Tour of the Alps 2021 – Stage 5 [FULL RACE]

April 23, 2021

Tour of the Alps 2021 – Stage 5 – Valle del Chiese/Idroland – Riva del Garda : 120,9 km

After a one-year hiatus the Tour of the Alps is back and boy does its 2021 edition mean business. With a route that features over 13,000m of climbing, and a startlist that contains the likes of Pavel Sivakov, Simon Yates, Hugh Carthy, Nairo Quintana and Thibaut Pinot, this year’s race promises to be one of the hardest-fought stage races of the season so far. The Tour of the Alps, which up until 2017 was known as the Giro del Trentino, is a five-day stage race that takes place over two mountainous regions – Tyrol-South and Tyrol-Trentino, both of which straddle the border between Italy and Austria. After suffering a COVID-19-enforced hiatus last year the race is back for 2021 and will, once again, offer those riders targeting a top result at the Giro d’Italia one last chance to finetune their form. Once this race finishes on April 24th, there are only two more weeks before the Giro officially kicks off in Turin. Like the last three editions of the Tour of the Alps, the 2021 race will run for five days and follow a route that is tailor-made for the climbers.

Simon Yates (Team BikeExchange) calmly weathered a potentially hazardous final day to seal the overall title at the Tour of the Alps, as Felix Grossschartner (Bora-Hansgrohe) clinched the stage win.

Among a 16-rider breakaway on the short and hilly 120.9km finale was Dan Martin (Israel Start-Up Nation), who had slipped to 14th overall but was still dangerous at four minutes on GC, and Yates’ teammates worked hard to keep the race under control on the two laps of the Riva del Garda finishing circuit.

Grossschartner survived the selection in the break on the first ascent of the circuit’s climb, the Lago di Tenno, before attacking and going solo on the second. He safely negotiated the 10km descent back into Riva del Garda and crossed the line 40 seconds clear.

His former breakaway companions Nicolas Roche (Team DSM) and Alessandro De Marchi (Israel Start-Up Nation) just managed to hang on to take second and third places, respectively, as Gianni Moscon (Ineos Grenadiers) led home the reduced bunch a few seconds later.

Yates, who didn’t face any serious attacks on the final climb, was safely in there to claim the third stage race victory of his career, boosting his status ahead of the Giro d’Italia.

“It feels really fantastic,” he said. “The team did a great job today, controlled it at the start, rode all day, then in final they were fantastic.

“It was a short day and there wasn’t so much action from the GC but it was still a hard day, with a lot of stress, and with a descent to the finish it’s always nervous.”

With Yates already around a minute clear, Pello Bilbao (Bahrain McLaren) and Alexandr Vlasov (Astana-Premier Tech) were content to seal their overall podium positions. There were only minor changes in the top 10, as Jefferson Cepeda (Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec) and Pavel Sivakov (Ineos Grenadiers) finished seven seconds behind the GC group. Cepeda held on to fourth overall but Sivakov dropped out of the top five to the favour of Hugh Carthy (EF Education-Nippo).

How it unfolded

The short final stage took in the first-category Passo Duron in the first 40km before heading to Riva del Garda and two laps of the 22km finishing circuit, that was essentially an ascent then descent of the Lago di Tenno climb.

The 16-rider breakaway started to form after 25 kilometres on the early, draggy roads, with eight going clear and eight joining several kilometres later.

Grossscharter, Martin, De Marchi, and Roche were in the initial move, along with Tony Gallopin (AG2R Citroën), Michael Storer (Team DSM), Tejay van Garderen (EF Education-Nippo) and Vadim Pronskiy (Astana-Premier Tech).

Ahead of the Duron, they were joined by Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), Ivan Sosa (Ineos Grenadiers), Matteo Fabbro (Bora-Hansgrohe), Hermann Pernsteiner (Bahrain Victorious), François Bidard (AG2R Citroën), Nick Schultz (BikeExchange) Julen Amezqueta (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), and Georg Steinhauser (Tirol-KTM).

By the top of the climb, where De Marchi took the points to take and seal the King of the Mountains jersey, the gap back to the peloton was just 2:25. Yates’ teammates were keeping a lid on things, and they continued the charge on the subsequent uphill section ahead of the descent into Riva del Garda.

By the time the breakaway crossed the finish line for the first time with 22km to go, the gap was down to 90 seconds. In town, that front group split up, with Martin dropped as Grossschartner, Pinot, Roche, De Marchi, Gallopin, Amezqueta, and Steinhauser pressed ahead.

They took their advantage out to two minutes as BikeExchange sat back, but Trek-Segafredo took up the chase on the first climb of Lago di Tenno and by the top it was back down to 1:10. Trek were looking to launch Gianluca Brambilla, who attacked on the descent and almost crashed as he took every risk going. However, after finding Martin, the pair were brought back by the bottom.

The seven leaders crossed the line for the bell lap with a lead of one minute, but they didn’t stay together long. As Storer, who had mounted a brave chase, fought to get back on and Grossschartner quickly upped the pace as the climb began. After fragmenting the group he put in another acceleration and was quickly and cleanly away.

Roche and De Marchi emerged as a chasing duo but the Austrian calmly opened a 45-second lead on the climb. Back in the bunch, a crash in the middle of the reduced group disrupted their early progress, but Yates’ men set about dictating a steady tempo all the way up.

The only attacks came a couple of kilometres from the top, but they were short lived, with Alejandro Osorio (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) and Nairo Quintana (Arkéa-Samsic) quickly brought to heel.

Grossschartner crested the climb with a lead of 45 seconds over Roche and De Marchi, and 1:15 over the bunch. He held his own on the descent and the flatter final couple of kilometres were merely a procession. The bunch made up ground on the run-in but Roche and De Marchi gamely clung on to walk away with podium placings.

“It was planned since we messed up a bit on the second stage,” said Grossschartner. “I said ‘I don’t care, I try every day’. I was second on the third stage so I’m super happy today I can take the victory for the team.

“It’s always great to win, every pro cyclist knows it’s really hard to win a race when there are 160 guys fighting for the victory. It’s always special.”

Results :
1 Felix Grossschartner (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 3:03:38
2 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team DSM 0:00:34
3 Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) Israel Start-up Nation
4 Gianni Moscon (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers 0:00:40
5 Alejandro Osorio Carvajal (Col) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
6 Romain Bardet (Fra) Team DSM
7 Luis Leon Sanchez (Spa) Astana-Premier Tech
8 Ruben Guerreiro (Por) EF Education-Nippo
9 Mark Padun (Ukr) Bahrain Victorious
10 Matteo Fabbro (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe
11 Henri Vandenabeele (Bel) Team DSM
12 Simon Yates (GBr) Team BikeExchange
13 Nicholas Schultz (Aus) Team BikeExchange
14 Pello Bilbao Lopez De Armentia (Spa) Bahrain Victorious
15 Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) Astana-Premier Tech
16 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Team Qhubeka Assos
17 Geoffrey Bouchard (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team
18 Nairo Quintana (Col) Team Arkea-Samsic
19 Attila Valter (Hun) Groupama-FDJ
20 Hugh Carthy (GBr) EF Education-Nippo
21 Nicolas Prodhomme (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team
22 Joe Dombrowski (USA) UAE Team Emirates
23 Daniel Martinez Poveda (Col) Ineos Grenadiers 0:00:47
24 Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Ineos Grenadiers
25 Jefferson Cepeda (Ecu) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
26 Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Tirol KTM Cycling Team 0:01:12
27 Daniel Martin (Irl) Israel Start-up Nation 0:01:14
28 Guy Niv (Isr) Israel Start-up Nation 0:01:58
29 Amanuel Gebreigzabhier (Eri) Trek-Segafredo 0:02:05
30 Omer Goldstein (Isr) Israel Start-up Nation
31 Natnael Tesfazion (Eri) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
32 Fabio Felline (Ita) Astana-Premier Tech 0:03:14
33 Vadim Pronskiy (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech
34 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
35 Tony Gallopin (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team
36 Larry Warbasse (USA) AG2R Citroën Team
37 Callum Scotson (Aus) Team BikeExchange
38 Sebastian Henao Gomez (Col) Ineos Grenadiers
39 Erik Fetter (Hun) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team 0:03:51
40 Hermann Pernsteiner (Aut) Bahrain Victorious
41 Kilian Frankiny (Swi) Team Qhubeka Assos
42 Georg Steinhauser (Ger) Tirol KTM Cycling Team
43 Julen Amezqueta Moreno (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
44 Simon Guglielmi (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
45 Anthony Delaplace (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
46 Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers
47 Giovanni Carboni (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
48 Simone Ravanelli (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
49 Jaakko Hänninen (Fin) AG2R Citroën Team
50 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Bahrain Victorious
51 Michael Storer (Aus) Team DSM 0:03:57
52 Jonas Wilsly (Den) Astana-Premier Tech 0:04:34
53 Tanel Kangert (Est) Team BikeExchange 0:05:02
54 Antonio Nibali (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
55 Romain Combaud (Fra) Team DSM 0:06:24
56 Ben Zwiehoff (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
57 Rafael Valls Ferri (Spa) Bahrain Victorious
58 Davide Gabburo (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’ 0:06:32
59 Luca Covili (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’ 0:06:35
60 Anton Palzer (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:06:36
61 Lars van den Berg (Ned) Groupama-FDJ
62 Matteo Sobrero (Ita) Astana-Premier Tech
63 Domen Novak (Slo) Bahrain Victorious
64 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo
65 Maxime Bouet (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:06:38
66 Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
67 Cristian Scaroni (Ita) Gazprom-RusVelo 0:08:08
68 François Bidard (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team 0:08:52
69 Andres Camilo Ardila Ordoñez (Col) UAE Team Emirates
70 Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo 0:09:51
71 Alessandro Bisolti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:10:13
72 Julius van den Berg (Ned) EF Education-Nippo
73 Chris Froome (GBr) Israel Start-up Nation
74 Mattias Skjelmose Jensen (Den) Trek-Segafredo
75 Luca Chirico (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
76 Michel Ries (Lux) Trek-Segafredo
77 Santiago Umba Lopez (Col) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
78 Filippo Zana (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
79 Alexander Cataford (Can) Israel Start-up Nation
80 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
81 Winner Anacona (Col) Team Arkea-Samsic
82 Cristian Camilo Muñoz Lancheros (Col) UAE Team Emirates
83 Johnatan Cañaveral Vargas (Col) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
84 Márton Dina (Hun) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team
85 Tejay van Garderen (USA) EF Education-Nippo
86 Antoine Duchesne (Can) Groupama-FDJ 0:11:42
87 Sergio Roman Martin Galan (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
88 Anton Kuzmin (Kaz) Gazprom-RusVelo
89 Connor Brown (NZl) Team Qhubeka Assos
90 Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Groupama-FDJ
91 Kevin Colleoni (Ita) Team BikeExchange
92 Jon Barrenetxea Golzarri (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
93 Mathias Vacek (Cze) Gazprom-RusVelo
94 Lukas Pöstlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
95 Davide Bais (Ita) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team
96 Mark Christian (GBr) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team
97 Andrea Vendrame (Ita) AG2R Citroën Team
98 Nicholas Dlamini (RSA) Team Qhubeka Assos
99 Daniel Savini (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’
100 Felix Engelhardt (Ger) Tirol KTM Cycling Team
101 Matevz Govekar (Slo) Tirol KTM Cycling Team
102 William Barta (USA) EF Education-Nippo
103 Edward Ravasi (Ita) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team
104 Marco Marcato (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
105 Frederik Wandahl (Den) Bora-Hansgrohe
106 Dayer Quintana (Col) Team Arkea-Samsic
107 Ivan Ramiro Sosa Cuervo (Col) Ineos Grenadiers
108 Leon Heinschke (Ger) Team DSM
109 Lachlan Morton (Aus) EF Education-Nippo
110 Cameron Meyer (Aus) Team BikeExchange
111 Rüdiger Selig (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:13:48
112 Reuben Thompson (NZl) Groupama-FDJ
113 Denis Nekrasov (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo
114 Leonardo Basso (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers
115 Aleksandr Riabushenko (Blr) UAE Team Emirates 0:14:27
116 Nikolay Cherkasov (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo 0:14:33
DNF Harold Tejada Canacue (Col) Astana-Premier Tech
DNF Mikel Nieve Iturralde (Spa) Team BikeExchange
DNF Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Team Qhubeka Assos
DNF Romain Hardy (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic
DNF Alessandro Fancellu (Ita) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team
DNF Kevin Pezzo Rosola (Ita) Tirol KTM Cycling Team
DNF Emanuel Zangerle (Aut) Tirol KTM Cycling Team
DNS Jai Hindley (Aus) Team DSM

Final General Classification :
1 Simon Yates (GBr) Team BikeExchange 18:36:06
2 Pello Bilbao Lopez De Armentia (Spa) Bahrain Victorious 0:00:58
3 Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) Astana-Premier Tech 0:01:06
4 Jefferson Cepeda (Ecu) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:02:25
5 Hugh Carthy (GBr) EF Education-Nippo 0:02:37
6 Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Ineos Grenadiers 0:02:44
7 Nairo Quintana (Col) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:02:54
8 Ruben Guerreiro (Por) EF Education-Nippo 0:03:12
9 Romain Bardet (Fra) Team DSM
10 Nicholas Schultz (Aus) Team BikeExchange 0:03:36
11 Geoffrey Bouchard (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team 0:03:53
12 Matteo Fabbro (Ita) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:03:59
13 Daniel Martinez Poveda (Col) Ineos Grenadiers 0:04:21
14 Alejandro Osorio Carvajal (Col) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:04:25
15 Daniel Martin (Irl) Israel Start-up Nation 0:04:35
16 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Team Qhubeka Assos 0:05:01
17 Joe Dombrowski (USA) UAE Team Emirates 0:06:20
18 Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Tirol KTM Cycling Team 0:06:28
19 Amanuel Gebreigzabhier (Eri) Trek-Segafredo 0:08:21
20 Hermann Pernsteiner (Aut) Bahrain Victorious 0:08:53
21 Giovanni Carboni (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’ 0:09:48
22 Tony Gallopin (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team 0:09:52
23 Gianni Moscon (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers 0:10:07
24 Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:10:17
25 Erik Fetter (Hun) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team 0:10:28
26 Antonio Nibali (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:11:20
27 Attila Valter (Hun) Groupama-FDJ 0:11:38
28 Vadim Pronskiy (Kaz) Astana-Premier Tech 0:12:01
29 Luis Leon Sanchez (Spa) Astana-Premier Tech 0:12:05
30 Jaakko Hänninen (Fin) AG2R Citroën Team 0:12:31
31 Guy Niv (Isr) Israel Start-up Nation 0:13:13
32 Sebastian Henao Gomez (Col) Ineos Grenadiers 0:13:30
33 Larry Warbasse (USA) AG2R Citroën Team 0:14:04
34 Felix Grossschartner (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:14:33
35 Ben Zwiehoff (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:14:52
36 Nicolas Prodhomme (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team 0:15:43
37 Mattias Skjelmose Jensen (Den) Trek-Segafredo 0:16:32
38 Andres Camilo Ardila Ordoñez (Col) UAE Team Emirates
39 Kilian Frankiny (Swi) Team Qhubeka Assos 0:16:33
40 Michel Ries (Lux) Trek-Segafredo 0:16:55
41 Georg Steinhauser (Ger) Tirol KTM Cycling Team 0:17:28
42 Ivan Ramiro Sosa Cuervo (Col) Ineos Grenadiers 0:17:39
43 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team DSM 0:17:45
44 Edward Ravasi (Ita) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team 0:18:10
45 Simone Ravanelli (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:18:34
46 Tejay van Garderen (USA) EF Education-Nippo 0:19:01
47 Anton Palzer (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:20:52
48 Luca Chirico (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:20:54
49 Alexander Cataford (Can) Israel Start-up Nation 0:21:18
50 François Bidard (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team 0:21:44
51 Natnael Tesfazion (Eri) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:22:12
52 Winner Anacona (Col) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:22:14
53 Pavel Kochetkov (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo 0:22:33
54 Anthony Delaplace (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:23:58
55 Jonas Wilsly (Den) Astana-Premier Tech 0:24:33
56 Julen Amezqueta Moreno (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:24:43
57 Simon Guglielmi (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:24:49
58 Lars van den Berg (Ned) Groupama-FDJ 0:24:59
59 Tanel Kangert (Est) Team BikeExchange 0:25:09
60 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:25:35
61 Luca Covili (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’ 0:26:25
62 Omer Goldstein (Isr) Israel Start-up Nation 0:27:13
63 Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) Israel Start-up Nation 0:27:15
64 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo 0:27:27
65 Davide Gabburo (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’ 0:27:57
66 Rafael Valls Ferri (Spa) Bahrain Victorious 0:28:23
67 Cristian Scaroni (Ita) Gazprom-RusVelo 0:28:28
68 Cristian Camilo Muñoz Lancheros (Col) UAE Team Emirates 0:28:46
69 Filippo Zana (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’ 0:30:11
70 Sergio Roman Martin Galan (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:30:33
71 Mark Christian (GBr) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team 0:31:08
72 Mark Padun (Ukr) Bahrain Victorious 0:31:11
73 Fabio Felline (Ita) Astana-Premier Tech 0:32:20
74 Daniel Savini (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’ 0:33:28
75 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Bahrain Victorious 0:35:21
76 Matteo Sobrero (Ita) Astana-Premier Tech 0:36:00
77 Michael Storer (Aus) Team DSM 0:36:50
78 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane’ 0:38:38
79 Santiago Umba Lopez (Col) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:39:30
80 Callum Scotson (Aus) Team BikeExchange 0:40:00
81 Johnatan Cañaveral Vargas (Col) Bardiani CSF Faizane’ 0:41:59
82 Romain Combaud (Fra) Team DSM 0:42:02
83 Alessandro Bisolti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:42:55
84 Lachlan Morton (Aus) EF Education-Nippo 0:44:35
85 Dayer Quintana (Col) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:44:49
86 Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers 0:47:05
87 Kevin Colleoni (Ita) Team BikeExchange 0:47:15
88 Connor Brown (NZl) Team Qhubeka Assos 0:47:37
89 Maxime Bouet (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic 0:48:00
90 Márton Dina (Hun) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team 0:48:44
91 Jon Barrenetxea Golzarri (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:49:06
92 Aleksandr Riabushenko (Blr) UAE Team Emirates 0:49:54
93 Chris Froome (GBr) Israel Start-up Nation 0:51:09
94 Cameron Meyer (Aus) Team BikeExchange 0:55:08
95 Nicholas Dlamini (RSA) Team Qhubeka Assos 0:55:41
96 Henri Vandenabeele (Bel) Team DSM 0:56:20
97 Marco Marcato (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:59:54
98 Anton Kuzmin (Kaz) Gazprom-RusVelo 1:00:11
99 Denis Nekrasov (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo 1:00:23
100 Domen Novak (Slo) Bahrain Victorious 1:01:16
101 Reuben Thompson (NZl) Groupama-FDJ 1:02:04
102 Frederik Wandahl (Den) Bora-Hansgrohe 1:03:07
103 Davide Bais (Ita) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team 1:06:27
104 Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Groupama-FDJ 1:07:15
105 Lukas Pöstlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 1:07:16
106 Felix Engelhardt (Ger) Tirol KTM Cycling Team 1:07:52
107 Andrea Vendrame (Ita) AG2R Citroën Team 1:09:13
108 Antoine Duchesne (Can) Groupama-FDJ 1:10:00
109 William Barta (USA) EF Education-Nippo 1:13:47
110 Nikolay Cherkasov (Rus) Gazprom-RusVelo 1:14:34
111 Leon Heinschke (Ger) Team DSM 1:17:55
112 Leonardo Basso (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers 1:19:08
113 Julius van den Berg (Ned) EF Education-Nippo 1:21:02
114 Mathias Vacek (Cze) Gazprom-RusVelo 1:24:33
115 Matevz Govekar (Slo) Tirol KTM Cycling Team 1:27:03
116 Rüdiger Selig (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe 1:29:09