Tour of the Alps 2018 – Stage 1 [FULL STAGE]

April 16, 2018

Tour of the Alps 2018 – Stage 1 – Arco – Folgaria : 134,6 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.

Pello Bilbao (Astana) claimed stage 1 of the Tour of the Alps and the first leader’s jersey of the race, after a well-timed attack little under five kilometres from the finish. The Astana rider jumped away from the leaders after the final climb and held off the chasers, with Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana) finishing second and Ivan Ramiro Sosa (Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec) taking third on the stage.

Giro d’Italia rivals Chris Froome (Team Sky), Thibaut Pinot (Groupama FDJ) and Fabio Aru (UAE Team Emirates), all locked horns on the final 19-kilometre ascent of Rovereto, with the Italian briefly distanced after Froome had launched a stinging attack before the summit. There was a re-grouping on the run-in to the line, and Astana showed their strength with five riders present. It was Bilbao who seized the opportunity, powering clear before the short rise to the finish.

The race was defined by the long 19-kilometre ascent before a six-kilometre descent to the line in Folgaria.

It was Pinot’s Groupama team that sat on the front of the main field before the climb, and the French under set a steady pace on the lower slopes as they reduced the lead of the early break.

Aleksejs Saramotins (Bora-Hansgrohe), Natnael Berhane (Dimension Data), Aleksey Rybalkin (Gazprom), Davide Ballerini (Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec), Matthias Krizek (Team Felbermayr Simplon Wels), Pascal Eenkhoorn (LottoNL-Jumbo), Joan Bou (Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini) Marco Friedrich (Tirol Cycling Team) and Alex Turrin (Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia) had jumped clear earlier in the stage but with the foot of the final climb approaching, the lead had been reduced to under three minutes.

Solid tempo work from Pinot’s men on the lower slopes saw the lead group splintered the leaders, and with 20km to go the gap was down to 2:23.

Six kilometres later, and with the break caught, Pinot fired Sebastien Reichenbach up the road with just over 12 kilometres remaining. Team Sky duly moved to the front in a bid to keep the Swiss rider under control but Giulio Ciccone attacked and soon after and moved to the front of the race as Reichenbach was reeled in. Just before the capture Pinot attacked but his move was quickly brought back as Froome’s team set about shredding the peloton.

With just one teammate left to support Froome, and the summit of the climb fast approaching, Aru attacked. The Italian’s move was nullified, with Froome responding in kind with a surging attack that drew out Pinot, George Bennett and Domenico Pozzovivo. The quartet caught on the descent, before a group containing Aru and Bilbao made contact.

When Bilbao eventually went clear, his Astana team disrupted the chase but the 28-year-old continued to extend his lead before taking a well-deserved victory.

Results :
1 Pello Bilbao (Spa) Astana Pro Team 3:26:41
2 Luis León Sánchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:00:06
3 Ivan Ramiro Sosa Cuervo (Col) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
4 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:10
5 Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky
6 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
7 George Bennett (NZl) LottoNL-Jumbo
8 Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Bardiani CSF
9 Ben Hermans (Bel) Israel Cycling Academy
10 Fabio Aru (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:14
11 Fausto Masnada (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
12 Mark Padun (Ukr) Bahrain-Merida
13 Jan Hirt (Cze) Astana Pro Team
14 Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana Pro Team
15 Andrey Zeits (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:00:18
16 Edward Ravasi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:04
17 Nicola Conci (Ita) Italian National Team
18 Sebastien Reichenbach (Swi) Groupama-FDJ 0:01:07
19 Simone Petilli (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
20 Davide Villella (Ita) Astana Pro Team
21 Riccardo Zoidl (Aut) Team Felbermayr Simplon Wels
22 Louis Meintjes (RSA) Dimension Data
23 Koen Bouwman (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
24 Michal Schlegel (Cze) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
25 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini 0:01:13
26 Alexandre Geniez (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
27 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
28 Amaro Manuel Antunes (Por) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
29 Ben O’Connor (Aus) Dimension Data 0:01:22
30 Kenny Elissonde (Fra) Team Sky 0:01:34
31 David de la Cruz (Spa) Team Sky 0:01:52
32 Mikel Iturria Segurola (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:02:11
33 Ivan Santaromita (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini 0:02:16
34 Felix Großschartner (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
35 Sebastian Henao Gomez (Col) Team Sky
36 Matteo Montaguti (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 0:02:30
37 Alessandro Bisolti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:02:54
38 Simone Andreetta (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:03:12
39 Nathan Earle (Aus) Israel Cycling Academy
40 Giovanni Carboni (Ita) Bardiani CSF
41 Hubert Dupont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
42 Rodolfo Andres Torres Agudelo (Col) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
43 Mikel Bizkarra Etxegibel (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
44 Francois Bidard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
45 Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
46 Georg Preidler (Aut) Groupama-FDJ 0:04:05
47 Edoardo Zardini (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia
48 Merhawi Kudus Ghebremedhin (Eri) Dimension Data 0:04:11
49 Valerio Conti (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:04:12
50 Lorenzo Rota (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:04:14
51 Kristijan Durasek (Cro) UAE Team Emirates 0:04:18
52 Nikita Stalnov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:04:38
53 Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:04:43
54 Joan Bou (Spa) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini 0:05:18
55 Ildar Arslanov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo 0:05:24
56 Quentin Jauregui (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
57 Daniel Lehner (Aut) Team Felbermayr Simplon Wels
58 Simone Velasco (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia
59 Stephan Rabitsch (Aut) Team Felbermayr Simplon Wels
60 Valerio Agnoli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
61 Alberto Amici (Ita) Italian National Team
62 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) LottoNL-Jumbo
63 Steve Morabito (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
64 Manuel Senni (Ita) Bardiani CSF
65 Matthias Krizek (Aut) Team Felbermayr Simplon Wels 0:06:14
66 Alexander Vlasov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo 0:06:49
67 Luca Raggio (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia
68 Awet Gebremedhin (Eri) Israel Cycling Academy
69 Christoph Pfingsten (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:06:56
70 Alex Turrin (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia 0:06:58
71 Jacques Janse van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data 0:07:01
72 Philip Deignan (Irl) Team Sky
73 Davide Ballerini (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:07:24
74 Natnael Berhane (Eri) Dimension Data 0:09:27
75 Hideto Nakane (Jpn) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini
76 Miguel Eduardo Florez Lopez (Col) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia
77 Diego Rosa (Ita) Team Sky
78 Markus Eibegger (Aut) Team Felbermayr Simplon Wels
79 Filippo Zaccanti (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini
80 Mickael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:11:15
81 Jose Manuel Diaz (Spa) Israel Cycling Academy 0:12:16
82 Alessandro Monaco (Ita) Italian National Team 0:12:19
83 Sergey Firsanov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo 0:13:00
84 Evgeny Kobernyak (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
85 Luca Covili (Ita) Italian National Team
86 Przemyslaw Niemiec (Pol) UAE Team Emirates
87 Georg Zimmermann (Ger) Tirol Cycling Team
88 Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Groupama-FDJ
89 Johannes Schinnagel (Ger) Tirol Cycling Team
90 Daniel Turek (Cze) Israel Cycling Academy
91 Guy Sagiv (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy
92 Daan Olivier (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
93 Nikolay Cherkasov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
94 Filippo Fortin (Ita) Team Felbermayr Simplon Wels
95 Lukas Schlemmer (Aut) Team Felbermayr Simplon Wels
96 Markus Wildauer (Aut) Tirol Cycling Team
97 Benjamin Brkic (Aut) Tirol Cycling Team
98 Fernando Barcelo Aragon (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
99 Patryk Stosz (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
100 Igor Anton Hernandez (Spa) Dimension Data
101 Beñat Txoperena Matxikote (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
102 Johannes Adamietz (Ger) Tirol Cycling Team
103 Leszek Plucinski (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
104 Marco Frapporti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
105 Nicola Bagioli (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini
106 Michael Schwarzmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
107 Sepp Kuss (USA) LottoNL-Jumbo
108 Omer Goldstein (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy
109 Umberto Orsini (Ita) Bardiani CSF
110 Gijs Van Hoecke (Bel) LottoNL-Jumbo
111 Matteo Sobrero (Ita) Italian National Team
112 Wang Meiyin (Chn) Bahrain-Merida
113 Oscar Rodriguez Garaicoechea (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
114 Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Team Sky
115 Masakazu Ito (Jpn) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini
116 Michel Piccot (Ita) Italian National Team
117 Clément Venturini (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
118 Lachlan Morton (Aus) Dimension Data
119 Simone Sterbini (Ita) Bardiani CSF
120 Jonas Koch (Ger) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
121 Frantisek Sisr (Cze) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
122 Pascal Eenkhoorn (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
123 William Bonnet (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
124 Dmitrii Kozonchuk (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
125 Aitor Gonzalez (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
126 Gotzon Udondo Santamaria (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
127 Jacopo Mosca (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia
128 Aleksejs Saramotins (Lat) Bora-Hansgrohe
129 Mateusz Taciak (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
130 Matteo Busato (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia 0:13:29
131 Marco Bernardinetti (Ita) Italian National Team 0:15:52
132 Jeremy Roy (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:16:04
133 Chun Kai Feng (Tpe) Bahrain-Merida 0:16:45
134 Aleksey Rybalkin (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo 0:18:57
135 Michal Kolár (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:20:03
136 Lukas Pöstlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
137 Daniel Knapp (Aut) Tirol Cycling Team 0:21:04
138 Marco Friedrich (Aut) Tirol Cycling Team
DNF Matteo Pelucchi (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNS Antonio Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida

General Classification after Stage 1 :
1 Pello Bilbao (Spa) Astana Pro Team 3:26:31
2 Luis León Sánchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:00:10
3 Ivan Ramiro Sosa Cuervo (Col) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:00:12
4 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:20
5 Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky
6 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
7 George Bennett (NZl) LottoNL-Jumbo
8 Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Bardiani CSF
9 Ben Hermans (Bel) Israel Cycling Academy
10 Fabio Aru (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:24
11 Fausto Masnada (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
12 Mark Padun (Ukr) Bahrain-Merida
13 Jan Hirt (Cze) Astana Pro Team
14 Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana Pro Team
15 Andrey Zeits (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:00:28
16 Edward Ravasi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:14
17 Nicola Conci (Ita) Italian National Team
18 Sebastien Reichenbach (Swi) Groupama-FDJ 0:01:17
19 Simone Petilli (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
20 Davide Villella (Ita) Astana Pro Team
21 Riccardo Zoidl (Aut) Team Felbermayr Simplon Wels
22 Louis Meintjes (RSA) Dimension Data
23 Koen Bouwman (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
24 Michal Schlegel (Cze) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
25 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini 0:01:23
26 Alexandre Geniez (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
27 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
28 Amaro Manuel Antunes (Por) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
29 Ben O’Connor (Aus) Dimension Data 0:01:32
30 Kenny Elissonde (Fra) Team Sky 0:01:44
31 David de la Cruz (Spa) Team Sky 0:02:02
32 Mikel Iturria Segurola (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:02:21
33 Ivan Santaromita (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini 0:02:26
34 Felix Großschartner (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
35 Sebastian Henao Gomez (Col) Team Sky
36 Matteo Montaguti (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 0:02:40
37 Alessandro Bisolti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:03:04
38 Simone Andreetta (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:03:22
39 Nathan Earle (Aus) Israel Cycling Academy
40 Giovanni Carboni (Ita) Bardiani CSF
41 Hubert Dupont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
42 Rodolfo Andres Torres Agudelo (Col) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
43 Mikel Bizkarra Etxegibel (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
44 Francois Bidard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
45 Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) UAE Team Emirates
46 Georg Preidler (Aut) Groupama-FDJ 0:04:15
47 Edoardo Zardini (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia
48 Merhawi Kudus Ghebremedhin (Eri) Dimension Data 0:04:21
49 Valerio Conti (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:04:22
50 Lorenzo Rota (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:04:24
51 Kristijan Durasek (Cro) UAE Team Emirates 0:04:28
52 Nikita Stalnov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:04:48
53 Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:04:53
54 Joan Bou (Spa) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini 0:05:28
55 Ildar Arslanov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo 0:05:34
56 Quentin Jauregui (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
57 Daniel Lehner (Aut) Team Felbermayr Simplon Wels
58 Simone Velasco (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia
59 Stephan Rabitsch (Aut) Team Felbermayr Simplon Wels
60 Valerio Agnoli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
61 Alberto Amici (Ita) Italian National Team
62 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) LottoNL-Jumbo
63 Steve Morabito (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
64 Manuel Senni (Ita) Bardiani CSF
65 Matthias Krizek (Aut) Team Felbermayr Simplon Wels 0:06:24
66 Alexander Vlasov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo 0:06:59
67 Luca Raggio (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia
68 Awet Gebremedhin (Eri) Israel Cycling Academy
69 Christoph Pfingsten (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:07:06
70 Alex Turrin (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia 0:07:08
71 Jacques Janse van Rensburg (RSA) Dimension Data 0:07:11
72 Philip Deignan (Irl) Team Sky
73 Davide Ballerini (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:07:34
74 Natnael Berhane (Eri) Dimension Data 0:09:37
75 Hideto Nakane (Jpn) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini
76 Miguel Eduardo Florez Lopez (Col) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia
77 Diego Rosa (Ita) Team Sky
78 Markus Eibegger (Aut) Team Felbermayr Simplon Wels
79 Filippo Zaccanti (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini
80 Mickael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:11:25
81 Jose Manuel Diaz (Spa) Israel Cycling Academy 0:12:26
82 Alessandro Monaco (Ita) Italian National Team 0:12:29
83 Sergey Firsanov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo 0:13:10
84 Evgeny Kobernyak (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
85 Luca Covili (Ita) Italian National Team
86 Przemyslaw Niemiec (Pol) UAE Team Emirates
87 Georg Zimmermann (Ger) Tirol Cycling Team
88 Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Groupama-FDJ
89 Johannes Schinnagel (Ger) Tirol Cycling Team
90 Daniel Turek (Cze) Israel Cycling Academy
91 Guy Sagiv (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy
92 Daan Olivier (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
93 Nikolay Cherkasov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
94 Filippo Fortin (Ita) Team Felbermayr Simplon Wels
95 Lukas Schlemmer (Aut) Team Felbermayr Simplon Wels
96 Markus Wildauer (Aut) Tirol Cycling Team
97 Benjamin Brkic (Aut) Tirol Cycling Team
98 Fernando Barcelo Aragon (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
99 Patryk Stosz (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
100 Igor Anton Hernandez (Spa) Dimension Data
101 Beñat Txoperena Matxikote (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
102 Johannes Adamietz (Ger) Tirol Cycling Team
103 Leszek Plucinski (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
104 Marco Frapporti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
105 Nicola Bagioli (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini
106 Michael Schwarzmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
107 Sepp Kuss (USA) LottoNL-Jumbo
108 Omer Goldstein (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy
109 Umberto Orsini (Ita) Bardiani CSF
110 Gijs Van Hoecke (Bel) LottoNL-Jumbo
111 Matteo Sobrero (Ita) Italian National Team
112 Wang Meiyin (Chn) Bahrain-Merida
113 Oscar Rodriguez Garaicoechea (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
114 Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Team Sky
115 Masakazu Ito (Jpn) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini
116 Michel Piccot (Ita) Italian National Team
117 Clément Venturini (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
118 Lachlan Morton (Aus) Dimension Data
119 Simone Sterbini (Ita) Bardiani CSF
120 Jonas Koch (Ger) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
121 Frantisek Sisr (Cze) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
122 Pascal Eenkhoorn (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
123 William Bonnet (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
124 Dmitrii Kozonchuk (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo
125 Aitor Gonzalez (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
126 Gotzon Udondo Santamaria (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias
127 Jacopo Mosca (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia
128 Aleksejs Saramotins (Lat) Bora-Hansgrohe
129 Mateusz Taciak (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
130 Matteo Busato (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia 0:13:39
131 Marco Bernardinetti (Ita) Italian National Team 0:16:02
132 Jeremy Roy (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:16:14
133 Chun Kai Feng (Tpe) Bahrain-Merida 0:16:55
134 Aleksey Rybalkin (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo 0:19:07
135 Michal Kolár (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:20:13
136 Lukas Pöstlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
137 Daniel Knapp (Aut) Tirol Cycling Team 0:21:14
138 Marco Friedrich (Aut) Tirol Cycling Team