important victory in the Tour of the Alps

He Giro d’Italia It begins to be perceived in the atmosphere and the cyclists finalize their preparation for the first Grand Tour of the year. In this situation, the Alps Tour It emerges as one of the preparatory tests par excellence for the ‘Corsa Rosa’. But not only because of its route – which takes place through the Alps, like the Italian round – but also because of the presence of a list of favorites who have left their respective concentrations at altitude to duel a little less than three weeks before the ‘Grande Partenza’.

In the town of Innsbruck, where Alejandro Valverde dressed in rainbows, the first day of the Tour of the Alps left the big surprise of the week: Tommaso Daticyclist for the continental Ukyo Team, won the sprint against the reborn Pidcockwho returned to competition after his accident in the Volta a Catalunya.

The day, with two ports categorized in the first section, started and the escape, aware that victory was a real possibility, did not take long to settle. Nine cyclists undertook their particular adventure in search of a victory that became very complex; However, the cushion grew progressively until it exceeded four minutes at the summit of Piller Hohe.

Unstoppable Pellizzari

At the foot of the Reschenpass (16 km at 3.3%), this income reached 5’00”; for the first time, victory seemed possible. However, The Passo Resia ramps, although not too demanding, gradually reduced the difference to 3’00”. The favorites had marked the stage between eyebrows.

The pace increased significantly during the approach to the last climb of the daywhich, despite being uncategorized, had an average of 8.9% and percentages higher than 11%. The average exceeded 45 km/h, which resulted in the difference falling below 1’15”. The leading group did not wait: the attacks began and Mattia Gaffuri left alone less than five kilometers away. Meanwhile, in the peloton, INEOS and Tudor took responsibility.

Thymen Arensman, Michael Storer and Lorenzo Finn did not wait and attacked; They were joined by Giulio Pellizzari, who showed an enviable state of form that no one could match. The Italian runner overtook rivals with astonishing ease until he reached the head of the race. Behind, A reborn Egan Bernal led the chasing group, managing to neutralize the attack of the Red Bull-BORA cyclist just before facing the last kilometer.

Despite being hit, Pellizzari He didn’t get nervous. In the select group of six riders who played for victory, the Italian made use of the numerical superiority of the German formation and his own top speed. Taking advantage of that circumstance, that of San Severino Marchewho had already proven to be the strongest on the climb, He made it clear that he is much more than a climber. Italy has a gem with him… and also with Finn.