Tour of the Alps 2018 – Stage 4 [FULL STAGE]

April 19, 2018

Tour of the Alps 2018 – Stage 4 – Chiusa – Lienz : 134,3 km

The Giro del Trentino expanded into the neighbouring Tyrol and Alto Adige regions to become the cross border Tour of the Alps in 2017. This year the Hors Category stage race will again cross the so-called Euroregion that spans northern Italy and southern Austria, with the presence of Chris Froome (Team Sky) and several of his biggest Giro d’Italia challengers further boosting its profile.

Luis Leon Sanchez claimed victory on stage 4 of the Tour of the Alps as Astana, once again, exploited a numerical advantage in the group of favourites. The Spaniard was one of five sky blue jerseys in the select group of 15 that formed on the late climb of the Bannberg and, after a fast descent, he attacked with two kilometres remaining to take a solo win – Astana’s third from four stages.

George Bennett struck out in pursuit and finished in second place six seconds later, with his LottoNL-Jumbo teammate Koen Bouwman leading the rest of the group home a further five seconds back.

Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) finished in fourth place and retained his overall lead. Domenico Pozzovivo (Bahrain-Merida), Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana), Chris Froome (Team Sky), Fabio Aru (UAE Team Emirates) – along with the rest of the top 10 – were all in the group. There were no significant changes to the general classification, though Sanchez did leapfrog Bennett into sixth.

The penultimate stage of the Tour of the Alps once again provided a thrilling tussle between the overall favourites, many of them putting the final touches to their form ahead of next month’s Giro d’Italia. The standout feature on the 134.3km stage from Klausen to Lienz was the Bannberg, a 7km second-category climb that topped out 10km from the line. What followed was a rapid descent that flattened out in the final few kilometres.

It was another fluid and open day of racing in which a breakaway didn’t form until the early second-category climb of Terento after 30km. With some dangerous names in there – Ben Hermans (Israel Cycling Academy), Mark Padun (Bahrain-Merida), Louis Meintjes (Dimension Data), Davide Villella (Astana), David De la Cruz (Team Sky), Kristijan Durasez (UAE Team Emirates), Felix Grosschartner (Bora-Hansgrohe), Mikel Bizkarra (Euskadi-Murias), and Hubert Dupont (AG2R La Mondiale) – the group of nine were never allowed much more than two minutes of an advantage.

The action between the overall contenders began on a short uncategorised climb that preceded the Bannberg, with Bennett attacking and catching the break, from which Bizkarra and Villella broke rank. By the top of the climb, Bennett and the rest of the break were reeled in by the peloton, and by the bottom of the short descent, it was all back together as Bizkarra and Villella were brought back. That triggered a flurry of attacks ahead of the Bannberg, with a group of 30 riders out front as the climb began.

As Pinot’s FDJ team set the tempo, Aru made a big attack, picking his way through the fragments of that group of 30 to hit the front of the race alongside Bouwman, Nicola Conci (Italy) and Pello Bilbao (Astana). That small group was neutralised a couple of kilometres later when Kenny Elissonde put in a huge acceleration that seemed to place his leader, Chris Froome, under pressure.

Froome, however, did come through and launch a pair of attacks, though both lacked conviction and were closed down with relative ease. As a couple more moves came from Lopez and Bennett, the group thinned massively, and by the top of the climb, there were just 15 left in contention. As well as Sanchez, Astana had Lopez, Bilbao, Jan Hirt, and Andrey Zeits. Also in the group were Conci, Giulio Ciccone (Bardiani-CSF), and stage 3 winner Ben O’Connor (Dimension Data).

Pinot, a notoriously weak descender, tried to lead down the mountain but towards the bottom, Sanchez and Pozzovivo pulled out a sizeable gap. Froome soon joined them, but when the road flattened out the collaboration waned, and things came back together.

It was then time for Astana to play the numbers. Just after Pinot brought the move back, Bilbao accelerated, but his move was short-lived as Sanchez sprang from the bunch. Bennett reacted quickly but there was a gap to the rest, and that’s how it would stay all the way to the line.

Pinot leads the race from Pozzovivo and Lopez by 15 seconds, with Froome a further second back and then Aru in fifth at 50 seconds. The race concludes on Friday with a stage that features the circuit that will be used in the World Championships road race later this year.

Results :
1 Luis León Sánchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team 3:19:59
2 George Bennett (NZl) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:00:06
3 Koen Bouwman (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:00:11
4 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
5 Fabio Aru (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
6 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
7 Nicola Conci (Ita) Italian National Team
8 Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana Pro Team
9 Pello Bilbao (Spa) Astana Pro Team
10 Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky
11 Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Bardiani CSF
12 Andrey Zeits (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
13 Jan Hirt (Cze) Astana Pro Team
14 Ben O’Connor (Aus) Dimension Data
15 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:50
16 Mark Padun (Ukr) Bahrain-Merida
17 Markus Eibegger (Aut) Team Felbermayr Simplon Wels
18 Merhawi Kudus Ghebremedhin (Eri) Dimension Data
19 Michal Schlegel (Cze) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
20 Sergey Firsanov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
21 Mikel Bizkarra Etxegibel (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
22 Fausto Masnada (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
23 Ivan Santaromita (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini
24 Philip Deignan (Irl) Team Sky
25 Davide Ballerini (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:01:18
26 Ben Hermans (Bel) Israel Cycling Academy
27 Alex Turrin (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia
28 Riccardo Zoidl (Aut) Team Felbermayr Simplon Wels
29 Kenny Elissonde (Fra) Team Sky
30 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini 0:02:35
31 Rodolfo Andres Torres Agudelo (Col) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
32 Sebastian Henao Gomez (Col) Team Sky
33 Alexander Vlasov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo 0:03:02
34 Louis Meintjes (RSA) Dimension Data
35 Miguel Eduardo Florez Lopez (Col) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia
36 Matteo Montaguti (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
37 Alessandro Bisolti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
38 Mikel Iturria Segurola (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
39 Luca Raggio (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia
40 Nikita Stalnov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:03:06
41 Sebastien Reichenbach (Swi) Groupama-FDJ 0:04:46
42 Diego Rosa (Ita) Team Sky 0:05:05
43 Felix Großschartner (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
44 Ildar Arslanov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo 0:05:55
45 Davide Villella (Ita) Astana Pro Team
46 Hubert Dupont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:08:09
47 David de la Cruz (Spa) Team Sky 0:08:59
48 Edward Ravasi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:09:10
49 Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
50 Giovanni Carboni (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:09:23
51 Igor Anton Hernandez (Spa) Dimension Data
52 Nicola Bagioli (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini
53 Luca Covili (Ita) Italian National Team 0:09:44
54 Jacopo Mosca (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia 0:11:55
55 Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
56 Przemyslaw Niemiec (Pol) UAE Team Emirates
57 Evgeny Kobernyak (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
58 Marco Frapporti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
59 Valerio Conti (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
60 Valerio Agnoli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
61 Filippo Fortin (Ita) Team Felbermayr Simplon Wels
62 Jose Manuel Diaz (Spa) Israel Cycling Academy
63 Lorenzo Rota (Ita) Bardiani CSF
64 Fernando Barcelo Aragon (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
65 Simone Velasco (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia
66 Manuel Senni (Ita) Bardiani CSF
67 Kristijan Durasek (Cro) UAE Team Emirates
68 Gijs Van Hoecke (Bel) LottoNL-Jumbo
69 Georg Preidler (Aut) Groupama-FDJ
70 Matthias Krizek (Aut) Team Felbermayr Simplon Wels
71 Daniel Turek (Cze) Israel Cycling Academy
72 Georg Zimmermann (Ger) Tirol Cycling Team
73 Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Groupama-FDJ
74 Alberto Amici (Ita) Italian National Team
75 Michel Piccot (Ita) Italian National Team
76 Hideto Nakane (Jpn) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini
77 Marco Bernardinetti (Ita) Italian National Team
78 Lukas Schlemmer (Aut) Team Felbermayr Simplon Wels
79 Johannes Schinnagel (Ger) Tirol Cycling Team
80 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) LottoNL-Jumbo
81 Jonas Koch (Ger) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
82 Simone Petilli (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
83 Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Team Sky
84 Pascal Eenkhoorn (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
85 Christoph Pfingsten (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
86 Joan Bou (Spa) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini
87 Daniel Lehner (Aut) Team Felbermayr Simplon Wels
88 Nathan Earle (Aus) Israel Cycling Academy
89 Stephan Rabitsch (Aut) Team Felbermayr Simplon Wels
90 Amaro Manuel Antunes (Por) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
91 Daan Olivier (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
92 Simone Andreetta (Ita) Bardiani CSF
93 Edoardo Zardini (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia
94 Natnael Berhane (Eri) Dimension Data
95 Omer Goldstein (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy
96 Patryk Stosz (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
97 Oscar Rodriguez Garaicoechea (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
98 Nikolay Cherkasov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
99 Beñat Txoperena Matxikote (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
100 Matteo Sobrero (Ita) Italian National Team
101 Filippo Zaccanti (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini
102 Guy Sagiv (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy
103 Alessandro Monaco (Ita) Italian National Team
104 Clément Venturini (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
105 Alexandre Geniez (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
106 Steve Morabito (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
107 Mickael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
108 Mateusz Taciak (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
109 Leszek Plucinski (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
110 Ivan Ramiro Sosa Cuervo (Col) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
111 Francois Bidard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
112 Masakazu Ito (Jpn) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini
113 Quentin Jauregui (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
114 Frantisek Sisr (Cze) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
115 Aitor Gonzalez (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
116 Lachlan Morton (Aus) Dimension Data 0:12:04
117 Johannes Adamietz (Ger) Tirol Cycling Team 0:19:59
118 Markus Wildauer (Aut) Tirol Cycling Team 0:22:49
119 Marco Friedrich (Aut) Tirol Cycling Team
120 Wang Meiyin (Chn) Bahrain-Merida
121 Awet Gebremedhin (Eri) Israel Cycling Academy
DNF Gotzon Udondo Santamaria (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
DNF Michal Kolár (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNF Michael Schwarzmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNF Sepp Kuss (USA) LottoNL-Jumbo
DNF Umberto Orsini (Ita) Bardiani CSF
DNS Jacques Janse van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data

General Classification after Stage 4 :
1 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 14:12:29
2 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:15
3 Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana Pro Team
4 Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky 0:00:16
5 Fabio Aru (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:50
6 Luis León Sánchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:01:06
7 George Bennett (NZl) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:01:10
8 Ben O’Connor (Aus) Dimension Data 0:01:36
9 Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:01:45
10 Jan Hirt (Cze) Astana Pro Team 0:01:55
11 Pello Bilbao (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:02:36
12 Michal Schlegel (Cze) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:02:37
13 Andrey Zeits (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:02:42
14 Ben Hermans (Bel) Israel Cycling Academy 0:03:09
15 Koen Bouwman (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:03:27
16 Mark Padun (Ukr) Bahrain-Merida 0:03:33
17 Riccardo Zoidl (Aut) Team Felbermayr Simplon Wels 0:03:53
18 Nicola Conci (Ita) Italian National Team 0:04:34
19 Fausto Masnada (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:04:39
20 Ivan Santaromita (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini 0:06:12
21 Mikel Bizkarra Etxegibel (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:06:15
22 Louis Meintjes (RSA) Dimension Data 0:07:21
23 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini 0:07:45
24 Merhawi Kudus Ghebremedhin (Eri) Dimension Data 0:08:31
25 Davide Villella (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:10:01
26 Kenny Elissonde (Fra) Team Sky 0:11:27
27 Sebastien Reichenbach (Swi) Groupama-FDJ 0:11:35
28 Edward Ravasi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:12:56
29 Alexandre Geniez (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:14:24
30 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:14:52
31 Hubert Dupont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:15:21
32 Ivan Ramiro Sosa Cuervo (Col) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:15:48
33 Giovanni Carboni (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:16:45
34 Alexander Vlasov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo 0:16:49
35 Alessandro Bisolti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:20:07
36 Manuel Senni (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:20:27
37 Mikel Iturria Segurola (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:20:34
38 Georg Preidler (Aut) Groupama-FDJ 0:20:42
39 Matteo Montaguti (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 0:21:58
40 Alex Turrin (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia 0:22:16
41 Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) UAE Team Emirates 0:22:49
42 Nikita Stalnov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:23:21
43 Felix Großschartner (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:23:33
44 Sebastian Henao Gomez (Col) Team Sky 0:23:49
45 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:23:51
46 Rodolfo Andres Torres Agudelo (Col) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:25:55
47 David de la Cruz (Spa) Team Sky 0:25:59
48 Luca Raggio (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia 0:28:02
49 Amaro Manuel Antunes (Por) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:32:11
50 Alberto Amici (Ita) Italian National Team 0:32:19
51 Simone Andreetta (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:32:33
52 Sergey Firsanov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo 0:32:40
53 Nathan Earle (Aus) Israel Cycling Academy
54 Miguel Eduardo Florez Lopez (Col) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia
55 Markus Eibegger (Aut) Team Felbermayr Simplon Wels 0:33:39
56 Joan Bou (Spa) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini 0:34:37
57 Valerio Agnoli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:34:43
58 Lorenzo Rota (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:34:51
59 Philip Deignan (Irl) Team Sky 0:35:08
60 Simone Petilli (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:35:15
61 Francois Bidard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:35:19
62 Edoardo Zardini (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia 0:35:33
63 Steve Morabito (Swi) Groupama-FDJ 0:36:33
64 Filippo Zaccanti (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini 0:37:10
65 Simone Velasco (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia 0:37:52
66 Diego Rosa (Ita) Team Sky 0:37:58
67 Valerio Conti (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:38:20
68 Quentin Jauregui (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:38:29
69 Davide Ballerini (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:38:30
70 Stephan Rabitsch (Aut) Team Felbermayr Simplon Wels 0:38:57
71 Kristijan Durasek (Cro) UAE Team Emirates 0:40:24
72 Beñat Txoperena Matxikote (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:40:38
73 Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:40:49
74 Daniel Lehner (Aut) Team Felbermayr Simplon Wels 0:41:20
75 Natnael Berhane (Eri) Dimension Data 0:41:37
76 Luca Covili (Ita) Italian National Team 0:42:25
77 Mickael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:42:36
78 Georg Zimmermann (Ger) Tirol Cycling Team 0:43:37
79 Ildar Arslanov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo 0:44:52
80 Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Groupama-FDJ 0:45:11
81 Christoph Pfingsten (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:45:38
82 Marco Frapporti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:45:56
83 Hideto Nakane (Jpn) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini 0:46:40
84 Matthias Krizek (Aut) Team Felbermayr Simplon Wels 0:46:51
85 Jose Manuel Diaz (Spa) Israel Cycling Academy 0:46:55
86 Matteo Sobrero (Ita) Italian National Team 0:47:08
87 Przemyslaw Niemiec (Pol) UAE Team Emirates 0:48:07
88 Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Team Sky 0:48:17
89 Nikolay Cherkasov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo 0:48:24
90 Alessandro Monaco (Ita) Italian National Team 0:48:33
91 Guy Sagiv (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy 0:48:57
92 Nicola Bagioli (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini 0:50:37
93 Masakazu Ito (Jpn) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini 0:51:21
94 Lachlan Morton (Aus) Dimension Data 0:51:31
95 Daniel Turek (Cze) Israel Cycling Academy 0:51:42
96 Daan Olivier (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
97 Clément Venturini (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:52:57
98 Gijs Van Hoecke (Bel) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:52:59
99 Jonas Koch (Ger) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:53:09
100 Frantisek Sisr (Cze) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
101 Leszek Plucinski (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:53:42
102 Michel Piccot (Ita) Italian National Team 0:54:16
103 Lukas Schlemmer (Aut) Team Felbermayr Simplon Wels 0:55:31
104 Marco Bernardinetti (Ita) Italian National Team 0:56:01
105 Johannes Schinnagel (Ger) Tirol Cycling Team 0:56:20
106 Jacopo Mosca (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia 0:56:28
107 Igor Anton Hernandez (Spa) Dimension Data 0:56:37
108 Aitor Gonzalez (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:57:11
109 Pascal Eenkhoorn (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:57:44
110 Fernando Barcelo Aragon (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:57:47
111 Filippo Fortin (Ita) Team Felbermayr Simplon Wels 0:58:58
112 Evgeny Kobernyak (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo 0:59:09
113 Oscar Rodriguez Garaicoechea (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:59:31
114 Mateusz Taciak (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
115 Awet Gebremedhin (Eri) Israel Cycling Academy 1:00:32
116 Johannes Adamietz (Ger) Tirol Cycling Team
117 Patryk Stosz (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 1:01:01
118 Wang Meiyin (Chn) Bahrain-Merida 1:08:38
119 Markus Wildauer (Aut) Tirol Cycling Team 1:10:03
120 Omer Goldstein (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy 1:10:47
121 Marco Friedrich (Aut) Tirol Cycling Team 1:18:43