and I am starting to understand what kind of riders I am: short stage races could be my thing. Maybe even the Tour of the Alps, in the future…”

In the present, the trophy realized by Mastro7 is firmly in the hands of Thibaut Pinot: “When I managed to rejoin Lopez with Pozzovivo on the way down, I realized I had made it. The Tour of the Alps is one of the most beautiful and hardest races I have ever taken, and I am delighted to have it in my palmares now.”

“It has been a perfect week, in one of the most beautiful areas in Europe. Last year, I had promised I would be back for winning. Now, I promise I will be back to make a double.”

In Innsbruck, there was also space for remembrance and emotion, with the commemoration celebrated by Tyrol’s bishop Hermann Gletter for Michele Scarponi, passed away just less than a year ago, with the participation of Giacomo and Flavia Scarponi, Michele’s parents.

“Michele was an example of what cycling should be” – GS Alto Garda President Giacomo Santini said in his emotional speech, “and what becomes thanks to extraordinary human beings like him. Michele was a great rider, but was also joy, energy, generosity, humbleness. A friend, a father, a brother. There is so much more in cycling than classifications, and Michele will be in our heart to remember it forever.”

Complete results:

164.2 kilometers raced at an average speed of 38.459 km/hr

1	PADUN Mark	Bahrain-Merida	4hr 16min 10sec
2	BENNETT George	LottoNL-Jumbo	@ 5sec
3	HIRT Jan	Astana	0:06
4	CICCONE Giulio	Bardiani-CSF	s.t.
5	O'CONNOR Ben	Dimension Data	s.t.
6	PINOT Thibaut	Groupama-FDJ	0:09
7	LOPEZ Miguel Angel	Astana	s.t.
8	FROOME Christopher	Sky	s.t.
9	POZZOVIVO Domenico	Bahrain-Merida	s.t.
10	ELISSONDE Kenny	Sky	0:11
11	DUPONT Hubert	Ag2r La Mondiale	0:38
12	SANCHEZ Luis Leon	Astana	s.t.
13	ARU Fabio	UAE-Team Emirates	s.t.
14	ZEITS Andrey	Astana	s.t.
15	VISCONTI Giovanni	Bahrain-Merida	1:20
16	GENIEZ Alexandre	Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
17	HERMANS Ben	Israel Cycling Academy	1:34
18	BIZKARRA Mikel	Euskadi Basque Country	s.t.
19	ZOIDL Riccardo	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	s.t.
20	BOUWMAN Koen	LottoNL-Jumbo	2:24
21	CUNEGO Damiano	Nippo-Vini Fantini	s.t.
22	KUDUS Merhawi	Dimension Data	s.t.
23	RAVASI Edward	UAE-Team Emirates	s.t.
24	SCHLEGEL Michal	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
25	MASNADA Fausto	Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec	s.t.
26	REICHENBACH Sebastien	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
27	MEINTJES Louis	Dimension Data	s.t.
28	BILBAO Pello	Astana	s.t.
29	PREIDLER Georg	Groupama-FDJ	5:06
30	EARLE Nathan	Israel Cycling Academy	s.t.
31	FLOREZ Miguel Eduardo	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	s.t.
32	SENNI Manuel	Bardiani-CSF	s.t.
33	SANTAROMITA Ivan	Nippo-Vini Fantini	s.t.
34	RODRIGUEZ Oscar	Euskadi Basque Country	s.t.
35	PETILLI Simone	UAE-Team Emirates	s.t.
36	VELASCO Simone	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	6:16
37	JAUREGUI Quentin	Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
38	FIRSANOV Sergey	Gazprom-RusVelo	6:17
39	BOU Joan	Nippo-Vini Fantini	s.t.
40	ARSLANOV Ildar	Gazprom-RusVelo	6:18
41	VLASOV Aleksandr	Gazprom-RusVelo	s.t.
42	BATTAGLIN Enrico	LottoNL-Jumbo	s.t.
43	TORRES Rodolfo Andres	Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec	s.t.
44	RAGGIO Luca	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	s.t.
45	CONCI Nicola	Nazionale Italia	s.t.
46	ITURRIA Mikel	Euskadi Basque Country	s.t.
47	BISOLTI Alessandro	Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec	s.t.
48	TUREK Daniel	Israel Cycling Academy	s.t.
49	MONACO Alessandro	Nazionale Italia	s.t.
50	ANDREETTA Simone	Bardiani-CSF	s.t.
51	EIBEGGER Markus	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	s.t.
52	ZARDINI Edoardo	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	s.t.
53	TURRIN Alex	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	s.t.
54	BAGIOLI Nicola	Nippo-Vini Fantini	s.t.
55	TXOPERENA Beñat	Euskadi Basque Country	9:46
56	CONTI Valerio	UAE-Team Emirates	10:11
57	NIV Guy	Israel Cycling Academy	s.t.
58	HENAO Sebastián	Sky	s.t.
59	DE LA CRUZ David	Sky	s.t.
60	BIDARD François	Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
61	SCHINNAGEL Johannes	Tirol Cycling	14:49
62	LUDVIGSSON Tobias	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
63	GROSSSCHARTNER Felix	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
64	PICCOT Michel	Nazionale Italia	s.t.
65	AGNOLI Valerio	Bahrain-Merida	s.t.
66	MONTAGUTI Matteo	Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
67	DÍAZ José Manuel	Israel Cycling Academy	s.t.
68	MOSCA Jacopo	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	s.t.
69	LAENGEN Vegard Stake	UAE-Team Emirates	s.t.
70	BERHANE Natnael	Dimension Data	s.t.
71	MORABITO Steve	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
72	DURASEK Kristijan	UAE-Team Emirates	s.t.
73	STALNOV Nikita	Astana	s.t.
74	CARBONI Giovanni	Bardiani-CSF	15:59
75	ROTA Lorenzo	Bardiani-CSF	s.t.
76	SOBRERO Matteo	Nazionale Italia	s.t.
77	FRIEDRICH Marco	Tirol Cycling	s.t.
78	AMICI Alberto	Nazionale Italia	s.t.
79	OLIVIER Daan	LottoNL-Jumbo	s.t.
80	GOLDSTEIN Omer	Israel Cycling Academy	s.t.
81	GEBREMEDHIN Awet	Israel Cycling Academy	s.t.
82	RABITSCH Stephan	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	s.t.
83	BARCELO Fernando	Euskadi Basque Country	s.t.
84	KOCH Jonas	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
85	PLUCINSKI Leszek	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
86	ITO Masakazu	Nippo-Vini Fantini	s.t.
87	VAN HOECKE Gijs	LottoNL-Jumbo	18:42
88	EENKHOORN Pascal	LottoNL-Jumbo	s.t.
89	ZIMMERMANN Georg	Tirol Cycling	s.t.
90	SISR Frantisek	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.

Final GC after Stage 5:

• Final GC leader: Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ)
• Mountains classification winner: Oscar Rodriguez (Euskadi Basque Country)
• Sprint classification winner: Pascal Eenkhoom (LottoNL-Jumbo)
• Best young rider: Ben O'Connor (Dimenson Data)
• Team classification winner: Astana

716.9 kilometers raced at an average speed of 38.793 km/hr

1	PINOT Thibaut	Groupama-FDJ	18hr 28min 48sec
2	POZZOVIVO Domenico	Bahrain-Merida	@ 15sec
3	LOPEZ Miguel Angel	Astana	s.t.
4	FROOME Christopher	Sky	0:16
5	BENNETT George	LottoNL-Jumbo	1:00
6	ARU Fabio	UAE-Team Emirates	1:19
7	O'CONNOR Ben	Dimension Data	1:33
8	SANCHEZ Luis Leon	Astana	1:35
9	CICCONE Giulio	Bardiani-CSF	1:42
10	HIRT Jan	Astana	1:48
11	ZEITS Andrey	Astana	3:11
12	PADUN Mark	Bahrain-Merida	3:14
13	HERMANS Ben	Israel Cycling Academy	4:34
14	BILBAO Pello	Astana	4:51
15	SCHLEGEL Michal	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	4:52
16	ZOIDL Riccardo	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	5:18
17	BOUWMAN Koen	LottoNL-Jumbo	5:42
18	MASNADA Fausto	Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec	6:54
19	BIZKARRA Mikel	Euskadi Basque Country	7:40
20	MEINTJES Louis	Dimension Data	9:36
21	CUNEGO Damiano	Nippo-Vini Fantini	10:00
22	CONCI Nicola	Nazionale Italia	10:43
23	KUDUS Merhawi	Dimension Data	10:46
24	SANTAROMITA Ivan	Nippo-Vini Fantini	11:09
25	ELISSONDE Kenny	Sky	11:29
26	REICHENBACH Sebastien	Groupama-FDJ	13:50
27	RAVASI Edward	UAE-Team Emirates	15:11
28	GENIEZ Alexandre	Ag2r La Mondiale	15:35
29	DUPONT Hubert	Ag2r La Mondiale	15:50
30	VISCONTI Giovanni	Bahrain-Merida	16:03
31	VLASOV Aleksandr	Gazprom-RusVelo	22:58
32	SENNI Manuel	Bardiani-CSF	25:24
33	PREIDLER Georg	Groupama-FDJ	25:39
34	BISOLTI Alessandro	Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec	26:16
35	ITURRIA Mikel	Euskadi Basque Country	26:43
36	TURRIN Alex	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	28:25
37	BATTAGLIN Enrico	LottoNL-Jumbo	30:00
38	TORRES Rodolfo Andres	Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec	32:04
39	CARBONI Giovanni	Bardiani-CSF	32:35
40	HENAO Sebastián	Sky	33:51
41	RAGGIO Luca	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	34:11
42	DE LA CRUZ David	Sky	36:01
43	MONTAGUTI Matteo	Ag2r La Mondiale	36:38
44	LAENGEN Vegard Stake	UAE-Team Emirates	37:29
45	EARLE Nathan	Israel Cycling Academy	37:37
46	FLOREZ Miguel Eduardo	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	s.t.
47	STALNOV Nikita	Astana	38:01
48	GROSSSCHARTNER Felix	Bora-hansgrohe	38:13
49	ANDREETTA Simone	Bardiani-CSF	38:42
50	FIRSANOV Sergey	Gazprom-RusVelo	38:48
51	EIBEGGER Markus	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	39:48
52	PETILLI Simone	UAE-Team Emirates	40:12
53	BOU Joan	Nippo-Vini Fantini	40:45
54	ZARDINI Edoardo	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	41:42
55	VELASCO Simone	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	43:59
56	JAUREGUI Quentin	Ag2r La Mondiale	44:36
57	BIDARD François	Ag2r La Mondiale	45:21
58	AMICI Alberto	Nazionale Italia	48:09
59	CONTI Valerio	UAE-Team Emirates	48:22
60	AGNOLI Valerio	Bahrain-Merida	49:23
61	TXOPERENA Beñat	Euskadi Basque Country	50:15
62	ROTA Lorenzo	Bardiani-CSF	50:41
63	ARSLANOV Ildar	Gazprom-RusVelo	51:01
64	MORABITO Steve	Groupama-FDJ	51:13
65	MONACO Alessandro	Nazionale Italia	54:42
66	RABITSCH Stephan	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	54:47
67	DURASEK Kristijan	UAE-Team Emirates	55:04
68	BERHANE Natnael	Dimension Data	56:17
69	BAGIOLI Nicola	Nippo-Vini Fantini	56:46
70	TUREK Daniel	Israel Cycling Academy	57:51
71	NIV Guy	Israel Cycling Academy	58:59
72	LUDVIGSSON Tobias	Groupama-FDJ	59:51
73	DÍAZ José Manuel	Israel Cycling Academy	1:01:35
74	ZIMMERMANN Georg	Tirol Cycling	1:02:10
75	SOBRERO Matteo	Nazionale Italia	1:02:58
76	RODRIGUEZ Oscar	Euskadi Basque Country	1:04:28
77	ITO Masakazu	Nippo-Vini Fantini	1:07:11
78	OLIVIER Daan	LottoNL-Jumbo	1:07:32
79	PICCOT Michel	Nazionale Italia	1:08:56
80	KOCH Jonas	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	1:08:59
81	PLUCINSKI Leszek	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	1:09:32
82	SCHINNAGEL Johannes	Tirol Cycling	1:11:00
83	MOSCA Jacopo	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	1:11:08
84	VAN HOECKE Gijs	LottoNL-Jumbo	1:11:32
85	SISR Frantisek	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	1:11:42
86	BARCELO Fernando	Euskadi Basque Country	1:13:37
87	EENKHOORN Pascal	LottoNL-Jumbo	1:16:17
88	GEBREMEDHIN Awet	Israel Cycling Academy	1:16:22
89	GOLDSTEIN Omer	Israel Cycling Academy	1:26:37
90	FRIEDRICH Marco	Tirol Cycling	1:34:33

Stage 5 map, profile & organizer's preview:

Stage 5 map

Stage 5 profile

Organizer's stage 5 preview:

For the final and determining day of the race, the Tour of the Alps sets up a truly intriguing route. The start will be given in Rattenberg, the smallest historical city in Austria. After passing through the middle age city centre with its glassmakers’ workshops, the race starts on Tirolestrasse, north-eastbound. In this passage there aren’t any tough climb, yet a continuous series of up-and-downs until the intermediate sprint in Mariastein (km 33,6).

Back to south-west, after 56 km the peloton returns in the nearby of the start, but after passing Brixlegg, the road starts rising on the Alpbachtal, toward the first categorized climb of the day in Alpbach, “the most beautiful floreal village in Europe”, after 64,1 km; 7,4 km at a 7,1% average gradient will make a first group selection.

A long and fast descent, through the residential area of Reith I'm Alpbachertal, will bring the race back to the valley floor and to the Tirolerstrasse in Brixlegg where the aid area starts. 15 flat kilometers will lead to a new uphill section, short and demanding, ending in Gnadewald (Km 105,3). This ascent represents an exclusive preview of the upcoming Road World Championship.

A new downhill will lead the peroton to Hall in Tirol, before immediately climbing to Aldrans and the circuit which will host the golden race next September. A first time up the Igls/Olympiaclimb climb will be followed by a fast descent to the outskirts of Innsbruck and the entrance of the Olympiastrasse. From there (km 130,3) the riders will make two laps of a restricted portion of the rainbow circuit, 13,8 km long.

The second time atop the climb (7,8 km at 5,5%) will award KoM points at km 138,1. The third and last time over the top of the ascent will haven with 12,3 km to go, 6 of which on descent, and the others in the heart of Innsbruck, practically following the World Championship circuit’s itinerary. Those who manage to earn a gap on the climb could actually have a shot of keeping it and get first on the finishing line, located on the Rennweg.

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Thursday, April 19: Stage 4, Chiusa - Lienz, 134.3 km

Stage 4 map, profile & organizer's preview

Luis Leon Sanchez wins Tour of the Alps stage four.

The race: Here's the organizer's stage report.

When you look at the Tour of the Alps’ GC at the end of stage 4, the one that took the peloton from Sudtirol to Tirol, from Chiusa/Klausen to Lienz, you might think that little or nothing has happened over these 134,3 km. And that assumption would be certainly wrong.

Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana) enjoyed the stage win, using one of those trademark moves that helped him win – among others – two San Sebastian Classics and four Tour de France stages. Sanchez showed up solo on the finish line in Lienz, replicating the feat of young Ben O’Connor (Dimension Data) of 24 hours earlier in Meran. “I had regrets after yesterday’s stage – the Spaniard confessed – as I was supposed to go for success on the day, but I hesitated a little too much, and the Aussie went away. Today I didn’t have a doubt: I wanted to go without waiting for the sprint. It turned out to be the right choice.” Sanchez gave his Astana team a third win out of four stages: the Kazakh team is actually making a big impression, also looking ahead to the Giro.

Behind the Spaniard, New Zealand’s George Bennett (LottoNL-Jumbo) came in 6 seconds later, followed by another teammate of his, Koen Bouwman, who edged the sprint of a 12-man group featuring all the top favorites. Fourth position for Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), who managed a unique feat so far in this Tour of the Alps: keeping the leader’s jersey for more than a day. But he had to fight for such privilege.

Indeed, the battle started already on the Terenten climb, after merely 30 km, when seven riders moved on the attack, with several big names in it: Ben Hermans (Israel Cycling Academy), Hubert Dupont (Ag2R-La Mondiale), David De La Cruz (Team Sky), Davide Villella (Astana), Mikel Bizkarra (Euskadi-Murias), Felix Grossschartner (Bora-hansgrohe) and Louis Meintjes (Dimension Data), joined shortly after by Kristijan Durasek (UAE Team Emirates) and Mark Padun (Bahrain-Merida).

When crossing the Austrian border, the leaders had a maximum advantage of 2.16, that meant virtual leadership for Hermans. The peloton’s comeback came fast though on the Anras climb. UAE Team Emirates started pushing hard at the front, and that was certainly the sign of something happening, and indeed, after the acceleration of Dutchman Bouwman and Italian Nicola Conci, there came the attack by Fabio Aru, with Miguel Angel Lopez behind him. Chris Froome reacted and bridged back of the four, but Pinot and Pozzovivo were fart in reacting and closing the gap.

After the top of the climb, the fourteen leaders came back together, until the final move by Sanchez with 2 km to go: the last-gasp attempt by Bennett proved fruitless.

Pinot has kept the fuchsia jersey, with 15 seconds on Pozzovivo and Lopez, 16 on Froome and 50 on Aru. The Frenchman’s defense was everything but easy though: “Today it wasn’t my best day, and I had a hard time responding to the many attacks that came from my rivals. Pozzovivo, Lopez, Froome, Aru, are all very strong riders, all capable of attacking and making gaps, and none of them held back today. But my advantage is still there, and only one stage is left: 15 seconds can be a lot, or very little, and tomorrow we will need a perfect race to bring this jersey home. It was my clear goal, now we have to achieve it for good.”

Meran’s winner Ben O’Connor kept his best youngster’s white jersey, whilst Pozzovivo took over the KOM green jersey, and Ben Hermans dressed the Intermediate Sprints’ red jersey.

The final challenge of the Tour of the Alps will happen tomorrow, Friday April 20th, between Rattenberg and Innsbruck (164,2 km), in a stage that will pass twice on a section of the next UCI Road World Championships’ circuit. Three times up the Olympia Climb will set up the last springboards for those who will try to displace Pinot. One thing for sure: no one will give up until the final meter.

Results:

134.3 kilometers raced at an average speed of 40.293 km/hr

1	SANCHEZ Luis Leon	Astana	3hr 19min 59sec
2	BENNETT George	LottoNL-Jumbo	@ 6sec
3	BOUWMAN Koen	LottoNL-Jumbo	0:11
4	PINOT Thibaut	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
5	ARU Fabio	UAE-Team Emirates	s.t.
6	POZZOVIVO Domenico	Bahrain-Merida	s.t.
7	CONCI Nicola	Nazionale Italia	s.t.
8	LOPEZ Miguel Angel	Astana	s.t.
9	BILBAO Pello	Astana	s.t.
10	FROOME Christopher	Sky	s.t.
11	CICCONE Giulio	Bardiani-CSF	s.t.
12	ZEITS Andrey	Astana	s.t.
13	HIRT Jan	Astana	s.t.
14	O'CONNOR Ben	Dimension Data	s.t.
15	VISCONTI Giovanni	Bahrain-Merida	0:50
16	PADUN Mark	Bahrain-Merida	s.t.
17	EIBEGGER Markus	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	s.t.
18	KUDUS Merhawi	Dimension Data	s.t.
19	SCHLEGEL Michal	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
20	FIRSANOV Sergey	Gazprom-RusVelo	s.t.
21	BIZKARRA Mikel	Euskadi Basque Country	s.t.
22	MASNADA Fausto	Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec	s.t.
23	SANTAROMITA Ivan	Nippo-Vini Fantini	s.t.
24	DEIGNAN Philip	Sky	s.t.
25	BALLERINI Davide	Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec	1:18
26	HERMANS Ben	Israel Cycling Academy	s.t.
27	TURRIN Alex	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	s.t.
28	ZOIDL Riccardo	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	s.t.
29	ELISSONDE Kenny	Sky	s.t.
30	CUNEGO Damiano	Nippo-Vini Fantini	2:35
31	TORRES Rodolfo Andres	Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec	s.t.
32	HENAO Sebastián	Sky	s.t.
33	VLASOV Aleksandr	Gazprom-RusVelo	3:02
34	MEINTJES Louis	Dimension Data	s.t.
35	FLOREZ Miguel Eduardo	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	s.t.
36	MONTAGUTI Matteo	Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
37	BISOLTI Alessandro	Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec	s.t.
38	ITURRIA Mikel	Euskadi Basque Country	s.t.
39	RAGGIO Luca	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	s.t.
40	STALNOV Nikita	Astana	3:06
41	REICHENBACH Sebastien	Groupama-FDJ	4:46
42	ROSA Diego	Sky	5:05
43	GROSSSCHARTNER Felix	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
44	ARSLANOV Ildar	Gazprom-RusVelo	5:55
45	VILLELLA Davide	Astana	s.t.
46	DUPONT Hubert	Ag2r La Mondiale	8:09
47	DE LA CRUZ David	Sky	8:59
48	RAVASI Edward	UAE-Team Emirates	9:10
49	LAENGEN Vegard Stake	UAE-Team Emirates	s.t.
50	CARBONI Giovanni	Bardiani-CSF	9:23
51	ANTON Igor	Dimension Data	s.t.
52	BAGIOLI Nicola	Nippo-Vini Fantini	s.t.
53	COVILI Luca	Nazionale Italia	9:44
54	MOSCA Jacopo	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	11:55
55	GAVAZZI Francesco	Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec	s.t.
56	NIEMIEC Przemyslaw	UAE-Team Emirates	s.t.
57	KOBERNYAK Evgeny	Gazprom-RusVelo	s.t.
58	FRAPPORTI Marco	Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec	s.t.
59	CONTI Valerio	UAE-Team Emirates	s.t.
60	AGNOLI Valerio	Bahrain-Merida	s.t.
61	FORTIN Filippo	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	s.t.
62	DÍAZ José Manuel	Israel Cycling Academy	s.t.
63	ROTA Lorenzo	Bardiani-CSF	s.t.
64	BARCELO Fernando	Euskadi Basque Country	s.t.
65	VELASCO Simone	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	s.t.
66	SENNI Manuel	Bardiani-CSF	s.t.
67	DURASEK Kristijan	UAE-Team Emirates	s.t.
68	VAN HOECKE Gijs	LottoNL-Jumbo	s.t.
69	PREIDLER Georg	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
70	KRIZEK Matthias	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	s.t.
71	TUREK Daniel	Israel Cycling Academy	s.t.
72	ZIMMERMANN Georg	Tirol Cycling Team	s.t.
73	LUDVIGSSON Tobias	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
74	AMICI Alberto	Nazionale Italia	s.t.
75	PICCOT Michel	Nazionale Italia	s.t.
76	NAKANE Hideto	Nippo-Vini Fantini	s.t.
77	BERNARDINETTI Marco	Nazionale Italia	s.t.
78	SCHLEMMER Lukas	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	s.t.
79	SCHINNAGEL Johannes	Tirol Cycling Team	s.t.
80	BATTAGLIN Enrico	LottoNL-Jumbo	s.t.
81	KOCH Jonas	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
82	PETILLI Simone	UAE-Team Emirates	s.t.
83	PUCCIO Salvatore	Sky	s.t.
84	EENKHOORN Pascal	LottoNL-Jumbo	s.t.
85	PFINGSTEN Christoph	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
86	BOU Joan	Nippo-Vini Fantini	s.t.
87	LEHNER Daniel	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	s.t.
88	EARLE Nathan	Israel Cycling Academy	s.t.
89	RABITSCH Stephan	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	s.t.
90	ANTUNES Amaro Manuel	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
91	OLIVIER Daan	LottoNL-Jumbo	s.t.
92	ANDREETTA Simone	Bardiani-CSF	s.t.
93	ZARDINI Edoardo	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	s.t.
94	BERHANE Natnael	Dimension Data	s.t.
95	GOLDSTEIN Omer	Israel Cycling Academy	s.t.
96	STOSZ Patryk	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
97	RODRIGUEZ Oscar	Euskadi Basque Country	s.t.
98	CHERKASOV Nicolay	Gazprom-RusVelo	s.t.
99	TXOPERENA Beñat	Euskadi Basque Country	s.t.
100	SOBRERO Matteo	Nazionale Italia	s.t.
101	ZACCANTI Filippo	Nippo-Vini Fantini	s.t.
102	NIV Guy	Israel Cycling Academy	s.t.
103	MONACO Alessandro	Nazionale Italia	s.t.
104	VENTURINI Clément	Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
105	GENIEZ Alexandre	Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
106	MORABITO Steve	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
107	CHÉREL Mickaël	Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
108	TACIAK Mateusz	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
109	PLUCINSKI Leszek	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
110	SOSA Ivan Ramiro	Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec	s.t.
111	BIDARD François	Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
112	ITO Masakazu	Nippo-Vini Fantini	s.t.
113	JAUREGUI Quentin	Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
114	SISR Frantisek	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
115	GONZALEZ Aitor	Euskadi Basque Country	s.t.
116	MORTON Lachlan	Dimension Data	12:04
117	ADAMIETZ Johannes	Tirol Cycling Team	19:59
118	WILDAUER Markus	Tirol Cycling Team	22:49
119	FRIEDRICH Marco	Tirol Cycling Team	s.t.
120	WANG Meiyin	Bahrain-Merida	s.t.
121	GEBREMEDHIN Awet	Israel Cycling Academy	s.t.

GC after Stage 4: 552.7 kilometers raced so far at an average speed of 38.878 km/hr

1	PINOT Thibaut	Groupama-FDJ	14hr 12min 29sec
2	POZZOVIVO Domenico	Bahrain-Merida	@ 15sec
3	LOPEZ Miguel Angel	Astana	s.t.
4	FROOME Christopher	Sky	0:16
5	ARU Fabio	UAE-Team Emirates	0:50
6	SANCHEZ Luis Leon	Astana	1:06
7	BENNETT George	LottoNL-Jumbo	1:10
8	O'CONNOR Ben	Dimension Data	1:36
9	CICCONE Giulio	Bardiani-CSF	1:45
10	HIRT Jan	Astana	1:55
11	BILBAO Pello	Astana	2:36
12	SCHLEGEL Michal	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	2:37
13	ZEITS Andrey	Astana	2:42
14	HERMANS Ben	Israel Cycling Academy	3:09
15	BOUWMAN Koen	LottoNL-Jumbo	3:27
16	PADUN Mark	Bahrain-Merida	3:33
17	ZOIDL Riccardo	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	3:53
18	CONCI Nicola	Nazionale Italia	4:34
19	MASNADA Fausto	Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec	4:39
20	SANTAROMITA Ivan	Nippo-Vini Fantini	6:12
21	BIZKARRA Mikel	Euskadi Basque Country	6:15
22	MEINTJES Louis	Dimension Data	7:21
23	CUNEGO Damiano	Nippo-Vini Fantini	7:45
24	KUDUS Merhawi	Dimension Data	8:31
25	VILLELLA Davide	Astana	10:01
26	ELISSONDE Kenny	Sky	11:27
27	REICHENBACH Sebastien	Groupama-FDJ	11:35
28	RAVASI Edward	UAE-Team Emirates	12:56
29	GENIEZ Alexandre	Ag2r La Mondiale	14:24
30	VISCONTI Giovanni	Bahrain-Merida	14:52
31	DUPONT Hubert	Ag2r La Mondiale	15:21
32	SOSA Ivan Ramiro	Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec	15:48
33	CARBONI Giovanni	Bardiani-CSF	16:45
34	VLASOV Aleksandr	Gazprom-RusVelo	16:49
35	BISOLTI Alessandro	Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec	20:07
36	SENNI Manuel	Bardiani-CSF	20:27
37	ITURRIA Mikel	Euskadi Basque Country	20:34
38	PREIDLER Georg	Groupama-FDJ	20:42
39	MONTAGUTI Matteo	Ag2r La Mondiale	21:58
40	TURRIN Alex	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	22:16
41	LAENGEN Vegard Stake	UAE-Team Emirates	22:49
42	STALNOV Nikita	Astana	23:21
43	GROSSSCHARTNER Felix	Bora-hansgrohe	23:33
44	HENAO Sebastián	Sky	23:49
45	BATTAGLIN Enrico	LottoNL-Jumbo	23:51
46	TORRES Rodolfo Andres	Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec	25:55
47	DE LA CRUZ David	Sky	25:59
48	RAGGIO Luca	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	28:02
49	ANTUNES Amaro Manuel	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	32:11
50	AMICI Alberto	Nazionale Italia	32:19
51	ANDREETTA Simone	Bardiani-CSF	32:33
52	FIRSANOV Sergey	Gazprom-RusVelo	32:40
53	EARLE Nathan	Israel Cycling Academy	s.t.
54	FLOREZ Miguel Eduardo	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	s.t.
55	EIBEGGER Markus	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	33:39
56	BOU Joan	Nippo-Vini Fantini	34:37
57	AGNOLI Valerio	Bahrain-Merida	34:43
58	ROTA Lorenzo	Bardiani-CSF	34:51
59	DEIGNAN Philip	Sky	35:08
60	PETILLI Simone	UAE-Team Emirates	35:15
61	BIDARD François	Ag2r La Mondiale	35:19
62	ZARDINI Edoardo	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	35:33
63	MORABITO Steve	Groupama-FDJ	36:33
64	ZACCANTI Filippo	Nippo-Vini Fantini	37:10
65	VELASCO Simone	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	37:52
66	ROSA Diego	Sky	37:58
67	CONTI Valerio	UAE-Team Emirates	38:20
68	JAUREGUI Quentin	Ag2r La Mondiale	38:29
69	BALLERINI Davide	Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec	38:30
70	RABITSCH Stephan	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	38:57
71	DURASEK Kristijan	UAE-Team Emirates	40:24
72	TXOPERENA Beñat	Euskadi Basque Country	40:38
73	GAVAZZI Francesco	Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec	40:49
74	LEHNER Daniel	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	41:20
75	BERHANE Natnael	Dimension Data	41:37
76	COVILI Luca	Nazionale Italia	42:25
77	CHÉREL Mickaël	Ag2r La Mondiale	42:36
78	ZIMMERMANN Georg	Tirol Cycling Team	43:37
79	ARSLANOV Ildar	Gazprom-RusVelo	44:52
80	LUDVIGSSON Tobias	Groupama-FDJ	45:11
81	PFINGSTEN Christoph	Bora-hansgrohe	45:38
82	FRAPPORTI Marco	Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec	45:56
83	NAKANE Hideto	Nippo-Vini Fantini	46:40
84	KRIZEK Matthias	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	46:51
85	DÍAZ José Manuel	Israel Cycling Academy	46:55
86	SOBRERO Matteo	Nazionale Italia	47:08
87	NIEMIEC Przemyslaw	UAE-Team Emirates	48:07
88	PUCCIO Salvatore	Sky	48:17
89	CHERKASOV Nicolay	Gazprom-RusVelo	48:24
90	MONACO Alessandro	Nazionale Italia	48:33
91	NIV Guy	Israel Cycling Academy	48:57
92	BAGIOLI Nicola	Nippo-Vini Fantini	50:37
93	ITO Masakazu	Nippo-Vini Fantini	51:21
94	MORTON Lachlan	Dimension Data	51:31
95	TUREK Daniel	Israel Cycling Academy	51:42
96	OLIVIER Daan	LottoNL-Jumbo	s.t.
97	VENTURINI Clément	Ag2r La Mondiale	52:57
98	VAN HOECKE Gijs	LottoNL-Jumbo	52:59
99	KOCH Jonas	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	53:09
100	SISR Frantisek	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
101	PLUCINSKI Leszek	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	53:42
102	PICCOT Michel	Nazionale Italia	54:16
103	SCHLEMMER Lukas	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	55:31
104	BERNARDINETTI Marco	Nazionale Italia	56:01
105	SCHINNAGEL Johannes	Tirol Cycling Team	56:20
106	MOSCA Jacopo	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	56:28
107	ANTON Igor	Dimension Data	56:37
108	GONZALEZ Aitor	Euskadi Basque Country	57:11
109	EENKHOORN Pascal	LottoNL-Jumbo	57:44
110	BARCELO Fernando	Euskadi Basque Country	57:47
111	FORTIN Filippo	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	58:58
112	KOBERNYAK Evgeny	Gazprom-RusVelo	59:09
113	RODRIGUEZ Oscar	Euskadi Basque Country	59:31
114	TACIAK Mateusz	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
115	GEBREMEDHIN Awet	Israel Cycling Academy	1:00:32
116	ADAMIETZ Johannes	Tirol Cycling Team	s.t.
117	STOSZ Patryk	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	1:01:01
118	WANG Meiyin	Bahrain-Merida	1:08:38
119	WILDAUER Markus	Tirol Cycling Team	1:10:03
120	GOLDSTEIN Omer	Israel Cycling Academy	1:10:47
121	FRIEDRICH Marco	Tirol Cycling Team	1:18:43

Stage 4 map, profile & organizer's preview:

Stage 4 map

Stage 4 profile

Organizer's stage 4 preview:

Tour of the Alps’ stage 4 gets off from Klausen/Chiusa. After a short neutralized transfer from the city center of the Valle d’Isarco’s town, the peloton will move northbound along the SS12. After 11 km on flat, passing through Brixen/Bressanone, the peloton will face a first, gently uphill section. Once Schabs/Sciaves is left behind and the peloton takes the SS 49 road in Val Pusteria, the road returns flat until Niedervintl/Vandoies. There begins the first categorized climb of the day taking all the way up to Terento (32,6 km) after 6 km uphill at a 7,7% average gradient. 

After the KoM, the race will pass through the plateau that has its main center in Pfalzen/Falzes. Another short descent leads to Bruneck/Brunico, just to tackle another mild but constant ascent along the Rienza river. After 62,6 Km along the SS 49 road in Val Pusteria the aid fixed station is placed near Lago di Vadaora while the day’s intermediate sprint is placed at km 76,6 in Toblach/Dobbiaco. The peloton will wind by the beautiful Innechen/San Candido on the way to the Italian-Austrian border, that will be passed after 88,9 km.

After reaching Austria, the riders will proceed on the B100 road, parallel to the famous cycle path leading from Toblach/Dobbiaco to Lienz on a slight and pleasurable descent. Anyway, the Tour of the Alps riders have a different fate in store for the final. First, they will tackle the Anras climb, with its 4 km at a 7% average gradient, with some steep sections peaking over 10%.

After the descent and a short stint through the valley floor, in Thal-Aue another left turn will lead to the second categorized climb of the day, the Bannberg, where Marco Pantani and Michele Bartoli during the 13rd stage at the 1994 Giro d’Italia. 6,9 km at a 6,7% average gradient will be the final springboard towards Lienz, and arguably the decisive moment of the stage.

The ascent is likely to make a selection among the contenders, but there will still be the very fast and technical way down to take the riders back to the main road, with just 4,2 km to ride the homestretch to the beautiful central square of Lienz, Hauptplatz, where the stage winner will be celebrated.

---

Wednesday, April 18: Stage 3, Ora - Merano, 138.3 km

Stage 3 map, profile & organzer's preview

Ben O'Connor takes a brilliant solo win.

The race: Here's the organizer's telling of the day's racing.

The Tour of the Alps continues in the name of spectacular racing, surprises and big champions who never surrender to predictable outcomes. Those who thought that the big guns, worn down by the battle on the Alpe di Pampeago, could leave the spotlights to their liutenants in the third stage from Ora/Auer to Merano/Meran (138,3 km), were clearly and definitely contradicted. Long distance attacks, accelerations, twists of fate, a new leader and another youngster who comes up on the international scene on the roads of the Euroregion Tyrol-South Tyrol-Trentino.

Few people, maybe, knew the name of Ben O’Connor (Dimension Data) until the final kilometers of yesterday’s stage, when his white jersey was standing out among those of the top favorites on the Pampeago climb. Today, the 21-year-old Australian – a runner until 4 year ago, and little familiarity with a bike that far – showed it wasn’t by case, taking his second career win in Merano with a solo move in the finale. Good timing, and more: previously, he had attacked with Thibaut Pinot and Domenico Pozzovivo with 50 km to go, on the Passo Palade/Gampenpass climb, getting back and distancing on the four morning’s escapees – Giovanni Visconti (Bahrain-Merida), Matteo Montaguti (Ag2R-La Mondiale), Manuel Senni (Bardiani-CSF) and Stephan Rabitsch (Felbermayr-Simplon).

Their attempt was reeled in by the main favorites’ group only in the final kilometers of descent towards Meran-o, particularly thanks to the solid work of Team Sky for leader Chris Froome.

With 8 km to go, the young Australian went back on the attack, this time by himself, exploiting a moment of uncentainty of the 10-man leading group, left without the fuchsia jersey of Ivan Ramiro Sosa: a crash on descent took the Androni-Sidermec’s Colombian out of contention, ad he surrendered more than 4 minutes on the finishing line.

O’Connor showed up in beautiful sunny Merano, raising his arms five on the finish five second before the arrival of the top favorites, edged by his former fellow escapees – Thibaut Pinot and Domenico Pozzovivo. The Frenchman keeps raking placement at the Tour of the Alps, and while having only one win to show for himself at the race – last year in Trento – today he could celebrate the race lead in Merano.

“Last year I lost the jersey and the race to Geraint Thomas for a matter of four seconds – recalled Thibaut – this time I have managed to have it back, and I don’t want to leave it anymore. Our attack was not planned today, but when I saw other strong guys like Fabio Aru trying to move, I went on as well. This is my racing style, and I believe races like the Tour of the Alps, with short and tough stages, are the best possible way to propose a great show like today’s.”

Earning the spotlights today though was Ben O’Connor, his outgoing smile and the irriverence of those who started racing for fun and keeps discovering his potential day by day: “Our Dimension Data team came to the Tour of the Alps with a stage win as goal, and I am happy we have achieved it. After yesterday’s display, today I was focused on not missing a single opportunity for another good result, so I went on the wake of Pinot on the Passo Palade/Gampenpass. I like long climbs, today was a stage suited to me: last year I had been training in Val Gardena/Grödental, and it was an awesome experience. Clearly, I have a special feeling with Südtirol.”

Except for the unlucky Sosa, little has changed in the top favorites’ situation: Pinot is leading with 15 seconds on Pozzovivo and Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana), who surrendered some valuable seconds on the way down from the Gampenpass. One second behind is Chris Froome (Team Sky), who gave the impression once again of being willing to go the distance to win this Tour of the Alps. Fifth spot for Fabio Aru (at 50”), looking much better today than yesterday on the way to Pampeago.

Complete results:

138.3 kilometers raced at an average speed of 39.499 km/hr

1	O'CONNOR Ben	Dimension Data	3hr 30min 5sec
2	PINOT Thibaut	Groupama-FDJ	@ 5sec
3	POZZOVIVO Domenico	Bahrain-Merida	s.t.
4	BENNETT George	LottoNL-Jumbo	s.t.
5	SANCHEZ Luis Leon	Astana	s.t.
6	FROOME Christopher	Sky	s.t.
7	ARU Fabio	UAE-Team Emirates	s.t.
8	SENNI Manuel	Bardiani-CSF	s.t.
9	GENIEZ Alexandre	Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
10	SCHLEGEL Michal	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
11	LOPEZ Miguel Angel	Astana	0:14
12	ZOIDL Riccardo	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	0:57
13	VISCONTI Giovanni	Bahrain-Merida	1:24
14	PADUN Mark	Bahrain-Merida	s.t.
15	BATTAGLIN Enrico	LottoNL-Jumbo	s.t.
16	CUNEGO Damiano	Nippo-Vini Fantini	s.t.
17	BOUWMAN Koen	LottoNL-Jumbo	s.t.
18	DUPONT Hubert	Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
19	VILLELLA Davide	Astana	s.t.
20	CICCONE Giulio	Bardiani-CSF	s.t.
21	ZEITS Andrey	Astana	s.t.
22	KUDUS Merhawi	Dimension Data	s.t.
23	HERMANS Ben	Israel Cycling Academy	s.t.
24	LAENGEN Vegard Stake	UAE-Team Emirates	s.t.
25	MASNADA Fausto	Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec	s.t.
26	BIZKARRA Mikel	Euskadi Basque Country	s.t.
27	REICHENBACH Sebastien	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
28	RAVASI Edward	UAE-Team Emirates	s.t.
29	SANTAROMITA Ivan	Nippo-Vini Fantini	s.t.
30	CONCI Nicola	Nazionale Italia	s.t.
31	BILBAO Pello	Astana	s.t.
32	MEINTJES Louis	Dimension Data	s.t.
33	HIRT Jan	Astana	s.t.
34	CARBONI Giovanni	Bardiani-CSF	1:40
35	VLASOV Aleksandr	Gazprom-RusVelo	s.t.
36	STALNOV Nikita	Astana	2:20
37	PREIDLER Georg	Groupama-FDJ	3:24
38	SOSA Ivan Ramiro	Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec	4:09
39	ELISSONDE Kenny	Sky	8:00
40	FLOREZ Miguel Eduardo	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	11:18
41	TURRIN Alex	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	s.t.
42	RABITSCH Stephan	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	s.t.
43	DE LA CRUZ David	Sky	s.t.
44	BOU Joan	Nippo-Vini Fantini	11:57
45	JAUREGUI Quentin	Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
46	TXOPERENA Beñat	Euskadi Basque Country	s.t.
47	EIBEGGER Markus	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	s.t.
48	MONACO Alessandro	Nazionale Italia	s.t.
49	ANDREETTA Simone	Bardiani-CSF	s.t.
50	BISOLTI Alessandro	Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec	s.t.
51	AGNOLI Valerio	Bahrain-Merida	s.t.
52	ITURRIA Mikel	Euskadi Basque Country	s.t.
53	MORABITO Steve	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
54	PUCCIO Salvatore	Sky	s.t.
55	AMICI Alberto	Nazionale Italia	s.t.
56	ZACCANTI Filippo	Nippo-Vini Fantini	s.t.
57	BERHANE Natnael	Dimension Data	s.t.
58	GROSSSCHARTNER Felix	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
59	LUDVIGSSON Tobias	Groupama-FDJ	15:08
60	RAGGIO Luca	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	s.t.
61	ZARDINI Edoardo	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	s.t.
62	ZIMMERMANN Georg	Tirol Cycling	s.t.
63	VELASCO Simone	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	s.t.
64	ROTA Lorenzo	Bardiani-CSF	s.t.
65	CHÉREL Mickaël	Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
66	FIRSANOV Sergey	Gazprom-RusVelo	s.t.
67	DÍAZ José Manuel	Israel Cycling Academy	s.t.
68	SOBRERO Matteo	Nazionale Italia	s.t.
69	EARLE Nathan	Israel Cycling Academy	s.t.
70	COVILI Luca	Nazionale Italia	s.t.
71	VAN RENSBURG Jacques	Dimension Data	s.t.
72	CONTI Valerio	UAE-Team Emirates	s.t.
73	HENAO Sebastián	Sky	s.t.
74	GAVAZZI Francesco	Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec	s.t.
75	FRAPPORTI Marco	Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec	s.t.
76	MONTAGUTI Matteo	Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
77	PETILLI Simone	UAE-Team Emirates	s.t.
78	DURASEK Kristijan	UAE-Team Emirates	s.t.
79	LEHNER Daniel	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	s.t.
80	NAKANE Hideto	Nippo-Vini Fantini	17:47
81	SCHINNAGEL Johannes	Tirol Cycling	s.t.
82	BIDARD François	Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
83	ANTUNES Amaro Manuel	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
84	NIEMIEC Przemyslaw	UAE-Team Emirates	s.t.
85	BARCELO Fernando	Euskadi Basque Country	s.t.
86	GEBREMEDHIN Awet	Israel Cycling Academy	s.t.
87	TORRES Rodolfo Andres	Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec	s.t.
88	ITO Masakazu	Nippo-Vini Fantini	s.t.
89	VENTURINI Clément	Ag2r La Mondiale	19:11
90	PFINGSTEN Christoph	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
91	TUREK Daniel	Israel Cycling Academy	s.t.
92	KUSS Sepp	LottoNL-Jumbo	s.t.
93	DEIGNAN Philip	Sky	s.t.
94	KRIZEK Matthias	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	s.t.
95	ROSA Diego	Sky	s.t.
96	MOSCA Jacopo	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	s.t.
97	WANG Meiyin	Bahrain-Merida	s.t.
98	OLIVIER Daan	LottoNL-Jumbo	s.t.
99	BERNARDINETTI Marco	Nazionale Italia	s.t.
100	FORTIN Filippo	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	s.t.
101	PICCOT Michel	Nazionale Italia	s.t.
102	KOLAR Michael	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
103	ANTON Igor	Dimension Data	s.t.
104	SCHWARZMANN Michael	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
105	ARSLANOV Ildar	Gazprom-RusVelo	s.t.
106	BAGIOLI Nicola	Nippo-Vini Fantini	s.t.
107	SCHLEMMER Lukas	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	s.t.
108	CHERKASOV Nicolay	Gazprom-RusVelo	s.t.
109	FRIEDRICH Marco	Tirol Cycling	s.t.
110	VAN HOECKE Gijs	LottoNL-Jumbo	s.t.
111	KOBERNYAK Evgeny	Gazprom-RusVelo	s.t.
112	EENKHOORN Pascal	LottoNL-Jumbo	s.t.
113	ORSINI Umberto	Bardiani-CSF	s.t.
114	NIV Guy	Israel Cycling Academy	s.t.
115	ADAMIETZ Johannes	Tirol Cycling	s.t.
116	WILDAUER Markus	Tirol Cycling	s.t.
117	PLUCINSKI Leszek	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
118	KOCH Jonas	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
119	TACIAK Mateusz	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
120	STOSZ Patryk	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
121	SISR Frantisek	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
122	RODRIGUEZ Oscar	Euskadi Basque Country	s.t.
123	BALLERINI Davide	Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec	s.t.
124	GOLDSTEIN Omer	Israel Cycling Academy	s.t.
125	UDONDO Gotzon	Euskadi Basque Country	s.t.
126	GONZALEZ Aitor	Euskadi Basque Country	s.t.
127	MORTON Lachlan	Dimension Data	s.t.

GC after Stage 3:

418.4 kilometers raced so far at an average speed of 38.484 km/hr

1	PINOT Thibaut	Groupama-FDJ	10hr 52min 19sec
2	POZZOVIVO Domenico	Bahrain-Merida	@ 15sec
3	LOPEZ Miguel Angel	Astana	s.t.
4	FROOME Christopher	Sky	0:16
5	ARU Fabio	UAE-Team Emirates	0:50
6	BENNETT George	LottoNL-Jumbo	1:21
7	SANCHEZ Luis Leon	Astana	1:27
8	O'CONNOR Ben	Dimension Data	1:36
9	CICCONE Giulio	Bardiani-CSF	1:45
10	HIRT Jan	Astana	1:55
11	SCHLEGEL Michal	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	1:58
12	HERMANS Ben	Israel Cycling Academy	2:02
13	BILBAO Pello	Astana	2:36
14	GENIEZ Alexandre	Ag2r La Mondiale	2:40
15	ZEITS Andrey	Astana	2:42
16	ZOIDL Riccardo	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	2:46
17	PADUN Mark	Bahrain-Merida	2:54
18	BOUWMAN Koen	LottoNL-Jumbo	3:31
19	RAVASI Edward	UAE-Team Emirates	3:57
20	MASNADA Fausto	Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec	4:00
21	SOSA Ivan Ramiro	Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec	4:04
22	VILLELLA Davide	Astana	4:17
23	MEINTJES Louis	Dimension Data	4:30
24	CONCI Nicola	Nazionale Italia	4:34
25	CUNEGO Damiano	Nippo-Vini Fantini	5:21
26	SANTAROMITA Ivan	Nippo-Vini Fantini	5:33
27	BIZKARRA Mikel	Euskadi Basque Country	5:36
28	REICHENBACH Sebastien	Groupama-FDJ	7:00
29	DUPONT Hubert	Ag2r La Mondiale	7:23
30	CARBONI Giovanni	Bardiani-CSF	7:33
31	KUDUS Merhawi	Dimension Data	7:52
32	SENNI Manuel	Bardiani-CSF	8:43
33	PREIDLER Georg	Groupama-FDJ	8:58
34	ELISSONDE Kenny	Sky	10:20
35	BATTAGLIN Enrico	LottoNL-Jumbo	12:07
36	LAENGEN Vegard Stake	UAE-Team Emirates	13:50
37	VLASOV Aleksandr	Gazprom-RusVelo	13:58
38	VISCONTI Giovanni	Bahrain-Merida	14:13
39	DE LA CRUZ David	Sky	17:11
40	BISOLTI Alessandro	Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec	17:16
41	ITURRIA Mikel	Euskadi Basque Country	17:43
42	GROSSSCHARTNER Felix	Bora-hansgrohe	18:39
43	MONTAGUTI Matteo	Ag2r La Mondiale	19:07
44	STALNOV Nikita	Astana	20:26
45	ANTUNES Amaro Manuel	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	20:27
46	AMICI Alberto	Nazionale Italia	20:35
47	ANDREETTA Simone	Bardiani-CSF	20:49
48	EARLE Nathan	Israel Cycling Academy	20:56
49	TURRIN Alex	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	21:09
50	HENAO Sebastián	Sky	21:25
51	BOU Joan	Nippo-Vini Fantini	22:53
52	AGNOLI Valerio	Bahrain-Merida	22:59
53	ROTA Lorenzo	Bardiani-CSF	23:07
54	TORRES Rodolfo Andres	Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec	23:31
55	PETILLI Simone	UAE-Team Emirates	s.t.
56	BIDARD François	Ag2r La Mondiale	23:35
57	ZARDINI Edoardo	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	23:49
58	MORABITO Steve	Groupama-FDJ	24:49
59	RAGGIO Luca	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	25:11
60	ZACCANTI Filippo	Nippo-Vini Fantini	25:26
61	VELASCO Simone	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	26:08
62	CONTI Valerio	UAE-Team Emirates	26:36
63	JAUREGUI Quentin	Ag2r La Mondiale	26:45
64	RABITSCH Stephan	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	27:13
65	DURASEK Kristijan	UAE-Team Emirates	28:40
66	TXOPERENA Beñat	Euskadi Basque Country	28:54
67	GAVAZZI Francesco	Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec	29:05
68	VAN RENSBURG Jacques	Dimension Data	29:16
69	LEHNER Daniel	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	29:36
70	FLOREZ Miguel Eduardo	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	29:49
71	BERHANE Natnael	Dimension Data	29:53
72	CHÉREL Mickaël	Ag2r La Mondiale	30:52
73	ZIMMERMANN Georg	Tirol Cycling	31:53
74	FIRSANOV Sergey	Gazprom-RusVelo	32:01
75	COVILI Luca	Nazionale Italia	32:52
76	EIBEGGER Markus	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	33:00
77	ROSA Diego	Sky	33:04
78	LUDVIGSSON Tobias	Groupama-FDJ	33:27
79	PFINGSTEN Christoph	Bora-hansgrohe	33:54
80	FRAPPORTI Marco	Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec	34:12
81	DEIGNAN Philip	Sky	34:29
82	NAKANE Hideto	Nippo-Vini Fantini	34:56
83	KRIZEK Matthias	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	35:07
84	DÍAZ José Manuel	Israel Cycling Academy	35:11
85	SOBRERO Matteo	Nazionale Italia	35:24
86	NIEMIEC Przemyslaw	UAE-Team Emirates	36:23
87	PUCCIO Salvatore	Sky	36:33
88	CHERKASOV Nicolay	Gazprom-RusVelo	36:40
89	MONACO Alessandro	Nazionale Italia	36:49
90	NIV Guy	Israel Cycling Academy	37:13
91	BALLERINI Davide	Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec	37:23
92	GEBREMEDHIN Awet	Israel Cycling Academy	37:54
93	ARSLANOV Ildar	Gazprom-RusVelo	39:08
94	ITO Masakazu	Nippo-Vini Fantini	39:37
95	MORTON Lachlan	Dimension Data	39:38
96	TUREK Daniel	Israel Cycling Academy	39:58
97	OLIVIER Daan	LottoNL-Jumbo	s.t.
98	ADAMIETZ Johannes	Tirol Cycling	40:44
99	VENTURINI Clément	Ag2r La Mondiale	41:13
100	KUSS Sepp	LottoNL-Jumbo	41:15
101	VAN HOECKE Gijs	LottoNL-Jumbo	s.t.
102	BAGIOLI Nicola	Nippo-Vini Fantini	41:25
103	ORSINI Umberto	Bardiani-CSF	s.t.
104	KOCH Jonas	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
105	SISR Frantisek	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
106	PLUCINSKI Leszek	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	41:58
107	PICCOT Michel	Nazionale Italia	42:32
108	SCHLEMMER Lukas	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	43:47
109	BERNARDINETTI Marco	Nazionale Italia	44:17
110	SCHINNAGEL Johannes	Tirol Cycling	44:36
111	MOSCA Jacopo	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	44:44
112	GONZALEZ Aitor	Euskadi Basque Country	45:27
113	WANG Meiyin	Bahrain-Merida	46:00
114	EENKHOORN Pascal	LottoNL-Jumbo	s.t.
115	BARCELO Fernando	Euskadi Basque Country	46:03
116	FORTIN Filippo	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	47:14
117	KOBERNYAK Evgeny	Gazprom-RusVelo	47:25
118	ANTON Igor	Dimension Data	s.t.
119	WILDAUER Markus	Tirol Cycling	s.t.
120	RODRIGUEZ Oscar	Euskadi Basque Country	47:47
121	TACIAK Mateusz	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
122	SCHWARZMANN Michael	Bora-hansgrohe	48:20
123	UDONDO Gotzon	Euskadi Basque Country	48:41
124	STOSZ Patryk	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	49:17
125	FRIEDRICH Marco	Tirol Cycling	56:05
126	KOLAR Michael	Bora-hansgrohe	56:40
127	GOLDSTEIN Omer	Israel Cycling Academy	59:03

Stage 3 map, profile and organizer's preview:

Stage 3 map

Stage 3 profile

Organizer's stage 3 preview:

Auer/Ora hosts the start of Tour of the Alps stage 3. The early kilometres will be flat, through the famous apple orchards and vineyards of the Adige’s Valley. After passing through Tramin/Termeno, the home of the famous Traminer wines, things get serious first on the Weinstrasse/Strada del Vino, towards Kaltern/Caldaro and then, following the Vie Europa/Europastraße, athletes will challenge the climb also known as “Mendolina”: a 4,5 km long ascent, with a 6% average gradient, peaking at 10%. After the hill, the peloton will go down to Eppan/Appiano, and then will reach Bozen/Bolzano through wide and flowing roads.

Km 44,5 - in Leifers/Laives, the riders will contest the day’s intermediate sprint. After 54,5 km, the long starting loop will get to a close, as the peloton will return to Auer/Ora. After passing the South Tyrolean village, the race turns left for a 3,8 km ascent to Montan/Montagna on the SS 48, followed by the fast way down to Neumarkt/Egna. Once again the first track has to be ridden before the race returns on its itinerary through the Weinstraße/Strada del Vino where the aid station is placed (Km 64,4). From Kaltern/Caldaro back to the Mendolina climb, but this time rising up the tough Mendel Pass/Passo della Mendola, where a Cat. 1 KOM will be placed after a 18 km ascent, with a 1.100 mt altitude difference.

A fast and insidious descent will take the peloton to Fondo, where the road will point upwards again – though with unimpressive gradients – to the Gampen Pass/Passo Palade. From the KoM, at a height of 1518 meters, to the finish in Meran/Merano there will be 26,3 km left, most of those to be covered on a fast and technical descent to the residential area of Lana.

The last 7 km are mostly flat: the riders will enter Meran/Merano, passing by the famous hippodrome before getting - while riding some roundabouts - in the city center. Indeed, the finish line will be placed in downtown Meran/Merano, in Rennweg/Via delle Corse, where a group of attackers could sprint for the opportunity to bag a prestigious stage win.

---

Tuesday, April 17: Stage 2, Lavarone - Alpe di Pampeago, 145.5 km

Stage 2 map, profile & organizer's preview

Miguel Angel Lopez takes stage two.

The race: Here is the organizer's report:

Miguel Angel Lopez gave Astana a second straight win, but the fuchsia jersey went to the surprising Androni-Sidermec’s prospect. Froome (4th) also in the mix, Aru loses ground

That Colombia is a land of great climbers, is a fact. That Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) would have been among the men to beat on the road to the Fuchsia jersey in Innsbruck, was at least a legitimate chance. But the second stage of the Tour of the Alps, Lavarone-Alpe di Pampeago/Fiemme (145,5 km), wasn’t certainly short of surprises. The winner was the Astana’s Colombian, who made it two on two for his team at the Tour of the Alps so far. Another success of the Kazakh team, another dedication to Michele Scarponi, who was raising his arms in Innsbruck right 365 days ago.

It was due to be the clash among the big favorites, and Tour of the Alps did not disappoint. The final climb revealed strengths and weaknesses of the GC contenders, providing quite a clear image: Lopez and Pinot, along with the surprising Sosa, are looking the most brilliant uphill, along with Domenico Pozzovivo (Bahrain-Merida), a certainty at the Tour of the Alps year after year. And then, obviously, Chris Froome: today, the leader of Team Sky looked on the back foot until halfway to the top of Pampeago, patrolled by his trusted teammates in the rear position of the main group. Then, suddenly, it was vintage Team Sky again: pushing hard at the front and setting a frantic pace that proved unsustainable for many rivals. Fabio Aru was the most prestigious victim of the day: the UAE-Emirates leader lost the wake of the strongest with 3 km to go. He didn’t falter, as he eventually surrendered only 34 seconds, but whose condition probably needs some more fine-tuning before his Giro bid starts.

In the last 2 km, after a monumental Kenny Elissonde had finished his effort for Chris Froome, only six riders were left upfront: Froome, Pinot, Sosa, Lopez, Pinot, Pozzovivo and Giulio Ciccone (Bardiani-CSF), who provided another good display. Everything was decided in the final meters of a climb whose gradient really never gives a break: Froome was the first to launch his sprint, followed by Lopez, who barely anticipated Pinot and held just enough space on the Frenchman to enjoy his first stage win at the Tour of the Alps. Pinot was runner-up ahead of Ivan Sosa, who was almost surprised in discovering he had converted his white jersey into a fuchsia one.

“Who would have expected that? Yesterday the stage had been good (3rd), but today I went head-to-head against the strongest riders in the World. It’s a beautiful moment, and I am seizing it right now,” said Ivan Sosa afterwards, proudly overlooked by his team manager Gianni Savio.

If tomorrow Sosa will be on defense duty, Miguel Angel Lopez knows he will need to attack again: “In these days, we showed we have the strongest team, and not only for the two stage victories. But there are still many climbs to tackle in this Tour of the Alps, and the GC is still relatively short. Froome, Pinot, Pozzovivo, and Sosa himself will be hard rivals to face, until the end.” Today a stage victory has come, but clearly “Superman” is thinking of more.

Earning the spotlights early on were Jauregui (Ag2r La Mondiale), Mosca (Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia), Rabitsch (Team Felbermayr Simplon), Rodriguez (Euskadi – Murias), Frapporti (Androni Giocattoli) and Goldshtein (Israel Cycling Academy), who had escaped in the early kilometers and remained clear until the beginning of the final climb. Jauregui was the last one to surrender to the comeback of the strongest: the Pampeago finish was too important for the Tour of the Alps’ leaders to give up on it.

Complete results:

145.5 kilometers raced at an average speed of 37.070 km/hr

1	LOPEZ Miguel Angel	Astana	3hr 55min 30sec
2	PINOT Thibaut	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
3	SOSA Ivan Ramiro	Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec	s.t.
4	FROOME Christopher	Sky	@ 4sec
5	POZZOVIVO Domenico	Bahrain-Merida	0:07
6	CICCONE Giulio	Bardiani-CSF	0:14
7	HIRT Jan	Astana	0:20
8	O'CONNOR Ben	Dimension Data	0:27
9	HERMANS Ben	Israel Cycling Academy	0:31
10	ARU Fabio	UAE-Team Emirates	0:34
11	ZOIDL Riccardo	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	0:45
12	ELISSONDE Kenny	Sky	0:49
13	SCHLEGEL Michal	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
14	ZEITS Andrey	Astana	1:03
15	BOUWMAN Koen	LottoNL-Jumbo	s.t.
16	BIZKARRA Mikel	Euskadi Basque Country	s.t.
17	BENNETT George	LottoNL-Jumbo	1:09
18	PADUN Mark	Bahrain-Merida	1:19
19	GENIEZ Alexandre	Ag2r La Mondiale	1:25
20	SANCHEZ Luis Leon	Astana	s.t.
21	BILBAO Pello	Astana	s.t.
22	ANTUNES Amaro	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	1:30
23	PREIDLER Georg	Groupama-FDJ	1:32
24	RAVASI Edward	UAE-Team Emirates	s.t.
25	MONTAGUTI Matteo	Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
26	VILLELLA Davide	Astana	1:49
27	SANTAROMITA Ivan	Nippo-Vini Fantini	1:56
28	MEINTJES Louis	Dimension Data	2:02
29	CONCI Nicola	Nazionale Italia	2:09
30	BISOLTI Alessandro	Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec	2:18
31	KUDUS Merhawi	Dimension Data	2:20
32	MASNADA Fausto	Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec	2:25
33	CARBONI Giovanni	Bardiani-CSF	2:34
34	TORRES Rodolfo Andres	Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec	2:35
35	BIDARD François	Ag2r La Mondiale	2:39
36	EARLE Nathan	Israel Cycling Academy	s.t.
37	CUNEGO Damiano	Nippo-Vini Fantini	2:47
38	DUPONT Hubert	Ag2r La Mondiale	2:50
39	TURRIN Alex	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	2:56
40	SENNI Manuel	Bardiani-CSF	3:17
41	RAGGIO Luca	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	s.t.
42	AMICI Alberto	Nazionale Italia	s.t.
43	ITURRIA Mikel	Euskadi Basque Country	3:38
44	ZIMMERMANN Georg	Tirol Cycling	3:48
45	ROTA Lorenzo	Bardiani-CSF	s.t.
46	FIRSANOV Sergey	Gazprom-RusVelo	3:56
47	TXOPERENA Beñat	Euskadi Basque Country	4:00
48	DE LA CRUZ David	Sky	4:04
49	HENAO Sebastián	Sky	s.t.
50	ZACCANTI Filippo	Nippo-Vini Fantini	4:05
51	ZARDINI Edoardo	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	4:29
52	ROSA Diego	Sky	s.t.
53	GROSSSCHARTNER Felix	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
54	CHÉREL Mickaël	Ag2r La Mondiale	4:32
55	REICHENBACH Sebastien	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
56	CHERKASOV Nicolay	Gazprom-RusVelo	s.t.
57	COVILI Luca	Nazionale Italia	4:47
58	NIV Guy	Israel Cycling Academy	5:05
59	BRKIC Benjamin	Tirol Cycling	5:19
60	VLASOV Aleksandr	Gazprom-RusVelo	5:22
61	BATTAGLIN Enrico	LottoNL-Jumbo	s.t.
62	LUDVIGSSON Tobias	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
63	NIEMIEC Przemyslaw	UAE-Team Emirates	5:39
64	VELASCO Simone	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	s.t.
65	AGNOLI Valerio	Bahrain-Merida	5:41
66	BOU Joan	Nippo-Vini Fantini	s.t.
67	ANDREETTA Simone	Bardiani-CSF	5:43
68	FRAPPORTI Marco	Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec	6:07
69	VAN RENSBURG Jacques	Dimension Data	7:10
70	CONTI Valerio	UAE-Team Emirates	7:19
71	PETILLI Simone	UAE-Team Emirates	s.t.
72	SOBRERO Matteo	Nazionale Italia	s.t.
73	MORTON Lachlan	Dimension Data	7:30
74	ROY Jérémy	Groupama-FDJ	7:31
75	MORABITO Steve	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
76	NAKANE Hideto	Nippo-Vini Fantini	7:45
77	PFINGSTEN Christoph	Bora-hansgrohe	7:50
78	OLIVIER Daan	LottoNL-Jumbo	s.t.
79	TUREK Daniel	Israel Cycling Academy	s.t.
80	DÍAZ José Manuel	Israel Cycling Academy	s.t.
81	DEIGNAN Philip	Sky	8:20
82	BERHANE Natnael	Dimension Data	8:32
83	ADAMIETZ Johannes	Tirol Cycling	8:36
84	ITO Masakazu	Nippo-Vini Fantini	8:53
85	VENTURINI Clément	Ag2r La Mondiale	9:05
86	VAN HOECKE Gijs	LottoNL-Jumbo	9:07
87	FLOREZ Miguel Eduardo	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	s.t.
88	KUSS Sepp	LottoNL-Jumbo	s.t.
89	LEHNER Daniel	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	s.t.
90	BAGIOLI Nicola	Nippo-Vini Fantini	9:17
91	GAVAZZI Francesco	Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec	s.t.
92	BERNARDINETTI Marco	Nazionale Italia	s.t.
93	KOCH Jonas	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
94	ORSINI Umberto	Bardiani-CSF	s.t.
95	SISR Frantisek	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
96	DURASEK Kristijan	UAE-Team Emirates	s.t.
97	LAENGEN Vegard Stake	UAE-Team Emirates	s.t.
98	JAUREGUI Quentin	Ag2r La Mondiale	9:27
99	BONNET William	Groupama-FDJ	9:45
100	KRIZEK Matthias	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	s.t.
101	PLUCINSKI Leszek	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	9:50
102	PICCOT Michel	Nazionale Italia	10:24
103	RABITSCH Stephan	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	10:34
104	BALLERINI Davide	Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec	10:51
105	PUCCIO Salvatore	Sky	11:39
106	VISCONTI Giovanni	Bahrain-Merida	s.t.
107	SCHLEMMER Lukas	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	s.t.
108	EIBEGGER Markus	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	s.t.
109	MOSCA Jacopo	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	12:36
110	MONACO Alessandro	Nazionale Italia	s.t.
111	GONZALEZ Aitor	Euskadi Basque Country	13:19
112	GEBREMEDHIN Awet	Israel Cycling Academy	13:21
113	STALNOV Nikita	Astana	13:31
114	SARAMOTINS Aleksejs	Bora-hansgrohe	13:52
115	EENKHOORN Pascal	LottoNL-Jumbo	s.t.
116	WANG Meiyin	Bahrain-Merida	s.t.
117	SCHINNAGEL Johannes	Tirol Cycling	s.t.
118	ARSLANOV Ildar	Gazprom-RusVelo	14:26
119	FORTIN Filippo	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	15:06
120	WILDAUER Markus	Tirol Cycling	15:17
121	ANTON Igor	Dimension Data	s.t.
122	KOBERNYAK Evgeny	Gazprom-RusVelo	s.t.
123	BARCELO Fernando	Euskadi Basque Country	15:19
124	BUSATO Matteo	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	15:32
125	TACIAK Mateusz	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	15:39
126	RODRIGUEZ Oscar	Euskadi Basque Country	s.t.
127	FRIEDRICH Marco	Tirol Cycling	15:53
128	SCHWARZMANN Michael	Bora-hansgrohe	16:12
129	UDONDO Gotzon	Euskadi Basque Country	16:33
130	STERBINI Simone	Bardiani-CSF	16:43
131	KNAPP Daniel	Tirol Cycling	16:55
132	STOSZ Patryk	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	17:09
133	KOLAR Michael	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
134	GOLDSTEIN Omer	Israel Cycling Academy	26:55

GC after Stage 2:

280.1 kilometers raced so far at an average speed of 38.010 km/hr

1	SOSA Ivan Ramiro	Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec	7hr 22min 9sec
2	PINOT Thibaut	Groupama-FDJ	@ 6sec
3	LOPEZ Miguel Angel	Astana	s.t.
4	FROOME Christopher	Sky	0:16
5	POZZOVIVO Domenico	Bahrain-Merida	0:19
6	CICCONE Giulio	Bardiani-CSF	0:26
7	HIRT Jan	Astana	0:36
8	HERMANS Ben	Israel Cycling Academy	0:43
9	ARU Fabio	UAE-Team Emirates	0:50
10	BILBAO Pello	Astana	1:17
11	BENNETT George	LottoNL-Jumbo	1:21
12	ZEITS Andrey	Astana	1:23
13	SANCHEZ Luis Leon	Astana	1:27
14	PADUN Mark	Bahrain-Merida	1:35
15	O'CONNOR Ben	Dimension Data	1:51
16	ZOIDL Riccardo	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	1:54
17	SCHLEGEL Michal	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	1:58
18	BOUWMAN Koen	LottoNL-Jumbo	2:12
19	ELISSONDE Kenny	Sky	2:25
20	RAVASI Edward	UAE-Team Emirates	2:38
21	GENIEZ Alexandre	Ag2r La Mondiale	2:40
22	MASNADA Fausto	Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec	2:41
23	ANTUNES Amaro	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	2:45
24	VILLELLA Davide	Astana	2:58
25	MEINTJES Louis	Dimension Data	3:11
26	CONCI Nicola	Nazionale Italia	3:15
27	CUNEGO Damiano	Nippo-Vini Fantini	4:02
28	MONTAGUTI Matteo	Ag2r La Mondiale	4:04
29	SANTAROMITA Ivan	Nippo-Vini Fantini	4:14
30	BIZKARRA Mikel	Euskadi Basque Country	4:17
31	BISOLTI Alessandro	Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec	5:14
32	PREIDLER Georg	Groupama-FDJ	5:39
33	REICHENBACH Sebastien	Groupama-FDJ	5:41
34	CARBONI Giovanni	Bardiani-CSF	5:48
35	TORRES Rodolfo Andres	Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec	5:49
36	ITURRIA Mikel	Euskadi Basque Country	5:51
37	EARLE Nathan	Israel Cycling Academy	5:53
38	BIDARD François	Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
39	DE LA CRUZ David	Sky	5:58
40	DUPONT Hubert	Ag2r La Mondiale	6:04
41	HENAO Sebastián	Sky	6:22
42	KUDUS Merhawi	Dimension Data	6:33
43	GROSSSCHARTNER Felix	Bora-hansgrohe	6:47
44	ROTA Lorenzo	Bardiani-CSF	8:04
45	PETILLI Simone	UAE-Team Emirates	8:28
46	ZARDINI Edoardo	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	8:36
47	AMICI Alberto	Nazionale Italia	8:43
48	SENNI Manuel	Bardiani-CSF	s.t.
49	ANDREETTA Simone	Bardiani-CSF	8:57
50	TURRIN Alex	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	9:56
51	RAGGIO Luca	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	10:08
52	BATTAGLIN Enrico	LottoNL-Jumbo	10:48
53	BOU Joan	Nippo-Vini Fantini	11:01
54	VELASCO Simone	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	11:05
55	AGNOLI Valerio	Bahrain-Merida	11:07
56	CONTI Valerio	UAE-Team Emirates	11:33
57	VLASOV Aleksandr	Gazprom-RusVelo	12:13
58	LAENGEN Vegard Stake	UAE-Team Emirates	12:31
59	VISCONTI Giovanni	Bahrain-Merida	12:54
60	MORABITO Steve	Groupama-FDJ	12:57
61	ZACCANTI Filippo	Nippo-Vini Fantini	13:34
62	DURASEK Kristijan	UAE-Team Emirates	13:37
63	ROSA Diego	Sky	13:58
64	GAVAZZI Francesco	Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec	14:02
65	VAN RENSBURG Jacques	Dimension Data	14:13
66	LEHNER Daniel	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	14:33
67	PFINGSTEN Christoph	Bora-hansgrohe	14:48
68	JAUREGUI Quentin	Ag2r La Mondiale	14:53
69	DEIGNAN Philip	Sky	15:23
70	CHÉREL Mickaël	Ag2r La Mondiale	15:49
71	RABITSCH Stephan	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	16:00
72	KRIZEK Matthias	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	16:01
73	ZIMMERMANN Georg	Tirol Cycling	16:50
74	FIRSANOV Sergey	Gazprom-RusVelo	16:58
75	TXOPERENA Beñat	Euskadi Basque Country	17:02
76	NAKANE Hideto	Nippo-Vini Fantini	17:14
77	CHERKASOV Nicolay	Gazprom-RusVelo	17:34
78	COVILI Luca	Nazionale Italia	17:49
79	BERHANE Natnael	Dimension Data	18:01
80	NIV Guy	Israel Cycling Academy	18:07
81	STALNOV Nikita	Astana	18:11
82	BALLERINI Davide	Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec	18:17
83	BRKIC Benjamin	Tirol Cycling	18:21
84	LUDVIGSSON Tobias	Groupama-FDJ	18:24
85	FLOREZ Miguel Eduardo	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	18:36
86	NIEMIEC Przemyslaw	UAE-Team Emirates	18:41
87	FRAPPORTI Marco	Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec	19:09
88	ARSLANOV Ildar	Gazprom-RusVelo	19:52
89	DÍAZ José Manuel	Israel Cycling Academy	20:08
90	GEBREMEDHIN Awet	Israel Cycling Academy	20:12
91	SOBRERO Matteo	Nazionale Italia	20:21
92	MORTON Lachlan	Dimension Data	20:32
93	TUREK Daniel	Israel Cycling Academy	20:52
94	OLIVIER Daan	LottoNL-Jumbo	s.t.
95	EIBEGGER Markus	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	21:08
96	ADAMIETZ Johannes	Tirol Cycling	21:38
97	ITO Masakazu	Nippo-Vini Fantini	21:55
98	VENTURINI Clément	Ag2r La Mondiale	22:07
99	KUSS Sepp	LottoNL-Jumbo	22:09
100	VAN HOECKE Gijs	LottoNL-Jumbo	s.t.
101	BAGIOLI Nicola	Nippo-Vini Fantini	22:19
102	ORSINI Umberto	Bardiani-CSF	s.t.
103	KOCH Jonas	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
104	SISR Frantisek	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
105	BONNET William	Groupama-FDJ	22:47
106	PLUCINSKI Leszek	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	22:52
107	PICCOT Michel	Nazionale Italia	23:26
108	ROY Jérémy	Groupama-FDJ	23:37
109	SCHLEMMER Lukas	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	24:41
110	PUCCIO Salvatore	Sky	s.t.
111	MONACO Alessandro	Nazionale Italia	24:57
112	BERNARDINETTI Marco	Nazionale Italia	25:11
113	MOSCA Jacopo	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	25:38
114	GONZALEZ Aitor	Euskadi Basque Country	26:21
115	SCHINNAGEL Johannes	Tirol Cycling	26:54
116	WANG Meiyin	Bahrain-Merida	s.t.
117	EENKHOORN Pascal	LottoNL-Jumbo	s.t.
118	SARAMOTINS Aleksejs	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
119	FORTIN Filippo	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	28:08
120	KOBERNYAK Evgeny	Gazprom-RusVelo	28:19
121	WILDAUER Markus	Tirol Cycling	s.t.
122	ANTON Igor	Dimension Data	s.t.
123	BARCELO Fernando	Euskadi Basque Country	28:21
124	RODRIGUEZ Oscar	Euskadi Basque Country	28:41
125	TACIAK Mateusz	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
126	BUSATO Matteo	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	29:03
127	SCHWARZMANN Michael	Bora-hansgrohe	29:14
128	UDONDO Gotzon	Euskadi Basque Country	29:35
129	STERBINI Simone	Bardiani-CSF	29:45
130	STOSZ Patryk	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	30:11
131	FRIEDRICH Marco	Tirol Cycling	36:59
132	KOLAR Michael	Bora-hansgrohe	37:24
133	KNAPP Daniel	Tirol Cycling	38:11
134	GOLDSTEIN Omer	Israel Cycling Academy	39:57

Stage 2 map, profile and organizer's stage preview:

Stage 2 map

Stage 2 profile

Organizer's stage 2 route description and preview:

Stage 2 of the 2018 Tour of the Alps gets off from the Lavarone’s plateau, in Chiesa. After some starting up-and-downs, the track is characterized by a long descent leading from the Valico della Fricca’s tunnel to Calceranica al Lago, through Vattaro and Bosentino, after 20,5 Km. Here a lumpy segment starts, passing just by Caldonazzo and Levico Terme to reach Pergine Valsugana (Km 35). There begins the first climb of the stage: nearly 16 km through the enchanting Valle dei Mocheni will award the first Cat. 1 KoM of the Tour of the Alps 2018, placed atop the 1.455 mt of the Redebus Pass after 51,1 km. Even though it's the less challenging side of the mountain to be climbed (only in the final part the slope goes beyond 10%), the riders will still need to face a 980 mt altitude difference.

After crossing, a steep and fast descent with several hairpins bends will follow, but then the road will flatten through the town of Baselga di Pinè. Six more kilometers downhill will lead the pack to the provincial road crossing the Valle di Cembra, with a gentle but consistent ascent. In Lago di Lases (Km 70,7) a fixed aid station will be placed. Afterwards (Km 91), the intermediate sprint will wait for the riders in Sover, at Piscine. In Molina di Fiemme starts a long loop that will largely cross Val di Fiemme.

The most challenging climb which merges SS 48 road through Castello di Fiemme - during the first passage will be considered as second daily KoM - in the heart of Cavalese (Km 108). Then Tesero and Ziano di Fiemme are quickly reached, then riding back along Avisio River and closing the Val di Fiemme loop when reaching again Molina di Fiemme (km 130,9 km). When riding again the climb in Castello di Fiemme, we face the determining moments of this stage: after 6,4 flat kilometers to reach Tesero, the ascent to Alpe di Pampeago - Fiemme will begin: a climb with a maximum gradient at nearly 15%, and whose slopes never get below 10% in the last 4 km to the final banner. There is absolutely no doubt: a talented climber will be the one to raise his arms on the Alpe di Pampeago. Moreover, on top of Alpe di Pampeago, the overall placings start to be clearer, highlighting the main possible winner of Tour of the Alps.

---

Monday, April 16: Stage 1, Arco - Folgeria, 134.6 km

Stage 1 map, profile & organizer's preview

Pello Bilbao takes the first stage

The race: Here's the organizer's stage summary.

With a finisseur move, the Spaniard Pello Bilbao claimed the opening stage of the Euroregional race, dedicated to Scarponi. Sanchez rounds out Astana’s party with second place, but all the favorites are close

Opening the 2018 Tour of the Alps was another Astana-blue flash, and suddenly the memory goes back to Innsbruck, and the final flight of the “Aquila di Filottrano”. This time, though, it was Spaniard Pello Bilbao in celebration, making the best of his finisseur’s kick to take the first stage of the Tour of the Alps. The 28-year-old moved away from the top riders’ group with 3 km to go, after the favorites had come to the fore in the long climb to Serrada. Bilbao could exploit the strenght in number of the Astana team in the finale to time his attack and take his fifth pro win. For the second year in a row, Astana Pro Team won the first stage of the GS Alto Garda race: last year, the success went to the late Michele Scarponi, to whom Bilbao dedicated his first thoughts after the finish.

“My fifth pro victory has a special taste, right because of this coincidence, coming one year after the final win by ‘Scarpa’. Michele always has a place in our hearts, he is a source of inspiration and motivation, and to repeat his feat in this Tour of the Alps debut makes it even more significant. This victory is for him, and his family.”

Astana will have every reason to celebrate tonight, with Luis Leon Sanchez rounding out a one-two six seconds after his teammate, accompanied by talented Colombian Ivan Sosa in third. The Androni-Sidermec prospect has worn the first Best Youngster’s white jersey. All the top favorites came in a few seconds later: Thibaut Pinot (4th), Chris Froome (5th), Domenico Pozzovivo (6th), George Bennett (7th) have come home at 10 seconds, four less than Fabio Aru (10°) and Miguel Angel Lopez (14°).

Bilbao also wore the first overall leader’s fuchsia jersey, but he is well aware that his overall lead might be short-lived. His hope, though, is that it remains within the Astana team. “We have come to this race looking for a stage victory, and as a perfect tuning for our Giro d’Italia bid, and we have already succeeded in our first goal. Now we can possibly move to another one: Miguel Angel Lopez feels good, he has had a minor mechanical issue at the top of the climb when he tried to accelerate, but clearly a climb like the Alpe di Pampeago is better suited to him than to myself. If he happens to take the jersey away from me, no hard feelings at all!”

Previously, the first breakaway of the Tour of the Alps had moved away just a few kilometers out after the race got off, at 11.30, from a beautifully furnished Arco, with Trentino’s President Ugo Rossi giving the official start. Nine riders tried to go the long way after 8 km: Bou Company (Nippo Vini Fantini), Turrin (Wilier Triestina – Selle Italia), Krizek (Team Felbermayr – Simplon Wels),Friedrich (Tirol Cycling Team), Saramontis (Bora – Hansgrohe), Ballerini(Androni Giocattoli), Eenkhoorn (Team Lotto Nl Jumbo), Rybalkin (Gasprom – Rusvelo) and Berhane (Dimension Data), who managed to open no more than a 3.20 gap, as Groupama-FDJ and Team Sky always controlled the pace in the peloton.

Chris Froome constantly looked attentive in the leading positions and had little hesitation in asking his team to set the pace as the peloton hit the early ramps of the Serrada climb, whilst the escapees’ group was splintering and seeing its advantage quickly fade away. Italian Giulio Ciccone (Bardiani-CSF) tried his hand out of the main group, and slightly after that the top favorites started making their moves: the first acceleration was by Pinot, then it was Froome and Aru. At the end of the climb, Ciccone won the KOM with a few seconds over a group with the strongest, right before diving into the descent to Folgaria.

Ciccone was reeled in, Bilbao was sharp in choosing the right timing for his move: “Afer the top, there was a moment of incertainty, and we of Astana team had the strenght in numbers. We had to play our chances smartly: I tried to accelerate, and never looked back until the finish.”

Among the most expected riders at the start, South-African Louis Meintjes (Dimension Data) couldn’t hold up with the strongest rivals, giving up 1.04 on the finishing line: a blow to his overall podium ambitions, but the GC is set to be significantly reshaped after the finish of tomorrow’s stage 2, from Lavarone to Alpe di Pampeago – Fiemme (145,5 km)

Complete Results:

134.6 kilometers raced at an average speed of 39.074 km/hr

1	BILBAO Pello	Astana	3hr 26min 41sec
2	SANCHEZ Luis Leon	Astana	@ 6sec
3	SOSA Ivan Ramiro	Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec	s.t.
4	PINOT Thibaut	Groupama-FDJ	0:10
5	FROOME Christopher	Sky	s.t.
6	POZZOVIVO Domenico	Bahrain-Merida	s.t.
7	BENNETT George	LottoNL-Jumbo	s.t.
8	CICCONE Giulio	Bardiani-CSF	s.t.
9	HERMANS Ben	Israel Cycling Academy	s.t.
10	ARU Fabio	UAE-Team Emirates	0:14
11	MASNADA Fausto	Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec	s.t.
12	PADUN Mark	Bahrain-Merida	s.t.
13	HIRT Jan	Astana	s.t.
14	LOPEZ Miguel Angel	Astana	s.t.
15	ZEITS Andrey	Astana	0:18
16	RAVASI Edward	UAE-Team Emirates	1:04
17	CONCI Nicola	Nazionale Italia	s.t.
18	REICHENBACH Sebastien	Groupama-FDJ	1:07
19	PETILLI Simone	UAE-Team Emirates	s.t.
20	VILLELLA Davide	Astana	s.t.
21	ZOIDL Riccardo	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	s.t.
22	MEINTJES Louis	Dimension Data	s.t.
23	BOUWMAN Koen	LottoNL-Jumbo	s.t.
24	SCHLEGEL Michal	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
25	CUNEGO Damiano	Nippo-Vini Fantini	1:13
26	GENIEZ Alexandre	Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
27	VISCONTI Giovanni	Bahrain-Merida	s.t.
28	ANTUNES Amaro Manuel	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
29	O'CONNOR Ben	Dimension Data	1:22
30	ELISSONDE Kenny	Sky	1:34
31	DE LA CRUZ David	Sky	1:52
32	ITURRIA Mikel	Euskadi Basque Country	2:11
33	SANTAROMITA Ivan	Nippo-Vini Fantini	2:16
34	GROSSSCHARTNER Felix	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
35	HENAO Sebastián	Sky	s.t.
36	MONTAGUTI Matteo	Ag2r La Mondiale	2:30
37	BISOLTI Alessandro	Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec	2:54
38	ANDREETTA Simone	Bardiani-CSF	3:12
39	EARLE Nathan	Israel Cycling Academy	s.t.
40	CARBONI Giovanni	Bardiani-CSF	s.t.
41	DUPONT Hubert	Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
42	TORRES Rodolfo Andres	Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec	s.t.
43	BIZKARRA Mikel	Euskadi Basque Country	s.t.
44	BIDARD François	Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
45	LAENGEN Vegard Stake	UAE-Team Emirates	s.t.
46	PREIDLER Georg	Groupama-FDJ	4:05
47	ZARDINI Edoardo	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	s.t.
48	KUDUS Merhawi	Dimension Data	4:11
49	CONTI Valerio	UAE-Team Emirates	4:12
50	ROTA Lorenzo	Bardiani-CSF	4:14
51	DURASEK Kristijan	UAE-Team Emirates	4:18
52	STALNOV Nikita	Astana	4:38
53	GAVAZZI Francesco	Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec	4:43
54	BOU Joan	Nippo-Vini Fantini	5:18
55	ARSLANOV Ildar	Gazprom-RusVelo	5:24
56	JAUREGUI Quentin	Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
57	LEHNER Daniel	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	s.t.
58	VELASCO Simone	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	s.t.
59	RABITSCH Stephan	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	s.t.
60	AGNOLI Valerio	Bahrain-Merida	s.t.
61	AMICI Alberto	Nazionale Italia	s.t.
62	BATTAGLIN Enrico	LottoNL-Jumbo	s.t.
63	MORABITO Steve	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
64	SENNI Manuel	Bardiani-CSF	s.t.
65	KRIZEK Matthias	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	6:14
66	VLASOV Aleksandr	Gazprom-RusVelo	6:49
67	RAGGIO Luca	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	s.t.
68	GEBREMEDHIN Awet	Israel Cycling Academy	s.t.
69	PFINGSTEN Christoph	Bora-hansgrohe	6:56
70	TURRIN Alex	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	6:58
71	VAN RENSBURG Jacques	Dimension Data	7:01
72	DEIGNAN Philip	Sky	s.t.
73	BALLERINI Davide	Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec	7:24
74	BERHANE Natnael	Dimension Data	9:27
75	NAKANE Hideto	Nippo-Vini Fantini	s.t.
76	FLOREZ Miguel Eduardo	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	s.t.
77	ROSA Diego	Sky	s.t.
78	EIBEGGER Markus	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	s.t.
79	ZACCANTI Filippo	Nippo-Vini Fantini	s.t.
80	CHÉREL Mickaël	Ag2r La Mondiale	11:15
81	DÍAZ José Manuel	Israel Cycling Academy	12:16
82	MONACO Alessandro	Nazionale Italia	12:19
83	FIRSANOV Sergey	Gazprom-RusVelo	13:00
84	KOBERNYAK Evgeny	Gazprom-RusVelo	s.t.
85	COVILI Luca	Nazionale Italia	s.t.
86	NIEMIEC Przemyslaw	UAE-Team Emirates	s.t.
87	ZIMMERMANN Georg	Tirol Cycling	s.t.
88	LUDVIGSSON Tobias	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
89	SCHINNAGEL Johannes	Tirol Cycling	s.t.
90	TUREK Daniel	Israel Cycling Academy	s.t.
91	NIV Guy	Israel Cycling Academy	s.t.
92	OLIVIER Daan	LottoNL-Jumbo	s.t.
93	CHERKASOV Nicolay	Gazprom-RusVelo	s.t.
94	FORTIN Filippo	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	s.t.
95	SCHLEMMER Lukas	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	s.t.
96	WILDAUER Markus	Tirol Cycling	s.t.
97	BRKIC Benjamin	Tirol Cycling	s.t.
98	BARCELO Fernando	Euskadi Basque Country	s.t.
99	STOSZ Patryk	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
100	ANTON Igor	Dimension Data	s.t.
101	TXOPERENA Beñat	Euskadi Basque Country	s.t.
102	ADAMIETZ Johannes	Tirol Cycling	s.t.
103	PLUCINSKI Leszek	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
104	FRAPPORTI Marco	Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec	s.t.
105	BAGIOLI Nicola	Nippo-Vini Fantini	s.t.
106	SCHWARZMANN Michael	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
107	KUSS Sepp	LottoNL-Jumbo	s.t.
108	GOLDSTEIN Omer	Israel Cycling Academy	s.t.
109	ORSINI Umberto	Bardiani-CSF	s.t.
110	VAN HOECKE Gijs	LottoNL-Jumbo	s.t.
111	SOBRERO Matteo	Nazionale Italia	s.t.
112	WANG Meiyin	Bahrain-Merida	s.t.
113	RODRIGUEZ Oscar	Euskadi Basque Country	s.t.
114	PUCCIO Salvatore	Sky	s.t.
115	ITO Masakazu	Nippo-Vini Fantini	s.t.
116	PICCOT Michel	Nazionale Italia	s.t.
117	VENTURINI Clément	Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
118	MORTON Lachlan	Dimension Data	s.t.
119	STERBINI Simone	Bardiani-CSF	s.t.
120	KOCH Jonas	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
121	SISR Frantisek	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
122	EENKHOORN Pascal	LottoNL-Jumbo	s.t.
123	BONNET William	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
124	KOZONCHUK Dmitry	Gazprom-RusVelo	s.t.
125	GONZALEZ Aitor	Euskadi Basque Country	s.t.
126	UDONDO Gotzon	Euskadi Basque Country	s.t.
127	MOSCA Jacopo	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	s.t.
128	SARAMOTINS Aleksejs	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
129	TACIAK Mateusz	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
130	BUSATO Matteo	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	13:29
131	BERNARDINETTI Marco	Nazionale Italia	15:52
132	ROY Jérémy	Groupama-FDJ	16:04
133	FENG Chun Kai	Bahrain-Merida	16:45
134	RYBALKIN Aleksey	Gazprom-RusVelo	18:57
135	KOLAR Michael	Bora-hansgrohe	20:03
136	PÖSTLBERGER Lukas	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
137	KNAPP Daniel	Tirol Cycling	21:04
138	FRIEDRICH Marco	Tirol Cycling	s.t.

GC after stage 1:

1	BILBAO Pello	Astana	3hr 26min 31sec
2	SANCHEZ Luis Leon	Astana	@ 10sec
3	SOSA Ivan Ramiro	Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec	0:12
4	PINOT Thibaut	Groupama-FDJ	0:20
5	FROOME Christopher	Sky	s.t.
6	POZZOVIVO Domenico	Bahrain-Merida	s.t.
7	BENNETT George	LottoNL-Jumbo	s.t.
8	CICCONE Giulio	Bardiani-CSF	s.t.
9	HERMANS Ben	Israel Cycling Academy	s.t.
10	ARU Fabio	UAE-Team Emirates	0:24
11	MASNADA Fausto	Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec	s.t.
12	PADUN Mark	Bahrain-Merida	s.t.
13	HIRT Jan	Astana	s.t.
14	LOPEZ Miguel Angel	Astana	s.t.
15	ZEITS Andrey	Astana	0:28
16	RAVASI Edward	UAE-Team Emirates	1:14
17	CONCI Nicola	Nazionale Italia	s.t.
18	REICHENBACH Sebastien	Groupama-FDJ	1:17
19	PETILLI Simone	UAE-Team Emirates	s.t.
20	VILLELLA Davide	Astana	s.t.
21	ZOIDL Riccardo	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	s.t.
22	MEINTJES Louis	Dimension Data	s.t.
23	BOUWMAN Koen	LottoNL-Jumbo	s.t.
24	SCHLEGEL Michal	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
25	CUNEGO Damiano	Nippo-Vini Fantini	1:23
26	GENIEZ Alexandre	Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
27	VISCONTI Giovanni	Bahrain-Merida	s.t.
28	ANTUNES Amaro Manuel	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
29	O'CONNOR Ben	Dimension Data	1:32
30	ELISSONDE Kenny	Sky	1:44
31	DE LA CRUZ David	Sky	2:02
32	ITURRIA Mikel	Euskadi Basque Country	2:21
33	SANTAROMITA Ivan	Nippo-Vini Fantini	2:26
34	GROSSSCHARTNER Felix	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
35	HENAO Sebastián	Sky	s.t.
36	MONTAGUTI Matteo	Ag2r La Mondiale	2:40
37	BISOLTI Alessandro	Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec	3:04
38	ANDREETTA Simone	Bardiani-CSF	3:22
39	EARLE Nathan	Israel Cycling Academy	s.t.
40	CARBONI Giovanni	Bardiani-CSF	s.t.
41	DUPONT Hubert	Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
42	TORRES Rodolfo Andres	Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec	s.t.
43	BIZKARRA Mikel	Euskadi Basque Country	s.t.
44	BIDARD François	Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
45	LAENGEN Vegard Stake	UAE-Team Emirates	s.t.
46	PREIDLER Georg	Groupama-FDJ	4:15
47	ZARDINI Edoardo	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	s.t.
48	KUDUS Merhawi	Dimension Data	4:21
49	CONTI Valerio	UAE-Team Emirates	4:22
50	ROTA Lorenzo	Bardiani-CSF	4:24
51	DURASEK Kristijan	UAE-Team Emirates	4:28
52	STALNOV Nikita	Astana	4:48
53	GAVAZZI Francesco	Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec	4:53
54	BOU Joan	Nippo-Vini Fantini	5:28
55	ARSLANOV Ildar	Gazprom-RusVelo	5:34
56	JAUREGUI Quentin	Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
57	LEHNER Daniel	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	s.t.
58	VELASCO Simone	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	s.t.
59	RABITSCH Stephan	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	s.t.
60	AGNOLI Valerio	Bahrain-Merida	s.t.
61	AMICI Alberto	Nazionale Italia	s.t.
62	BATTAGLIN Enrico	LottoNL-Jumbo	s.t.
63	MORABITO Steve	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
64	SENNI Manuel	Bardiani-CSF	s.t.
65	KRIZEK Matthias	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	6:24
66	VLASOV Aleksandr	Gazprom-RusVelo	6:59
67	RAGGIO Luca	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	s.t.
68	GEBREMEDHIN Awet	Israel Cycling Academy	s.t.
69	PFINGSTEN Christoph	Bora-hansgrohe	7:06
70	TURRIN Alex	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	7:08
71	VAN RENSBURG Jacques	Dimension Data	7:11
72	DEIGNAN Philip	Sky	s.t.
73	BALLERINI Davide	Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec	7:34
74	BERHANE Natnael	Dimension Data	9:37
75	NAKANE Hideto	Nippo-Vini Fantini	s.t.
76	FLOREZ Miguel Eduardo	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	s.t.
77	ROSA Diego	Sky	s.t.
78	EIBEGGER Markus	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	s.t.
79	ZACCANTI Filippo	Nippo-Vini Fantini	s.t.
80	CHÉREL Mickaël	Ag2r La Mondiale	11:25
81	DÍAZ José Manuel	Israel Cycling Academy	12:26
82	MONACO Alessandro	Nazionale Italia	12:29
83	FIRSANOV Sergey	Gazprom-RusVelo	13:10
84	KOBERNYAK Evgeny	Gazprom-RusVelo	s.t.
85	COVILI Luca	Nazionale Italia	s.t.
86	NIEMIEC Przemyslaw	UAE-Team Emirates	s.t.
87	ZIMMERMANN Georg	Tirol Cycling	s.t.
88	LUDVIGSSON Tobias	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
89	SCHINNAGEL Johannes	Tirol Cycling	s.t.
90	TUREK Daniel	Israel Cycling Academy	s.t.
91	NIV Guy	Israel Cycling Academy	s.t.
92	OLIVIER Daan	LottoNL-Jumbo	s.t.
93	CHERKASOV Nicolay	Gazprom-RusVelo	s.t.
94	FORTIN Filippo	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	s.t.
95	SCHLEMMER Lukas	Felbermayr Simplon Wels	s.t.
96	WILDAUER Markus	Tirol Cycling	s.t.
97	BRKIC Benjamin	Tirol Cycling	s.t.
98	BARCELO Fernando	Euskadi Basque Country	s.t.
99	STOSZ Patryk	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
100	ANTON Igor	Dimension Data	s.t.
101	TXOPERENA Beñat	Euskadi Basque Country	s.t.
102	ADAMIETZ Johannes	Tirol Cycling	s.t.
103	PLUCINSKI Leszek	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
104	FRAPPORTI Marco	Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec	s.t.
105	BAGIOLI Nicola	Nippo-Vini Fantini	s.t.
106	SCHWARZMANN Michael	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
107	KUSS Sepp	LottoNL-Jumbo	s.t.
108	GOLDSTEIN Omer	Israel Cycling Academy	s.t.
109	ORSINI Umberto	Bardiani-CSF	s.t.
110	VAN HOECKE Gijs	LottoNL-Jumbo	s.t.
111	SOBRERO Matteo	Nazionale Italia	s.t.
112	WANG Meiyin	Bahrain-Merida	s.t.
113	RODRIGUEZ Oscar	Euskadi Basque Country	s.t.
114	PUCCIO Salvatore	Sky	s.t.
115	ITO Masakazu	Nippo-Vini Fantini	s.t.
116	PICCOT Michel	Nazionale Italia	s.t.
117	VENTURINI Clément	Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
118	MORTON Lachlan	Dimension Data	s.t.
119	STERBINI Simone	Bardiani-CSF	s.t.
120	KOCH Jonas	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
121	SISR Frantisek	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
122	EENKHOORN Pascal	LottoNL-Jumbo	s.t.
123	BONNET William	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
124	KOZONCHUK Dmitry	Gazprom-RusVelo	s.t.
125	GONZALEZ Aitor	Euskadi Basque Country	s.t.
126	UDONDO Gotzon	Euskadi Basque Country	s.t.
127	MOSCA Jacopo	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	s.t.
128	SARAMOTINS Aleksejs	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
129	TACIAK Mateusz	CCC Sprandi Polkowice	s.t.
130	BUSATO Matteo	Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia	13:39
131	BERNARDINETTI Marco	Nazionale Italia	16:02
132	ROY Jérémy	Groupama-FDJ	16:14
133	FENG Chun Kai	Bahrain-Merida	16:55
134	RYBALKIN Aleksey	Gazprom-RusVelo	19:07
135	KOLAR Michael	Bora-hansgrohe	20:13
136	PÖSTLBERGER Lukas	Bora-hansgrohe	s.t.
137	KNAPP Daniel	Tirol Cycling	21:14
138	FRIEDRICH Marco	Tirol Cycling	s.t.

Stage 1 map, profile and organizer's preview:

Stage 1 map

Stage 1 profile

Organizer's Stage one preview:

The 2018 Tour of the Alps opens with a rather short but insidious stage, with a 2.530 mt overall altitude and a finale with several options. After a flat start, the road starts pointing up after leaving the village Sarche, with a mix of slopes and apparently flat ground sections, all the way to the Lago di Molveno and Andalo. The climb’s gradient never gets over 8%, and even the last km before the top of the first categorized climb of the day, after 50,3 km, hardly goes over 4%. From there starts a long and fast descent, with open bends in the first part and wide hairpin bends in the lower section, yet without any specific technical difficulty. After a wide 3,5 km tunnel, the peloton will ride in the Adige river’s valley passing close to the city of Trento, whereas the aid station is placed after 88,2 km in Romagnano. The flat stint ends in Rovereto, where the day’s intermediate sprint – in Corso Antonio Rosmini, in the very heart of the city (km 108,8) – barely precedes the foot of the second ascent of the day.

Now, a long climb (19,2 Km at 5,5% average gradient) leading to the second daily KoM in Serrada, after 128,4 km. From there, only 6,2 km will be left to the finish. But even those will not be easy: a descent with short countergradients will leave way, with less than 2 km to go, to a long downhill straight ending with 700 mt to go with a sharp bend to the right. From there, the riders will have to relaunch their speed on the final drag on Viale Trento, leading to the finish in Via Emilio Colpi. The decisive move will be made on this ending section, whose gradient peaks at 10%: those punchers who managed to keep something for the finish will have a shot to the stage win and the first leader’s jersey.

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Start list with back numbers, April 15, 2018:

	SKY
1	FROOME Christopher
2	DEIGNAN Philip
3	ELISSONDE Kenny
4	DE LA CRUZ David
5	HENAO Sebastian
6	PUCCIO Salvatore
7	ROSA Diego
	AG2R LA MONDIALE
11	MONTAGUTI Matteo
12	GENIEZ Alexandre
13	CHEREL Mickaël
14	DUPONT Hubert
15	VENTURINI Clément
16	BIDARD François
17	JAUREGUI Quentin
	NIPPO-VINI FANTINI
21	CUNEGO Damiano
22	BOU Joan
23	BAGIOLI Nicola
24	NAKANE Hideto
25	SANTAROMITA Ivan
26	ZACCANTI Filippo
27	ITO Masakazu
	UAE-TEAM EMIRATES
31	ARU Fabio
32	CONTI Valerio
33	DURASEK Kristijan
34	LAENGEN Vegard Stake
35	NIEMIEC Przemyslaw
36	PETILLI Simone
37	RAVASI Edward
	NAZIONALE ITALIA
41	CONCI Nicola
42	AMICI Alberto
43	MONACO Alessandro
44	COVILI Luca
45	SOBRERO Matteo
46	BERNARDINETTI Marco
47	PICCOT Michel
	WILIER TRIESTINA-SELLE ITALIA
51	BUSATO Matteo
52	FLOREZ Miguel Eduardo
53	MOSCA Jacopo
54	TURRIN Alex
55	VELASCO Simone
56	ZARDINI Edoardo
57	RAGGIO Luca
	FELBERMAYR SIMPLON WELS
61	ZOIDL Riccardo
62	EIBEGGER Markus
63	FORTIN Filippo
64	KRIZEK Matthias
65	LEHNER Daniel
66	RABITSCH Stefan
67	SCHLEMMER Lukas
	ASTANA
71	LÓPEZ Miguel Ángel
72	BILBAO Pello
73	HIRT Jan
74	SANCHEZ Luis Leon
75	STALNOV Nikita
76	VILLELLA Davide
77	ZEITS Andrey
	EUSKADI BASQUE COUNTRY-MURIAS
81	TXOPERENA Beñat
82	BIZKARRA Mikel
83	GONZÁLEZ Aitor
84	BARCELÓ Fernando
85	ITURRIA Mikel
86	RODRIGUEZ Óscar
87	UDONDO Gotzon
	TIROL CYCLING
91	ADAMIETZ Johannes
92	BRKIC Benjamin
93	KNAPP Daniel
94	SCHINNAGEL Johannes
95	FRIEDRICH Marco
96	ZIMMERMANN Georg
97	WILDAUER Markus
	BORA-HANSGROHE
101	GROSSSCHARTNER Felix
102	KOLAR Michal
103	SARAMOTINS Aleksejs
104	PELUCCHI Matteo
105	PFINGSTEN Christoph
106	POSTLBERGER Lukas
107	SCHWARZMANN Michael
	DIMENSION DATA
111	ANTON Igor
112	BERHANE Natnael
113	KUDUS Merhawi
114	MEINTJES Louis
115	MORTON Lachlan David
116	O'CONNOR Ben Alexander
117	VAN RENSBURG Jacques
	ANDRONI GIOCATTOLI-SIDERMEC
121	BALLERINI Davide
122	BISOLTI Alessandro
123	FRAPPORTI Marco
124	GAVAZZI Francesco
125	MASNADA Fausto
126	SOSA Ivan Ramiro
127	TORRES Rodolfo Andres
	LOTTO NL-JUMBO
131	BATTAGLIN Enrico
132	BENNETT George
133	BOUWMAN Koen
134	EENKHOORN Pascal
135	KUSS Sepp
136	OLIVIER Daan
137	VAN HOECKE Gijs
	GROUPAMA-FDJ
141	PINOT Thibaut
142	BONNET William
143	LUDVIGSSON Tobias
144	MORABITO Steve
145	PREIDLER Georg
146	REICHENBACH Sébastien
147	ROY Jérémy
	BAHRAIN-MERIDA
151	FENG Chun Kai
152	NIBALI Antonio
153	PADUN Mark
154	AGNOLI Valerio
155	POZZOVIVO Domenico
156	VISCONTI Giovanni
157	WANG Mei Yin
	BARDIANI-CSF
161	ANDREETTA Simone
162	CARBONI Giovanni
163	CICCONE Giulio
164	ORSINI Umberto
165	ROTA Lorenzo
166	SENNI Manuel
167	STERBINI Simone
	CCC SPRANDI POLKOWICE
171	AMARO Manuel
172	KOCH Jonas
173	SISR Frantisek
174	TACIAK Mateusz
175	PLUCINSKI Leszek
176	SCHLEGEL Michal
177	STOSZ Patryk
	GAZPROM-RUSVELO
181	FIRSANOV Serguei
182	KOBERNYAK Evgeny
183	ARSLANOV Ildar
184	CHERKASOV Nikolay
185	KOZONTCHUK Dmitriy
186	RYBALKIN Aleksey
187	VLASOV Aleksander
	ISRAEL CYCLING ACADEMY
191	GEBREMEDHIN Awet
192	EARLE Nathan
193	HERMANS Ben
194	DÍAZ José Manuel
195	NIV Guy
196	GOLDSTEIN Omer
197	TUREK Daniel