Another late climb – swooping descent – flat run to the line combination made for another rip-roaring day of attackity racing – this time with added awesome Jumbo Bees!
Tour of the Alps Stage 4: Chiusa to Leinz, 134.3km
The favourites picked up where they left off yesterday and began attacking on the amuse bouche uncategorised climb that appeared before the main course Bannberg climb and descent. They couldn’t shake race leader Thibaut Pinot and it was gruppo compacto as they hurtled towards Leinz – the problem for the other teams was there were still five turquoise jerseys in the group. With perfect timing Luis Leon Sanchez leapt away to deliver Astana their third stage victory. Lotto NL-Jumbo’s George Bennett reacted fast to take second with teammate Koen Bouwman piping Pinot for third and the bonifications. There was no change on GC with Pinot still holding 15secs to Domenico Pozzovivo and Astana’s Miguel Angel Lopez with Froome fourth at +16secs.
Video….
Question: “Were you expecting things to blow up in the way they did today?”
George “Yeah, well if they didn’t we were going to blow them up anyway”
Great interview with the Kiwi rider
The Tour of the Alps takes in some stunning scenery – a lot of fans will surely make plans for next year.
Bonus: Tour of Croatia Queen Stage
We haven’t featured the Tour of Croatia in our FINAL KM posts, there’s just not enough hours in the day for all the cycling. However, when the Queen stage features a summit finish on the Sveti Jure – all 29km of it!!- we had to make an exception.
The stage was won by Bahrain Merida’s Kanstantsin Siutsou who was just got the better of Roompot – Nederlandse Loterij’s Pieter Weening after a toe-to-toe gruelling battle. The climb just goes on and on and the scenery it wends make the video a must watch. Chapeau to the 123 riders who made it to the top this monster – I can’t imagine the suffering.
Video. We pick it up at the halfway mark with 15km to go
psst… watch out for Trek-Segafredo’s other Danish rider Niklas Eg. All that work for his captain and still manged to finish 5th when he was eventually let off the leash. #MarkThatName #ClimbingDane
Full race report at Cycling News
RIP Andy Rihs
The BMC team announced the death of team owner Andy Rihs on Thursday 19th April – the world of cycling has lost a passionate advocate and fan.
Andy was not only an owner and main sponsor of BMC Racing Team, but also a friend who enjoyed life and loved sharing that joy. With him, an exemplary visionary, an avid sports fan, a passionate cyclist, and a great supporter of sport has left us. His generosity, his sense of humor, and his infectious laugh have shaped the man that has been by our side since the beginning of BMC Racing Team. Our grief is indescribable, but we will carry on his values.
Header Image: Chris Froome and Kenny Elissonde – Tim de Waele/Getty Images