Bouchard lives his day of glory in Primiero/S. Martino di Castrozza

If the Tour of the Alps has distinguished itself for having launched many young and emerging athletes into the Olympus of grand cyclists, from Egan Bernal to Ben O' Connor to Pavel Sivakov, the first stage of the 2022 edition, number 45, gave us a big surprise on Easter Monday, April 18.

When Geoffrey Bouchard (AG2R-Citroen) came out of the woodwork 40 km after the start in Cles on his way to Primiero/San Martino di Castrozza, it looked like yet another attempt by a rider we've come to know for his breakaways and pursuit of the KOM Classification, like in the last Giro d'Italia, where he won the blue jersey.

This time, however, it was different, because Bouchard raised his arms to the sky for the first time, at age 30, amidst the applause of the cheering crowd that flocked to the finish line in Primiero/S.Martino di Castrozza. Fans took advantage of a splendidly sunny day on the roads of Trentino, which hosted the first effort in this Euroregional event.

Bouchard had to sweat it out until the final metres. Only five seconds separated him from second place, Pello Bilbao (Bahrain-Victorious), who was first in the chasing sprint ahead of Romain Bardet (Team DSM), the Italian, Vincenzo Albanese (Eolo-Kometa), and the Tyrolean, Felix Gall (AG2R-La Mondiale), who will be riding on his local roads in Osttirol in just in a few days.

Sivakov and Porte (Ineos-Grenadiers), Chaves (EF Education-Easypost) and Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana-Qazaqstan) were also in the mix, only four seconds ahead of Landa and Pernsteiner (Bahrain-Victorious), Carthy (EF Education-Easypost), and Pinot (Groupama-FDJ).

THE BROCON TEST

The Brocon Pass was the main climb in this first stage of Tour of the Alps. After 40 km among the Consorzio Melinda apple orchards in Val di Non, the day’s breakaway was formed by Bouchard, Zwiehoff (BORA-hansgrohe), Rangel (Movistar), Mattia Bais (DroneHopper-Androni), Exteberria Zafra (Euskaltel-Euskadi), and Zangerle (Tirol-KTM Cycling Team).

Immediately, the break gained a gap of more than seven minutes, which narrowed to just over six minutes heading into the Brocon Pass. The breakaway group started to splinter on the climb, and only Bouchard and Zwiehoff remained in the lead, while behind them the pace set by Israel and Ineos reeled the group back to 3:37.

Bais and Etxebarria returned only briefly on the Brocon descent, but the leaders broke free again on the slopes of the Passo Gobbera, where Bouchard split from Zwiehoff, who crashed on the descent in an attempt to catch up.

Here’s where the Frenchman began his lone move against the chase group, which crossed the finish line with 1:49 to regain. Bahrain-Victorious tried to close the gap in the final kilometres, which included the punishing Via Molaren climb, in order to give Pello Bilbao a chance at a finish suited to his talents. But today was Bouchard’s day. A domestique of a thousand days, today he scored his first victory as a professional and claimed the green Melinda leader’s jersey leader, as well as the blue Gruppo Cassa Centrale jersey for the best climber.

The white Würth Modyf jersey for the best young rider went to Eritrean racer, Natnael Tesfatsion (DroneHopper-Androni), who was sixth over the line, and the red PMG Sport jersey for intermediate sprints will grace the shoulders of Emanuel Zingerle (Tirol-KTM Cycling Team).

BOUCHARD: "THIS IS MY REVENGE"

"Today our ambition was to put a man in the breakaway," Bouchard recounted after the race. "We have several strong men in this race. I was in front when an attack started, so I went for it. We didn't expect it to turn into an opportunity like this; I pushed hard and tried to believe it until the end."

"In the last metres, I felt the breath of the chasers on my neck and I knew that a comeback by Bilbao could be very dangerous, but I can finally enjoy my first victory, at 30 years old. In cycling it's important to try and believe. In last year’s Giro, I saw a stage win slip away in the very last metres, this is my revenge."

"When I was young, I wasn't the most talented of the guys, I was never chosen for the national teams, and initially, the opportunity to go pro didn't come. I was racing as an amateur, working at Decathlon to support myself, and working hard to cultivate my dream. One day, I asked my parents if I could leave my job to really try, to give everything for my passion. The opportunity came, and I repay it every day by trying to leave everything I have on the pedals."

"I turned pro at 27, I won the best climber jersey at both the Vuelta and the Giro; this year I will have my first opportunity at the Tour. The polka-dot jersey is a dream, but a rider lives to chase victory. Like today's win."

TOMORROW: STAGE 2, PRIMIERO/S. MARTINO DI CASTROZZA-LANA

Bouchard and his AG2R-Citroen team are expected to have a busy day tomorrow, Tuesday, April 19, when they must defend the leader's jersey in the second stage spanning 154.1 km from Primiero/S.Martino di Castrozza to Lana, with no fewer than three passes.

After starting in the shadow of the Pale di San Martino, the racers will immediately face the Passo Rolle, the “roof” of the 2022 Tour of the Alps at 1,984 metres, to descend to the Val di Fiemme and from there enter the Alto Adige and climb the Passo della Mendola. The race will make a short return to Trentino before the third and final pass, the Palade, whose descent will lead to the town of Lana, where the stage will end with a short circuit of 10 km.

Maybe it won't be the stage that will win the Tour of the Alps, but with 3,000 metres of elevation gain, it will certainly make itself felt in the legs of the riders, who already got sorted in today's debut stage. For them, another day of sunshine, climbs and spectacular views in the Tyrol-South Tyrol-Trentino Euroregion is expected.

THE TOUR OF THE ALPS ON TV

Tomorrow, Tuesday, the Tour of the Alps will be live starting at 2:00 p.m. CEST on RaiSport, Eurosport 1, L'Equipe Tv (France), and TV2 (Denmark).