Red Bull's Finn dominates the Tour de l'Avenir with a masterful performance in the mountain time trial

Lorenzo Finn won the fifth stage of the Tour de l'Avenir. The Italian rider from Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe was by far the best in the mountain time trial and thus took over the leader’s jersey. Ugo Fabries (UAE Team Emirates) finished second, 34 seconds behind, while yellow jersey holder Niels Driesen came in third, 58 seconds behind. He had to relinquish his leader’s jersey.

The first stage of the Tour de l'Avenir saw some significant changes in the standings. Lorenzo Finn had made a strong push, but was beaten by the Belgian Niels Driesen. The next three days had little impact on the general classification, but that would change in the fifth stage: the mountain time trial to Flaine on the Col de Pierre Carrée was expected to create some real gaps.

It was an 11.4-kilometer race against the clock, with a 6.4 percent grade. Not super steep, but steep enough to make it a true climbing time trial. The initial benchmark time was set by American Gavin Sherry, who rode a particularly strong second half. But it wasn’t long before we saw true climbers on the podium, and so his time was overtaken.

The first to do so was Sais Cisneros (Soudal Quick-Step), but Matisse Van Kerckhove was actually much faster. The Belgian from Visma | Lease a Bike, who had an unfortunate start to the race, clocked a time of 27:02, finishing 56 seconds faster than Matthew Peace (Picnic PostNL). Another interesting detail: there were only thirty seconds between the start times, resulting in a veritable jumble of riders on the climb.

By then, it was clear exactly how hard Van Kerckhove had ridden. By the halfway point, he had long since fallen out of the top ten, but renowned top riders like Rémi Arsac (Decathlon CMA CGM) and Mateo Ramírez (UAE Team Emirates) were unable to beat the Belgian’s time. Only Henrique Bravo managed to post a faster time. The Brazilian from Soudal Quick-Step was three seconds faster.

However, the top contenders in the final standings were yet to come. And top favorite Finn was the rider to beat going into the race. The Italian rider from Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe immediately made his presence felt at the halfway point with the fastest time. Yellow jersey wearer Driesen had already lost half a minute to his rival at that point, and since they were tied in the overall standings, that was already a huge blow.

Ugo Fabries (UAE Team Emirates) had ridden an amazing second leg and finished a full 37 seconds faster than Bravo. But the unstoppable Finn beat that time by another 34 seconds. Driesen rode an excellent time trial and finished third, but lost nearly a minute to Finn. The top favorite thus took over the leader’s jersey with a massive lead.

1. Lorenzo Finn
2. Ugo Fabries + 0.34
3. Niels Driesen + 0.58