Tour of the Alps 2017 – Stage 4 [FULL STAGE]

April 20, 2017
Tour of the Alps 2017 – Stage 4 – Bolzano – Bozen-Cles : 165,3 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.

Matteo Montaguti (AG2R La Mondiale) narrowly out-sprinted Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) to claim Thursday’s fourth stage of the Tour of the Alps.

The day came down to a high-speed bunch finish after a spirited break was brought to heel inside the last three kilometres. Pinot hit the front early in the ensuing sprint, leading into the final 50 metres of the finishing straight, but Montaguti surged past just before the line to take the win. BMC’s Rohan Dennis was a close third behind Pinot.

Sky’s Geraint Thomas finished safely with the peloton to retain his overall race lead.

A trio of escapees almost almost managed to fend off the pack to contest the win amongst themselves. AG2R’s Hubert Dupont spent half an hour bridging to the last two survivors of an early break, Stefano Pirazzi (Bardiani CSF) and Kilian Frankiny (BMC Racing), successfully linking up with the pair inside the final 10 kilometres. However, a Sky-led chase rapidly closed the gap as the finish line neared, and it was soon all over for the breakaway as the pack swept them up only a few minutes later.

That left little time for any sprint trains to get organised, with Montaguti emerging victorious in a hectic finale.

How it unfolded

Frankiny, Pirazzi, Simone Andreetta (Bardiani CSF), Davide Villella (Cannondale-Drapac) and Jérémy Roy (FDJ) formed the main breakaway early on the undulating 165.3km stage from Bolzano to Cles. Their gap to grew to around three and a half minutes before it stabilised, and it hovered thereabouts for the next 80 kilometres or so. It then fell to Team Sky, with Thomas in control of the leader’s jersey, to up the tempo at the front of the pack.

Pirazzi attacked his breakaway companions on the Forcella di Brez, cresting the summit alone but with Frankiny in hot pursuit. Meanwhile, a handful of riders launched moves out of the peloton, with Astana’s Dario Cataldo making a big attack. With all the escapees save the duo up the road swept up, Pinot joined a small group of aggressors bridging to Cataldo, briefly opening a gap, before things came back together for the pack shortly after the summit.

Frankiny caught up with Pirazzi on the ensuing descent. Moments later, he tried to leave Pirazzi behind, but the Italian stubbornly shut down the attack. From there, the pair settled for riding in tandem. Back in the peloton, Dupont jumped clear off the front in solo pursuit.

The Frenchman closed down much of the gap on an uncategorised climb with around 15 kilometres to go and continued to cut into the advantage of Frankiny and Pirazzi over the next few minutes. He finally joined them with around seven kilometres left to race.

Shortly thereafter, with the pack hot on their heels, Dupont and Frankiny dropped Pirazzi, though only for a few moments. The Bardiani-CSF rider rejoined the two out front around three kilometres from the line, but the peloton swept up all three riders moments later, hitting the reset button on the battle for the stage win.

There was little time for anyone to marshal a coordinated lead-out through the final corners. As the pack rounded the final bend onto the finishing straight, Pinot powered into the lead, but Montaguti responded quickly, closing the early gap to the Frenchman and pulling past just before the finish line for the win.

A 199.6km final stage from Smarano to Trento awaits the Tour of the Alps peloton on Friday, with Thomas sitting atop the overall leaderboard, 13 seconds ahead of Pinot.

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

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