Lorenzo Finn confirms 'next big thing' status by winning the final stage and the Tour de l'Avenir GC

Lorenzo Finn won the seventh and final stage of the Tour de l'Avenir. The Italian rider from Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe, wearing the yellow jersey, sealed the deal on the grueling climb to Lago Serrù, securing both the stage victory and the overall title. Niels Driesen (Lotto-Intermarché) finished second and held that position in the overall standings as well.

It took a while for the Tour de l'Avenir to get going, but the past few days have been a real battle. After the mountain time trial—where Lorenzo Finn made his move—it was time for the queen stage. After an incredibly grueling stage, Kasper Borremans (Bahrain Victorious) was just a bit too strong for Jasper Schoofs (Soudal Quick-Step), but the excitement wasn’t over yet.

The seventh and final stage wasn’t too tough for about 70 kilometers, but after that, things got really crazy again. The climb to Lago Serrù in Italy was 30 kilometers at a 5.2 percent gradient, but it felt much longer. On top of that, the final kilometer was really steep, and the finish line was at an altitude of over 2,200 meters. A fitting conclusion to the Tour de l’Avenir.

The ride wasn’t really that long, and the start was just flat. There were a lot of breakaways, but it took over an hour before a small group of riders was finally able to break away. Visma | Lease a Bike had two riders in the breakaway: both Ashlin Barry and Matisse Van Kerckhove were in the group, and they were joined by Timothée Coudière-Cantin (France) and Victor Loulergue (Groupama-FDJ).

In the end, Van Kerchkove proved to be the strongest climber at the front: with twenty kilometers to go, the Belgian accelerated and broke away solo from his fellow escapees. But at that point, the gap to the peloton was one and a half minutes, and Henrique Bravo (Soudal Quick-Step) decided to accelerate. The Brazilian, seventh in the general classification, launched an attack and took about five riders with him.

Leader Finn caught up with Mateo Ramírez (UAE Team Emirates), bringing Matteo Vanhuffel (Picnic PostNL), Aubin Sparfel (Decathlon CMA CGM), and Niels Driesen (Lotto-Intermarché) along with him. But the pace slowed among the rivals, allowing a larger group to catch up. Led by Duarte Marivoet (Lotto-Intermarché), that group closed in on the struggling Van Kerckhove.

However, he didn’t let up. A short flat section in the climb worked in his favor, but the toughest kilometers were still to come. Sparfel then managed to break away from the peloton. The Frenchman slowly closed in on Van Kerckhove, but was overtaken by Ramírez, Finn, Driesen, and Bravo. They, however, closed in on the Belgian all at once.

Finn delivered the next blow. The Italian accelerated in the yellow leader’s jersey. Ramírez managed to hang on for a moment, but then watched his rival gradually pull away. He had already won the mountain time trial, but now he could also raise his hands in the air while wearing yellow—and in the final stage, no less. Ramírez was eventually caught by the second group, where Driesen won the sprint.

1. Lorenzo Finn
2. Niels Driesen +0.28
3. Mateo Ramírez "