Tour of the Alps 2018 – Stage 3 [FULL STAGE]

April 18, 2018

Tour of the Alps 2018 – Stage 3 – Ora – Merano : 138,3 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.

Ben O’Connor (Dimension Data) took victory on a thrilling stage 3 of the Tour of the Alps, stealing away from an 11-rider group of overall favourites in the flat final eight kilometres of a short mountain stage from Ora to Merano.

The 22-year-old Australian attacked with Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) and Domenico Pozzovivo (Bahrain-Merida) on the first-category Passo della Mendola, and then when other big names came back up and over the third-category Passo Padale, he made a solo bid for the second victory of his career.

Pinot crossed the line in second place, five seconds down, followed by Pozzovivo in third. Also part of that group were overall contenders Chris Froome (Team Sky), Fabio Aru (UAE Team Emirates), George Bennett (LottoNL-Jumbo), and Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana), though the Colombian – bizarrely the main chaser of O’Connor when he had teammate Luis Leon Sanchez for support – lost around 10 seconds in the final kilometre.

The key absentee was Ivan Sosa (Androni Giacattoli), who crashed on the descent of the Palade and rolled home several minutes down, surrendering his overall lead. The purple jersey is now on the shoulders of Pinot, who leads the race by 15 seconds from Pozzovivo, with Lopez and Froome poised a further second back.

“Before the race started I thought maybe if I had good legs I could try something,” said O’Connor. “It was super aggressive today, but I usually do better later in tours. It’s good to be able to race with the best, and to pull that off is surreal.

“I’ve gradually built the form really well. In Catalunya I was all right, then to come here and be another step further, is super, super pleasing. I just want to be the best rider I can be.”

For the third day in a row, the general classification contenders were drawn into trading blows, and the 138km stage offered a slightly different test than the first two stages, putting just as much emphasis on descending as on climbing. After a relatively flat first half of the stage, the 18km Passo della Mendola reared its head and, after a short descent, it was followed by the Passo Padale, gentler in gradient but grindingly long at 13km. What followed was an 18km white-knuckle descent before the flatter 8km run through town to the finish line.

Such stages have produced spectacular racing in the Grand Tours in recent years, and this one too was set alight early when Pinot, Pozzovivo, and O’Connor punched clear on the Mendola. Together they built up a handy lead over their rivals and, after catching the day’s breakaway, they went over the top with a lead of a minute. The chase from behind was led by Team Sky and Astana, rather than Sosa’s Androni, and while they were unable to make inroads on the downhill, the deficit came down slowly but surely on the Passo Padale.

After a huge turn from Kenny Elissonde, Froome accelerated near the top, forcing another selection and knocking a chunk out of the deficit. Having dropped the breakaway riders, Pinot, Pozzovivo, and O’Connor embarked on the swooping descent with a lead of just 20 seconds. Behind them, Froome, Lopez, Sosa, Bennett, and Sanchez found themselves with Alexandre Geniez (AG2R La Mondiael), Michal Shlegel (CCC Sprandi Polkowice), and former breakaway member Manuel Senni (Bardiani-CSF). Aru had been distanced but managed to re-engage half-way down.

While Pinot, formerly a notoriously weak descender, cautiously dangled behind Pozzovivo and O’Connor, Froome was the main aggressor in the chase and it was soon clear the group would be coming back before the bottom. Sosa, however, would not be part of it, as the 20-year-old breakout star of this race crashed on one of the many sweeping bends.

Froome opened up a small gap towards the bottom of the descent but once the road flattened out O’Connor wasted no time. Froome initially appeared to be tracking the attack but soon eased up and looked around, allowing the gap to grow. It was a gamble but the Australian went all in, and the chase behind turned out to be weak. With Lopez doing the heavy lifting in the final two kilometres, O’Connor was able to overcome the false flat and hang on for a jubilant victory.

While most of the group rolled home together at five seconds, Lopez shipped a further 10 seconds on what was a disappointing and curious day for Astana after their triumphs on the opening two stages. Even earlier in the day Lopez had raised question marks with his pace-setting on the Padale, despite having a full complement of teammates with him. On one occasion he was joined by Froome, riding with the Sky man on his wheel while his teammates continued to ride hard only several metres behind.

In terms of the overall, it’s still all to play for, with a similar test involving a late climb and descent awaiting on stage 4 on Thursday, before the race concludes on Friday with a stage that uses the circuit that will feature in the World Championships road race later this year.

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

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