Pidcock makes strong return, but beaten by UKYO's Tommaso Dati at Tour of the Alps opener

Tommaso Dati of Japanese continental team UKYO won the opening stage of the 2026 Tour of the Alps in Innsbruck on Monday. Thymen Arensman (INEOS Grenadiers) launched a gutsy solo attack in the closing kilometres, only to be swallowed up by the chasing group in the final moments. Tom Pidcock finished second.

While the cycling world was still processing the fallout from Sunday's Amstel Gold Race, a different kind of race was taking shape in the Austrian Alps — one with the Giro d'Italia firmly in mind. Among those lining up in Innsbruck were Arensman, Egan Bernal (INEOS Grenadiers), Derek Gee (Lidl-Trek), Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) and Ben O'Connor (Jayco AlUla).

Pidcock's presence was itself a story. The Pinarello-Q36.5 rider skipped the Amstel Gold Race and the Flèche Wallonne to use this week's racing as preparation for Liège-Bastogne-Liège. He crashed heavily at the Volta a Catalunya less than three weeks ago, sustaining a serious knee injury. But the Brit was right up there a the pointy end on the opening stage.

The early break featured three riders unfamiliar to most fans: Tobias Nolde, Emanuel Zangerle of Vorarlberg and Josef Dirnbauer of the Austrian national team. Jayco AlUla and INEOS Grenadiers took charge of the peloton behind, reeling in the escapees on the day's final climb, the ski station at Axams. Zangerle — a local from Innsbruck — was the last to be caught.

With the climbing done and the break neutralised, the stage looked set for a bunch sprint. The twist: this is the Tour of the Alps. There are no sprinters here by design — the race is built for climbers, and its name tells you why. That made for an unusually open finish, with Jayco AlUla pinning their hopes on the rapid Felix Engelhardt.

INEOS Grenadiers had other ideas. Four kilometres from the line, on a short uphill drag, they sent the peloton into the red — with Arensman sitting right behind them in second position. On the descent into Innsbruck's twisting streets, his teammates opened a gap. Suddenly Arensman was alone off the front.

The GC teams gave chase immediately. They hauled him back with metres to spare, setting up a frantic sprint — which Dati took ahead of Pidcock.