Tour of the Alps 2018 – Stage 5 [FULL STAGE]

April 20, 2018

Tour of the Alps 2018 – Stage 5 – Rattenberg – Innsbruck : 164,2 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.

Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) sealed overall victory at the Tour of the Alps as Mark Padun (Bahrain-Merida) took a solo victory on the final stage.

Attack proved the best form of defence for the Frenchman, who underlined his Giro d’Italia credentials with an aggressive display on the Innsbruck circuit that will be used in the World Championships later this year.

On the last of three ascents of the Olympia climb that forms the centrepiece of the circuit Pinot went clear with Domenico Pozzovivo (Bahrain-Merida) and Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana), the two riders directly below him on the overall standings. Once down the other side, however, the road flattened out and the impetus waned, allowing the small chase group, containing the other riders in the top 10, back into the picture.

Padun, the 21-year-old Ukranian neo-pro, was in there and took advantage of his relatively low overall standing – 16th at 3:33 at the start of the day – to steal away from the group with four kilometres remaining. Arms folded over his bars, he dug in and finished the job, holding off a dangerous charge from Geroge Bennett (LottoNL-Jumbo) before punching the air in delight at his first professional victory.

Bennett crossed the line five seconds later to take second place on the stage, followed a second later by Jan Hirt (Astana), Giulio Ciccone (Bardiani-CSF) and Ben O’Connor (Dimension Data). Pinot crossed the line three seconds later, finishing on the same time as his direct rivals, Pozzovivo, Lopez, and Chris Froome (Team Sky).

Pinot therefore sealed the overall title by 15 seconds from Pozzovivo, with Lopez, who finished on the same time, rounding out the podium. Froome, who looked in trouble on the final climb as he was left behind even by his own teammate Kenny Elissonde, hung on to fourth place overall at 16 seconds.

Fabio Aru (UAE Team Emirates) lost ground once again, being dropped on the final climb and never making it back to the group of favourites, and as a result was leapfrogged by Bennett, who took the last place in the top five.

“It was an incredible race, across all five days,” said Pinot. “It was five days of battle. There were no gifts. I’m really happy to write my name into this race, which, for a climber, is very prestigious.”

How it unfolded

After four days of short stages and aggressive racing in the Tyrol region of northern Italy, the final day didn’t disappoint as the race crossed over the Austrian border in what was a taster of the roads on which the World Championships will be decided this autumn.

It took a good hour for a breakaway to form, with eight riders involved: Guy Niv (Israel Cycling Academy), Simone Andreetta (Bardiani-CSF), Manuel Senni (Bardiani-CSF), Francesco Gavazzi (Androni-Giocattoli), Oscar Rodriguez (Euskadi-Murias), Igor Anton (Dimension Data), Nicola Bagioli (Nippo-Vini Fantini), and Francois Bidard (AG2R La Mondiale). They were soon joined by Jacopo Mosca (Wilier-Selle Italia) and built a lead of 8:30 as they hit the first-category Alpbach climb, the only difficulty ahead of the Worlds circuit later in the stage.

In the interim, Team Sky and Groupama-FDJ steadily brought the gap to the breakaway down, and once they entered the circuit, with just under 50km to go, it stood at 2:45. As the pace intensified on the first of three ascents of Olympia, that figure plummeted, and it was down to 30 seconds when Sky’s David De la Cruz attacked the peloton and went for the break, joining them on the descent. The breakaway started to fragment on the second climb and there were some minor attacks in the peloton, but the race all came back together near the top.

The first real exchanges between the overall favourites came on the second descent when Lopez and Giovanni Visconti (Bahrain-Merida) punched their way clear. Once the road kicked uphill again for the final climb, Lopez kicked on solo in what was a serious grab for overall victory.

Pinot soon launched an attack of his own, putting Froome, who was already at the back of the group, into immediate difficulty. Pozzovivo followed with ease and soon they caught Visconti, who slotted straight onto the front and drove the pace. After Visconti’s turn, Pinot and Pozzovivo caught Lopez to form an elite leading trio two-thirds of the way up the climb.

Froome’s struggles were evident as he found himself in a trio with Padun and O’Connor in the third group on the road, several seconds behind Elissonde, who was with Bennett, Ciccone and Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana). It was nothing compared to Aru’s troubles, who was even further back with yet more Astana riders.

Elissonde was called back for Froome and they made their way up to the other chasers to form one group of seven by the top of the climb, by which point the gap was 20 seconds.

Pinot assumed responsibility and was keen to lead down the descent, though the problems came for the leading trio when the road flattened out. Lopez and Pozzovivo appeared unwilling to work, so Pinot sat on the front pedalling softly, allowing the 25-second gap to vanish in the blink of an eye.

With just a few kilometres to go and any realistic chance of overhauling Pinot well gone, victory was always likely to go to one of the riders who weren’t a threat to the top of the overall standings. Padun fit the description and timed and executed his attack perfectly, while Pinot rolled home behind his rivals to cap a fine week in which his stock has risen greatly ahead of the Giro next month.

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

Final General Classification :
1 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 18:28:48
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 George Bennett (NZl) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:01:00
6 Fabio Aru (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:19
7 Ben O’Connor (Aus) Dimension Data 0:01:33
8 Luis León Sánchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:01:35
9 Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:01:42
10 Jan Hirt (Cze) Astana Pro Team 0:01:48
11 Andrey Zeits (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:03:11
12 Mark Padun (Ukr) Bahrain-Merida 0:03:14
13 Ben Hermans (Bel) Israel Cycling Academy 0:04:34
14 Pello Bilbao (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:04:51
15 Michal Schlegel (Cze) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 0:04:52
16 Riccardo Zoidl (Aut) Team Felbermayr Simplon Wels 0:05:18
17 Koen Bouwman (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:05:42
18 Fausto Masnada (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:06:54
19 Mikel Bizkarra Etxegibel (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:07:40
20 Louis Meintjes (RSA) Dimension Data 0:09:36
21 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini 0:10:00
22 Nicola Conci (Ita) Italian National Team 0:10:43
23 Merhawi Kudus Ghebremedhin (Eri) Dimension Data 0:10:46
24 Ivan Santaromita (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini 0:11:09
25 Kenny Elissonde (Fra) Team Sky 0:11:29
26 Sebastien Reichenbach (Swi) Groupama-FDJ 0:13:50
27 Edward Ravasi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:15:11
28 Alexandre Geniez (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:15:35
29 Hubert Dupont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:15:50
30 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:16:03
31 Alexander Vlasov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo 0:22:58
32 Manuel Senni (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:25:24
33 Georg Preidler (Aut) Groupama-FDJ 0:25:39
34 Alessandro Bisolti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:26:16
35 Mikel Iturria Segurola (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:26:43
36 Alex Turrin (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia 0:28:25
37 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:30:00
38 Rodolfo Andres Torres Agudelo (Col) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:32:04
39 Giovanni Carboni (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:32:35
40 Sebastian Henao Gomez (Col) Team Sky 0:33:51
41 Luca Raggio (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia 0:34:11
42 David de la Cruz (Spa) Team Sky 0:36:01
43 Matteo Montaguti (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 0:36:38
44 Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) UAE Team Emirates 0:37:29
45 Nathan Earle (Aus) Israel Cycling Academy 0:37:37
46 Miguel Eduardo Florez Lopez (Col) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia
47 Nikita Stalnov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:38:01
48 Felix Großschartner (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:38:13
49 Simone Andreetta (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:38:42
50 Sergey Firsanov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo 0:38:48
51 Markus Eibegger (Aut) Team Felbermayr Simplon Wels 0:39:48
52 Simone Petilli (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:40:12
53 Joan Bou (Spa) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini 0:40:45
54 Edoardo Zardini (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia 0:41:42
55 Simone Velasco (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia 0:43:59
56 Quentin Jauregui (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:44:36
57 Francois Bidard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:45:21
58 Alberto Amici (Ita) Italian National Team 0:48:09
59 Valerio Conti (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:48:22
60 Valerio Agnoli (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:49:23
61 Beñat Txoperena Matxikote (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 0:50:15
62 Lorenzo Rota (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:50:41
63 Ildar Arslanov (Rus) Gazprom-Rusvelo 0:51:01
64 Steve Morabito (Swi) Groupama-FDJ 0:51:13
65 Alessandro Monaco (Ita) Italian National Team 0:54:42
66 Stephan Rabitsch (Aut) Team Felbermayr Simplon Wels 0:54:47
67 Kristijan Durasek (Cro) UAE Team Emirates 0:55:04
68 Natnael Berhane (Eri) Dimension Data 0:56:17
69 Nicola Bagioli (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini 0:56:46
70 Daniel Turek (Cze) Israel Cycling Academy 0:57:51
71 Guy Sagiv (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy 0:58:59
72 Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Groupama-FDJ 0:59:51
73 Jose Manuel Diaz (Spa) Israel Cycling Academy 1:01:35
74 Georg Zimmermann (Ger) Tirol Cycling Team 1:02:10
75 Matteo Sobrero (Ita) Italian National Team 1:02:58
76 Oscar Rodriguez Garaicoechea (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 1:04:28
77 Masakazu Ito (Jpn) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Europa Ovini 1:07:11
78 Daan Olivier (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 1:07:32
79 Michel Piccot (Ita) Italian National Team 1:08:56
80 Jonas Koch (Ger) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 1:08:59
81 Leszek Plucinski (Pol) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 1:09:32
82 Johannes Schinnagel (Ger) Tirol Cycling Team 1:11:00
83 Jacopo Mosca (Ita) Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia 1:11:08
84 Gijs Van Hoecke (Bel) LottoNL-Jumbo 1:11:32
85 Frantisek Sisr (Cze) CCC Sprandi Polkowice 1:11:42
86 Fernando Barcelo Aragon (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country-Murias 1:13:37
87 Pascal Eenkhoorn (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 1:16:17
88 Awet Gebremedhin (Eri) Israel Cycling Academy 1:16:22
89 Omer Goldstein (Isr) Israel Cycling Academy 1:26:37
90 Marco Friedrich (Aut) Tirol Cycling Team 1:34:33