Ecstatic Ciccone outsprints AG2R duo to take victory in Tour of the Alps

The Tour of the Alps is usually one of the last, and therefore most important, tests before the Giro d'Italia. The riders have the opportunity to familiarize themselves with roads they will have to tackle a month later, and with all the climbs in the race, it is good preparation for the first Grand Tour of the year. This year, the short Italian stage race started with a challenging mountain stage with three difficult climbs, especially in the race's second half.

Last year, we saw the young Giulio Pellizzari shine in the Alps after a nice early breakaway. The terrain is ideal for strong riders who want to get in early, and this time it was Finlay Pickering (Bahrain Victorious), Davide Bais (Team Polti VisitMalta), and Andrew August (INEOS Grenadiers). Emanuel Zangerle (Team Vorarlberg) also tried to join them, but his attempt failed. So, a group of three managed to gain a maximum lead of about five minutes.

Halfway through the race, the climb to Campo Carlo Magno awaited, a grueling 14.4 kilometers at 6.2%. The lead was reduced there, but not enough to catch up with the breakaway group before the summit. In the subsequent descent, they maintained their lead, mainly in the valley where the three riders struggled. At the foot of the Passo del Durone, the last real challenge of the day, their lead was gone. Pickering stayed ahead the longest, but he was caught by Eddie Dunbar, who attacked from the peloton.

But the Irishman from Jayco-AlUla did not get far away due to the relentless pace of Lidl-Trek, where Sam Oomen did a great job. Jefferson Cepeda did manage to break away. The small climber from EF Education - EasyPost countered an attack by Paul Double and continued solo. The Brit from Jayco-AlUla was joined by the very young Paul Seixas (AG2R in pursuit, but the peloton - or rather the group of favorites - was not far behind at the top.

On the descent, the chasing duo gets help from Michael Storer, who joins them. At the foot of the final climb, a kind of two-stage climb towards the finish in San Lorenzo Dorsino, the breakaway riders paid for their efforts. Then, it was up to Mattia Bais, Davide's older brother. He took a nice lead of about ten seconds, but it was almost impossible to follow the race due to poor signal reception. In the final, viewers had to rely mainly on telemetry. The Italian defended himself well but was caught with two kilometers to go.

It was then up to the favorites, and Ben Zwiehoff (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) made the first move. He could not break away, so it came down to an uphill sprint, as expected. Max Poole went first, but it was Giulio Ciccone who finished strongest. Felix Gall came second, ahead of his young teammate Seixas.