With a tight GC, this was the final chance to change the GC…and boy did they try.
Tour of the Alps Stage 5: Smarno to Trento, 199.6km
Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) did everything he could to snatch a last gasp victory. The Frenchman needed to both win the stage and gap Sky’s Geraint Thomas by more than 3secs. He took the stage victory and the bonus seconds, edging out BMC’s Brent Bookwalter in the sprint, but he could not distance the Welshman. Thomas finished third on the stage, and climbed onto the top step of the podium as a deserving winner of the first Tour of the Alps. He owes teammate Mikel Landa a huge drink though, the Basque was immense all day bringing back attack after attack. Pinot was second at +7secs with Ag2r-La Mondiale’s Domenico Pozzovivo at +20secs. Alexander Foliforov (Gazprom-Rusvelo) claimed the King of the Mountain, and BMC were best team. Aggressive riding by Androni-Giacattoli’s Colombian duo saw Egan Bernal claim the best young rider jersey from Cannondale-Drapac’s Hugh Carthy.
Highlights (we pick it up with 20km to go)…
Full report at Tour of the Alps sitehttps://tourofthealps.eu/en/thomas-king-of-tour-of-the-alps-pinot-celebrates-in-trento
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Header image: GC podium © Tour of the Alps Facebook