Tour of the Alps 2017 – Stage 3 [FULL STAGE]

April 19, 2017
Tour of the Alps 2017 – Stage 3– Villabassa – Niederdorf-Funes/Villnöß : 143,1 km

The 2017 Tour of the Alps is a road cycling stage race that takes place in Austria and Italy between 17 and 21 April 2017. It is the 41st edition of the re-named Giro del Trentino and is rated as a 2.HC event as part of the 2017 UCI Europe Tour.

Geraint Thomas took control of the Tour of the Alps on Wednesday, claiming victory at the summit finish on stage 3 to take the race leader’s jersey from the shoulders of Thibaut Pinot (FDJ).

Team Sky bossed the 135.6km stage from Niederdoorf to Villnöß, which had been modified due to snow, and ended up with a one-two on the line as Mikel Landa, Thomas’ co-leader for next month’s Giro d’Italia, put in an impressive performance on the eight-kilometre final climb.

It was Landa who forged clear with Domenico Pozzovivo as the attacks started in the final five kilometres, and Thomas sprang from the 13-rider chasing group with just over a kilometre to go. As soon as he had cancelled out the 20-second gap and joined the two leaders he kicked again and, with Pozzovivo unable to follow, the Sky duo crossed the line together to celebrate a fine day’s work.

“I just went full gas – I didn’t expect to get across,” said Thomas. “But I managed to get across, took a couple of deep breaths and went again. Luckily I had the legs.”

The Welshman, who started the day in third place at four seconds, now leads the race from Pozzovivo by 16 seconds, with former race leader Thibaut Pinot (FDJ), slipping down to third at 19 seconds after finishing in the fragmented chasing group, 13 seconds down on Thomas and Landa.

Michele Scarponi also finished in that group and slipped to fourth overall, though it had looked for a moment like Dario Cataldo would take over Astana leadership as he followed the Landa-Pozzovivo move. He lost contact but was fresh enough to lead the chase for Scarponi before Thomas made his move.

It was a decent day for the Cannondale-Drapac team, who now have three riders in the top 10, including young rider classification leader Hugh Carthy, who was the one to break Sky’s grip on the final climb and kick off hostilities with five kilometres to go.

He was tracked by Landa but couldn’t respond when the Spaniard put in his own acceleration, though he, Pierre Rolland, and Davide Formolo all finished within 14 seconds of Thomas. Formolo, who tried to attack just before Thomas freed himself from the chasing group, is the American team’s best placed rider in fifth at 31 seconds.

For a second successive day snowfall caused a big mountain pass to be swerved, and the organisers introduced the Terneto climb in place of the high-altitude Erbe. The total distance was cut by seven kilometres but the second half of the route remained intact, throwing up the Alpe Rodengo – 12km in length with a brutal opening 8km section – some 30km before the final ascent.

And Sky’s one-two and leader’s jersey were a fair reflection of the way they imposed themselves throughout the day. Ian Boswell led from the bottom of the Rodengo to the top, cutting an assured figure as he made his way through the pine trees and round the hair-pins, Thomas, Landa, Kenny Elissonde, and Philip Deignan all tucked safely in his wake.

The pace wasn’t ridiculous but the bunch did thin out, and it didn’t seem like any of the overall favourites even considered going on the attack. In any case, it spelled trouble for the day’s breakaway, which only consisted of three riders: Davide Orrico (Sangemini), Leigh Howard (Aqua Blue Sport), and Filippo Fortin (Tirol Cycling).

Having built a lead of over six minutes, Orrico went solo on the climb and was the only one to survive over the top, with Fortin caught early on and Howard near the top. Orrico maintained an advantage on the descent but was soon caught on the final climb, 8.7km long at 6.5 per cent, whereupon Boswell reappeared at the head of affairs. It was soon over to Deignan to set the tempo, and the attacks began once the Sky leaders had just Elissonde for company.

Carthy lit it up with a strong acceleration from quite far back, Landa tracking it and a selection of around 10 almost immediately forming. Landa soon made his own move, with Pozzovivo and Cataldo the only riders able to follow, while Pinot led the chase. Cataldo was dropped as the leading duo stretched their lead to over 10 seconds, and then doubled it by the 3km to go banner.

13 riders were left in the chase, including Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Damiano Caruso (BMC) and, with the gap not closing, it was left until around 1.5km to go for a move to be made, with Formolo trying an acceleration.

Thomas was swiftly onto it and was soon away on his own, surging through the flamme rouge on his way to taking a strong grip on the race, further boosting his credentials ahead of the Giro.

Results :
1 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky 3:47:50
2 Mikel Landa (Spa) Team Sky
3 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:04
4 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Cannondale-Drapac 0:00:13
5 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ
6 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:15
7 Danilo Celano (Ita) Italy
8 Damiano Caruso (Ita) BMC Racing Team
9 Davide Formolo (Ita) Cannondale-Drapac
10 Hugh Carthy (GBr) Cannondale-Drapac
11 Michele Scarponi (Ita) Astana Pro Team
12 Hubert Dupont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:20
13 Egan Bernal (Col) Androni Giocattoli 0:00:23
14 Rodolfo Torres (Col) Androni Giocattoli 0:00:27
15 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:00:54
16 Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:01:13
17 François Bidard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
18 Matteo Busato (Ita) Wilier Triestina 0:01:16
19 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini 0:01:19
20 Manuel Senni (Ita) BMC Racing Team
21 José Mendes (Por) Bora-Hansgrohe
22 Cristian Rodriguez (Spa) Wilier Triestina 0:01:21
23 Fausto Masnada (Ita) Androni Giocattoli
24 Sergio Pardilla (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
25 Luis León Sanchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team
26 Ivan Santaromita (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini
27 Julen Amezqueta (Spa) Wilier Triestina 0:01:31
28 Kenny Elissonde (Fra) Team Sky 0:01:42
29 Matteo Montaguti (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
30 Yonder Godoy (Ven) Wilier Triestina 0:02:18
31 Nathan Brown (USA) Cannondale-Drapac 0:02:31
32 Davide Villella (Ita) Cannondale-Drapac 0:03:10
33 Sergey Firsanov (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo 0:03:18
34 Lawrence Warbasse (USA) Aqua Blue Sport 0:03:22
35 Fabricio Ferrari (Uru) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
36 Daniel Martinez (Col) Wilier Triestina 0:03:26
37 Clement Chevrier (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:03:31
38 Ilia Koshevoy (Blr) Wilier Triestina
39 Mattia Cattaneo (Ita) Androni Giocattoli
40 Steve Morabito (Swi) FDJ 0:03:44
41 Rohan Dennis (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:04:15
42 Jérémy Roy (Fra) FDJ 0:05:45
43 Joe Dombrowski (USA) Cannondale-Drapac 0:06:46
44 Alexander Foliforov (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo
45 Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R La Mondiale 0:07:48
46 Simone Andreetta (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:07:53
47 Marco Frapporti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli
48 Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) FDJ
49 Kilian Frankiny (Swi) BMC Racing Team
50 Francesco Manuel Bongiorno (Ita) Sangemini – Mg. K Vis
51 Davide Orrico (Ita) Sangemini – Mg. K Vis
52 Joey Rosskopf (USA) BMC Racing Team
53 Philip Deignan (Irl) Team Sky 0:07:57
54 Sebastian Schönberger (Aut) Tirol Cycling Team 0:08:47
55 Paolo Totò (Ita) Sangemini – Mg. K Vis 0:08:54
56 Andrea Garosio (Ita) Italy
57 Michele Gazzara (Ita) Sangemini – Mg. K Vis
58 Stefano Pirazzi (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:08:56
59 Julien Berard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
60 Antonio Zullo (Ita) Italy
61 Alberto Amici (Ita) Italy
62 Edoardo Zardini (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:09:11
63 Leigh Howard (Aus) Aqua Blue Sport 0:10:03
64 Ian Boswell (USA) Team Sky
65 Andrey Zeits (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:14:01
66 Alessandro Bisolti (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini
67 Silvio Herklotz (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
68 Stefan Denifl (Aut) Aqua Blue Sport
69 Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Androni Giocattoli 0:15:52
70 Raffaello Bonusi (Ita) Androni Giocattoli
71 Filippo Fortin (Ita) Tirol Cycling Team
72 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) Italy 0:19:17
73 Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Wilier Triestina
74 Nikodemus Holler (Ger) Bike Aid
75 Luca Raggio (Ita) Italy
76 Nicola Bagioli (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini
77 Matteo Natali (Ita) Italy
78 Tom Bohli (Swi) BMC Racing Team
79 Suleiman Kangangi (Ken) Bike Aid
80 Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Astana Pro Team
81 Adne Van Engelen (Ned) Bike Aid
82 Iuri Filosi (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini
83 Enrico Salvador (Ita) Tirol Cycling Team
84 Matthias Krizek (Aut) Tirol Cycling Team
85 Maximilian Kuen (Aut) Tirol Cycling Team
86 Jérémy Maison (Fra) FDJ
87 Jan Bárta (Cze) Bora-Hansgrohe
88 Eduard Prades (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
89 Josu Zabala (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
90 Masakazu Ito (Jpn) Nippo – Vini Fantini
91 David Arroyo (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
92 Ivan Rovny (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo
93 Sergei Chernetski (Rus) Astana Pro Team
94 Dmitriy Kozontchuk (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo
95 Andreas Schillinger (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
96 Nicholas Schultz (Aus) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
97 Peter Kennaugh (GBr) Team Sky
98 Davide Ballerini (Ita) Androni Giocattoli
99 Simone Sterbini (Ita) Bardiani CSF
100 Zhandos Bizhigitov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:19:28
101 Alessandro Tonelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:20:19
102 Luca Wackermann (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:20:23
103 Eugert Zhupa (Alb) Wilier Triestina 0:23:07
104 Pier Paolo De Negri (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini
105 Giacomo Berlato (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini
106 Simone Velasco (Ita) Bardiani CSF
107 Niccolo’ Salvietti (Ita) Sangemini – Mg. K Vis
108 Simone Bernardini (Ita) Sangemini – Mg. K Vis
109 Lucas Schwarz (Aut) Tirol Cycling Team
110 Pavel Brutt (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo
111 Salim Kipkemboi (Ken) Bike Aid
112 Ildar Arslanov (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo
113 William Bonnet (Fra) FDJ
114 Sergey Nikolaev (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo
115 Johan Le Bon (Fra) FDJ
116 Andrew Fenn (GBr) Aqua Blue Sport
117 Peter Koning (Ned) Aqua Blue Sport
118 Martyn Irvine (Irl) Aqua Blue Sport
119 Daniel Bichlmann (Ger) Bike Aid
120 Calvin Watson (Aus) Aqua Blue Sport
121 Leonardo Basso (Ita) Italy
122 Igor Boev (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo
123 Miles Scotson (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:23:15
124 Timo Schäfer (Ger) Bike Aid
125 Timothy Rugg (USA) Bike Aid
126 Moreno Moser (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:24:22
127 Rüdiger Selig (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:28:22
128 Pascal Ackermann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
129 Awet Habtom Tekle (Eri) Bike Aid
130 Valens Ndaiasenga (Aut) Tirol Cycling Team
131 Patrick Gamper (Aut) Tirol Cycling Team
132 William Clarke (Aus) Cannondale-Drapac
133 Paolo Prandini (Ita) Sangemini – Mg. K Vis 0:31:59
134 Nicola Gaffurini (Ita) Sangemini – Mg. K Vis
135 Matteo Pelucchi (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNF Antonio Molina (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
DNF Hector Saez (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA

General Classification after Stage 3 :
1 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky 10:40:02
2 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:16
3 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ 0:00:19
4 Michele Scarponi (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:00:21
5 Davide Formolo (Ita) Cannondale-Drapac 0:00:31
6 Mikel Landa (Spa) Team Sky 0:00:36
7 Hugh Carthy (GBr) Cannondale-Drapac 0:00:39
8 Damiano Caruso (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:00:42
9 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Cannondale-Drapac 0:00:46
10 Danilo Celano (Ita) Italy 0:00:48
11 Emanuel Buchmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
12 Egan Bernal (Col) Androni Giocattoli 0:00:56
13 Hubert Dupont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:02
14 Rodolfo Torres (Col) Androni Giocattoli 0:01:05
15 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:01:10
16 José Mendes (Por) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:01:48
17 Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:01:51
18 François Bidard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:55
19 Luis León Sanchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:01:59
20 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini 0:02:01
21 Ivan Santaromita (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini 0:02:03
22 Fausto Masnada (Ita) Androni Giocattoli
23 Sergio Pardilla (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:02:12
24 Matteo Busato (Ita) Wilier Triestina 0:02:14
25 Cristian Rodriguez (Spa) Wilier Triestina 0:02:33
26 Julen Amezqueta (Spa) Wilier Triestina 0:02:43
27 Matteo Montaguti (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 0:02:54
28 Davide Villella (Ita) Cannondale-Drapac 0:03:48
29 Mattia Cattaneo (Ita) Androni Giocattoli 0:03:51
30 Nathan Brown (USA) Cannondale-Drapac 0:03:52
31 Yonder Godoy (Ven) Wilier Triestina 0:03:54
32 Kenny Elissonde (Fra) Team Sky 0:04:03
33 Sergey Firsanov (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo 0:04:09
34 Rohan Dennis (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:04:32
35 Ilia Koshevoy (Blr) Wilier Triestina 0:05:07
36 Clement Chevrier (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:05:52
37 Manuel Senni (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:06:15
38 Lawrence Warbasse (USA) Aqua Blue Sport 0:06:25
39 Fabricio Ferrari (Uru) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
40 Steve Morabito (Swi) FDJ 0:07:24
41 Jérémy Roy (Fra) FDJ 0:08:48
42 Simone Andreetta (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:09:36
43 Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) FDJ 0:10:01
44 Sebastian Schönberger (Aut) Tirol Cycling Team 0:10:33
45 Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R La Mondiale 0:10:51
46 Kilian Frankiny (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:10:56
47 Marco Frapporti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli
48 Joey Rosskopf (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:11:20
49 Alexander Foliforov (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo 0:11:30
50 Antonio Zullo (Ita) Italy 0:11:59
51 Ian Boswell (USA) Team Sky 0:12:00
52 Daniel Martinez (Col) Wilier Triestina 0:13:46
53 Michele Gazzara (Ita) Sangemini – Mg. K Vis 0:13:48
54 Philip Deignan (Irl) Team Sky 0:13:57
55 Paolo Totò (Ita) Sangemini – Mg. K Vis 0:14:07
56 Joe Dombrowski (USA) Cannondale-Drapac 0:16:46
57 Francesco Manuel Bongiorno (Ita) Sangemini – Mg. K Vis 0:17:16
58 Alberto Amici (Ita) Italy 0:18:19
59 Julien Berard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:19:16
60 Edoardo Zardini (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:19:31
61 Silvio Herklotz (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:20:08
62 Ivan Rovny (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo 0:20:21
63 Nicholas Schultz (Aus) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:20:29
64 Davide Orrico (Ita) Sangemini – Mg. K Vis 0:20:48
65 Leigh Howard (Aus) Aqua Blue Sport 0:21:57
66 Stefano Pirazzi (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:22:09
67 Iuri Filosi (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini 0:22:20
68 Nicola Bagioli (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini
69 Simone Sterbini (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:25:24
70 Stefan Denifl (Aut) Aqua Blue Sport 0:27:17
71 Sergei Chernetski (Rus) Astana Pro Team 0:27:42
72 Jérémy Maison (Fra) FDJ 0:28:59
73 Davide Ballerini (Ita) Androni Giocattoli 0:29:33
74 Eduard Prades (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:29:37
75 Tom Bohli (Swi) BMC Racing Team
76 Jan Bárta (Cze) Bora-Hansgrohe
77 Maximilian Kuen (Aut) Tirol Cycling Team
78 Raffaello Bonusi (Ita) Androni Giocattoli 0:29:41
79 Andrey Zeits (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:29:43
80 Luca Raggio (Ita) Italy 0:30:07
81 Andrea Garosio (Ita) Italy 0:30:27
82 Peter Kennaugh (GBr) Team Sky 0:30:29
83 Nikodemus Holler (Ger) Bike Aid 0:32:56
84 Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Androni Giocattoli 0:33:45
85 Suleiman Kangangi (Ken) Bike Aid 0:34:39
86 Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:34:59
87 Matteo Natali (Ita) Italy
88 Matthias Krizek (Aut) Tirol Cycling Team 0:35:23
89 Alessandro Bisolti (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini 0:35:34
90 Filippo Fortin (Ita) Tirol Cycling Team 0:38:22
91 Johan Le Bon (Fra) FDJ 0:40:45
92 Josu Zabala (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:40:50
93 Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Wilier Triestina 0:41:47
94 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) Italy
95 Masakazu Ito (Jpn) Nippo – Vini Fantini
96 Zhandos Bizhigitov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:41:58
97 Salim Kipkemboi (Ken) Bike Aid 0:42:17
98 Alessandro Tonelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:42:49
99 David Arroyo (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:43:37
100 Luca Wackermann (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:45:12
101 Simone Velasco (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:45:37
102 Pier Paolo De Negri (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini
103 Leonardo Basso (Ita) Italy
104 Andreas Schillinger (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:46:09
105 Enrico Salvador (Ita) Tirol Cycling Team 0:46:22
106 Dmitriy Kozontchuk (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo
107 Eugert Zhupa (Alb) Wilier Triestina 0:47:20
108 William Bonnet (Fra) FDJ
109 Lucas Schwarz (Aut) Tirol Cycling Team 0:47:24
110 Ildar Arslanov (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo 0:47:57
111 Pavel Brutt (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo 0:50:12
112 Adne Van Engelen (Ned) Bike Aid 0:52:49
113 Moreno Moser (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:52:57
114 Awet Habtom Tekle (Eri) Bike Aid 0:53:11
115 Nicola Gaffurini (Ita) Sangemini – Mg. K Vis 0:54:29
116 Simone Bernardini (Ita) Sangemini – Mg. K Vis 0:56:39
117 Giacomo Berlato (Ita) Nippo – Vini Fantini
118 Peter Koning (Ned) Aqua Blue Sport
119 Martyn Irvine (Irl) Aqua Blue Sport
120 Sergey Nikolaev (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo
121 Andrew Fenn (GBr) Aqua Blue Sport
122 Miles Scotson (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:56:47
123 Patrick Gamper (Aut) Tirol Cycling Team 0:56:53
124 Niccolo’ Salvietti (Ita) Sangemini – Mg. K Vis 1:01:01
125 Daniel Bichlmann (Ger) Bike Aid
126 Calvin Watson (Aus) Aqua Blue Sport 1:01:05
127 Igor Boev (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo 1:01:06
128 Timo Schäfer (Ger) Bike Aid 1:01:14
129 Timothy Rugg (USA) Bike Aid 1:01:23
130 Valens Ndaiasenga (Aut) Tirol Cycling Team 1:01:54
131 Rüdiger Selig (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 1:06:16
132 Pascal Ackermann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 1:06:21
133 William Clarke (Aus) Cannondale-Drapac
134 Paolo Prandini (Ita) Sangemini – Mg. K Vis 1:09:53
135 Matteo Pelucchi (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe