Carr caps breakaway with win in Borgo Valsugana. Six in the running for Lopez’ green jersey

There’s something special between Simon Carr and the Tour of the Alps. In 2023, the EF Education-EasyPost Welsh had enjoyed a breakaway victory in Bruneck/Brunico’s grand finale; this time, on Thursday, April 19th, he took the queen stage of the 47th edition in similar fashion.

The clash among the GC men on the day was eagerly anticipated, and there was no shortage of skirmishing along the 141.3 km from Leifers/Laives to Borgo Valsugana: backed by numerical superiority, Bahrain and Decathlon-Ag2r tried to unsettle the leadership of Juan Pedro Lopez. The Spanish rider from Lidl-Trek didn’t back down, thwarting several attempts, both on the Vetriolo Pass and on Colle San Marco. He will have to protect the lead for one more day, the grand finale in Levico Terme.

Only Michael Storer (Tudor) and Ben O'Connor (Decathlon-Ag2r), second and third at the finish, managed to claw back a few seconds on the leader with a surprise move in the last kilometers: the holder of the Green Melinda Jersey is left with 38 seconds on the Australian and 48 on Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain-Victorious), who looked very strong throughout the many ascents of the day.

The young Italian can also rely on the support of his teammate Poels, fourth in the GC at 48”, the same gap as Bardet (Team DSM) and Valentin Paret-Peintre, O'Connor’s teammate. They are followed by Storer and Pellizzari (VF-Group) at 1’40” and 1’54” respectively.

On the other hand, Tobias Foss (INEOS Grenadiers) had to give up any dream of glory, struggling since the early slopes of the Vetriolo Pass and now definitely out of the running for the general classification.

CARR: "THIS VICTORY REWARDS MY EFFORTS"

"Today's victory is really special for me," explained Simon Carr, "because I came here to the Tour of the Alps with legitimate GC ambitions, and I also went on an altitude training for three weeks ahead of this. I came with confidence, but in the first three days, I struggled a lot, especially due to allergies."

"However, the team, especially DS Juan Manuel Garate, inspired me to keep the confidence: the rain arrived, and today I found the right feelings again. I'm very happy."

"At one point my advantage dropped below the minute, and I honestly thought the chasers would catch me. Then on the descent, there were a couple of crashes, and probably they chose not to take too many risks. On the flat stretch, the advantage increased again, and on the last climb, I started feeling more confident, but was running on fumes and I went hard until the top. Only on the descent I realized I could relax a bit.”

LOPEZ: "LOSING THE JERSEY WAS NEVER ON MY MIND”

"Yesterday was a tough stage, and today the GC men attacked me from all sides, but I managed to respond and defend the lead," said Lopez. – "I felt good, and even when I found myself chasing, losing the jersey was never on my mind: I just focused on giving my 100% until the last meter. Today I made it, tomorrow is another day: I have a green jersey to defend."

HOW IT UNFOLDED

Simon Carr himself fostered the breakaway that characterized the queen stage of the TotA, on the climb towards the Passo di San Lugano. With him were his teammate Carthy, Rodriguez (INEOS), Mühlberger (Movistar), Hamilton (Jayco-AlUla), Leemreize (DSM), Bizkarra (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Higuita (Bora-Hansgrohe), Covili (VF Group-Bardiani), Mattia Bais, and Piganzoli (Polti-Kometa).

The leaders passed the Redebus climb together, but the group splintered on the slopes of the Passo del Compet, thanks to the push of Carr and Higuita. In the GC men’s group, Decathlon-Ag2r took over the reins, reducing the gap from the leading duo to 2 minutes at the foot of the Vetriolo Pass.

The feared "Strada dei Baiti" proved tough for Higuita, who could not follow's wheel, while behind them O'Connor tried to shake things up, but didn’t manage to get clear from Lopez, Tiberi, and Poels, followed closely by Sosa, Bardet, Storer, and Harper.

Once on the descent, Harper counterattacked with O'Connor, but both their attempts were quenched by a nasty crash. Harper fared worse, leaving the race, while O'Connor restarted regularly.

After that, the GC men’s group slowed down, allowing some dropped riders to come back and leaving more space to Carr, enough for him to soar alone towards the finish line in Borgo Valsugana. On the ascent of Colle San Marco, Decathlon tried to shake things up again by launching Valentin Paret-Peintre on the attack, but Lopez again managed to bring back the escapee, preserving his Green Jersey.

Behind Carr, alone at the finish line in Borgo Valsugana, came Storer and O'Connor at 1:19, three seconds before Poels, Paret-Peintre, Tiberi, Bardet, and Poels: the new king of the Tour of the Alps will arguably come out from this group.

AN INTENSE AND UNPREDICTABLE FINALE AWAITS IN LEVICO TERME

Tomorrow, Friday, April 19th, the last stage of the Tour of the Alps will be raced entirely in Trentino, with start and finish in Levico Terme, over just 118.6 km, yet punctuated by several difficulties.

The early part of the course is characterized by a first loop with an undulating profile. After passing through Pergine Valsugana, the route enters a second loop of about 25 km to be covered twice, unfolding in the Bernstol/Valle dei Mocheni.

The long and regular climb of Palù del Fersina will shape the destiny of the 2024 Tour of the Alps: it will have to be climbed twice, with a long descent in between. After the second descent, a few flat kilometers of plains will introduce to the last climb of the #TotA, the Valico di Tenna, followed by a false flat ending with about 5 km from the finish. A short descent precedes a final kilometer uphill in the city center of Levico Terme: the ideal setup for an exciting finale for this 2024 #TotA.

The long and regular climb of Palù del Fersina will shape the destiny of the 2024 Tour of the Alps: it will have to be climbed twice, with a long descent in between. After the second descent, a few flat kilometers of plains will introduce to the last climb of the #TotA, the Valico di Tenna, followed by a false flat ending with about 5 km from the finish. A short descent precedes a final kilometer uphill in the city center of Levico Terme: the ideal setup for an exciting finale for this 2024 #TotA.