Tour of the Alps 2023 – Stage 5 [FULL STAGE]

April 21, 2023

Tour of the Alps 2023 – Stage 5 – Cavalese – Brunico : 144,5 km

Formerly known as the Giro del Trentino, the Tour of the Alps is a multi-day stage-race that offers the climbers a chance to hone their race-winning form ahead of the upcoming Giro d’Italia. The race takes place over two regions, Tyrol-South and Tyrol-Trentino, both of which straddle the Italian-Austrian border. As its name suggests, the race is held almost entirely within the Alps and is thus a paradise for the pure climbers. The race returned with a two-day format but has since increased this to four and five days in more recent decades. Until its rebranding to the Tour of the Alps in 2017, the race often started with a team time trial. Instead the race now opts for a short road stage with a series of punchy, low altitude climbs to kick off the race before it sends the riders into the high mountains for the latter stages.

Simon Carr (EF Education-EasyPost) scored a solo win to close out the Tour of the Alps, soloing away from the breakaway 26.5km from the end of the finale in Brunico.

It was a day of double triumph for British riders as Tao Geoghegan Hart secured the overall race victory, his Ineos Grenadiers squad controlling the peloton to see him home in the green leader’s jersey at 22 seconds up on EF Education-EasyPost’s Hugh Carthy.

Up front, Carr had been part of a large breakaway group which fractured on the final climb of Mühlbach, starting some 30km from the line.

As Uno-X led the way at the front, Carr was the first to make a move, going midway up the ascent and building a gap which reached 40 seconds at the top.

Carr extended his lead to an unassailable 1:30 on the plateau and start of the descent towards the finish, ensuring that he’d race to the finish alone and celebrate his first victory since 2020.

His third breakaway ride of the week concluded with Carr rolling home 53 seconds clear of his chasers, with EF teammate Tobias Steinhauser winning the sprint for second place ahead of Bora-Hansgrohe duo Matteo Fabbro and Florian Lipowitz.

“I’ve been in the break on three occasions this week, so probably more time in the break than in the bunch, which has been good fun,” Carr said after the stage. “Obviously by now a bit tired and this morning I was really tired. I was surprised to have those legs in the final but really happy to finish it off.

“We thought we had a chance. The plan was for me and Georg to get in the break, which was what happened. He was strong in the start and got in the first move and then I think a guy there was dangerous on GC, so it was brought back after the first big climb.

“Then another break formed and in that one there was both of us, so that was exactly what we wanted and then we were able to fight for the stage.”

Further down the road, Ineos Grenadiers kept control at the head of the peloton on the run-in to bring Geoghegan Hart home safely. The group crossed the line at 4:28 down as the 28-year-old celebrated his first stage race victory since the 2020 Giro d’Italia.

Behind Geoghegan Hart and Carthy, Jack Haig (Bahrain Victorious) rounded out the final GC podium in third place. The Australian finished off the week at 28 seconds down.

Geoghegan Hart also took home the points jersey, while British youngster Max Poole (Team DSM) captured the young rider prize. Sergio Samitier (Movistar) went home with the KOM jersey, moving up into the lead after taking the maximum 10 points on the first climb of the day.

HOW IT UNFOLDED
The day began with the final first-category climb of the race, the 10.3km, 7.6% Passo Lavazè. It was there that the initial breakaway group of almost 20 men went clear. However, with Mark Donovan (Team DSM) a relatively dangerous GC presence at 2:49 down, the move was shut down by the chasing peloton just inside the 100km to go mark.

Steinhauser and Lipowitz led the next round of attacks after the descent, sparking the move that would contest the stage victory. They’d be joined by 21 others, including Carr, Luis León Sánchez (Astana Qazaqstan), Gianluca Brambilla (Q36.5), plus Geoffrey Bouchard and three of his AG2R Citroën teammates.

Ineos Grenadiers settled into the pacemaking role in the peloton, letting the breakaway – now with no GC threats among the group – go five minutes clear up the road.

A spell on the front from Israel-Premier Tech as the race hit the final 50km interrupted the calm, but with numerous riders from AG2R and Uno-X willing to work in the break, the distance between the two groups never came below the 2:40 mark.

From then on, it would all be about the final climb of the day at Mühlbach, the last major hardship of the five-day race. But rather than a frenzy of attacks or cat-and-mouse games on the way up, Carr simply rode away at the front.

There was little response behind the 24-year-old, who swiftly built a strong lead at the head of the race, one which would prove to be uncatchable by the time he began the descent towards the finish.

Further back, Iván Sosa (Movistar) and Matteo Riccitello (Israel-Premier Tech) were among riders to try moves in the peloton to no avail. Meanwhile, the chasing group behind Carr split apart, with the three-man group of Steinhauser, Fabbro, and Lipowitz going clear to contest the minor placings on the day.

Up front, Carr had time to celebrate the second win of his career and EF’s 14th of the 2023 season.

Results :

Final General Classification :