Stage 4 Tour of the Alps 2026 preview | An unrelenting climbing stage made for Arensman

The Tour of the Alps has yet to fully ignite after three days. If there's a day when it can, it is without doubt the fourth. After a sprint, a punchy finish and a day for the breakaway, the organisers pull out all the stops on Thursday. IDL Pro Cycling has all the information on stage 4 and runs through the favourites for the day.

At 167.8 kilometres, stage four of the Tour of the Alps is not particularly long, yet the organisers have managed to pack in 4,111 metres of climbing. The stage is rated 4 out of 5 stars for good reason, it will go up and down from start to finish

The stage begins in Arco and heads almost immediately into the mountains. The Passo Bordala, a first-category climb at 14.8 kilometres averaging 6.9%, is the riders' first test of the day. It is a fairly consistent ascent, with sections reaching a maximum of 9%.

Once over the top, the riders descend and head straight back up. The altitude gain towards Vigolo Vattaro (just over 8 kilometres at just over 6%) is uncategorised, but there is an intermediate sprint at the summit. From there the pace picks up towards the foot of the Passo Redebus.

This climb — 12.9 kilometres at 6.8% — is another proper mountain pass and also receives a first-category rating. It is somewhat more irregular than the Bordala: a demanding start, followed by a less steep middle section, then stretches at over 8% and sections approaching 9% near the summit.

From here the categorised climbs are done, but the elevation gain most certainly is not. The second intermediate sprint at Baselga di Piné requires another haul of 4.7 kilometres averaging nearly 7%.

From there the route descends gradually towards the valley in Trento, but the mostly downhill kilometres are still broken up by a punchy climb to Sant'Agnese — 2.7 kilometres at 7.7%. From here it is 22 kilometres to the finish, with a few short kicks along the way. Who will win in Trento?

Times
Start: 10:45 a.m.
Finish: around 3:15 p.m.

After two sun-drenched days, Thursday in South Tyrol looks set to be just as fine. From the start in Arco it will be 17 degrees, and by the finish the mercury is expected to rise above 20 degrees for the first time this week. There will be virtually no wind — a perfect day for racing.

This is a completely different stage to anything we have seen so far. A fine opportunity for attackers — but let us start with the GC riders, who could put time into their rivals here. Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe have the squad to make it hard, and Giulio Pellizzari is not afraid to attack from distance. With the leader's jersey on his shoulders, however, that is not necessarily required.

Perhaps Red Bull will leave the work to INEOS Grenadiers, the other team making an impression this week. Thymen Arensman and Egan Bernal were both climbing with the best on Tuesday's stage two, and Arensman in particular finds his ideal terrain on the longer ascents. On Tuesday it came down to a battle between these riders, with Red Bull's Aleksandr Vlasov also in the mix. But how will Thursday look?

There will be plenty of riders heading into Thursday with scores to settle, knowing the punchy stage two finale was perhaps not entirely to their liking. Tudor duo Michael Storer and Mathys Rondel just missed the connection, as did Chris Harper (Pinarello-Q36.5) and Jakob Omrzel (Bahrain Victorious), while Ben O'Connor (Jayco AlUla) and Derek Gee-West (Lidl-Trek) fell further behind.

The Italians are also in good form, with seasoned campaigner Domenico Pozzovivo immediately mixing it at the front again on his return with Solution Tech–NIPPO–Rali. But also worth noting are Alex Tolio (Bardiani), Mattia Gaffuri (Picnic PostNL) and Giovanni Aleotti (Red Bull), all of whom showed good legs on Tuesday. Aleotti, of course, has Pellizzari and Vlasov ahead of him in the pecking order.

And then there is the prospect of a breakaway going all the way, particularly with the bulk of the climbing concentrated in the first half of the stage. On Wednesday we saw Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5) go on the offensive — what can he do in the mountains? Beyond him, there are plenty more options. After a strong day in the breakaway on stage 3, could Lidl-Trek's Sam Oomen go all the way on Thursday?

Darren Rafferty (EF Education-EasyPost) was riding well on stage three, and EF also have Jefferson Cepeda in their ranks. From Lidl-Trek we also flag the strongly-riding Matteo Sobrero, along with his compatriot Alessandro Verre (MBH Bank CSB Telecom Fort). And what can Paul Double do for Jayco as a capable climbing teammate to O'Connor and Bouwman?

Top favorites: Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) and Thymen Arensman (INEOS Grenadiers)
Outsiders: Egan Bernal (INEOS Grenadiers), Ben O'Connor (Jayco AlUla) and Aleksandr Vlasov (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe)
Long shots: Michael Storer, Mathys Rondel (both Tudor), Chris Harper, Tom Pidcock (both Pinarello-Q36.5), Jakob Omrzel (Bahrain Victorious), Derek Gee-West, Sam Oomen, Matteo Sobrero (all Lidl-Trek), Domenico Pozzovivo (Solution Tech NIPPO Rali),Alex Tolio (Bardiani), Alessandro Verre (MBH Bank CSB Telecom Fort), Mattia Gaffuri, Gijs Leemreize (both Picnic PostNL), Paul Double, Koen Bouwman (both Jayco AlUla), Darren Rafferty and Jefferson Cepeda (EF Education-EasyPost)