Lopez claims gold in the Silberregion: the Spaniard is the new #TotA leader

When he looked up to the leaden sky in the morning of Wednesday April 17th in Schwaz, Juan Pedro Lopez (Lidl-Trek) hardly thought such day would become one to remember. But that’s the beauty of sports: the Tour of the Alps stage 3, 124.8 km with start and finish in Schwaz, in the Silberregion Karwendel (Tirol), ended up being one to cherish for the 26-year-old Spaniard.

On a day characterized by rain and cold from the morning, the road rewarded the courage of the Andalusian, who claimed his first professional win after attacking in the wake of Giulio Pellizzari (VF Group-Bardiani) on the first time up the Pillberg, and then left him behind on the second time, soaring to a solo victory.

Lopez, who wore the Giro d’Italia’s Maglia Rosa for ten days in 2022, added the Melinda Green jersey to his collection, snatching it from Tobias Foss (INEOS Grenadiers), who finished third by leading the sprint of the GC men’s group after a long and strenuous solitary defense. Behind them was 20-year-old Italian Giulio Pellizzari, who lived up to the promise surrounding him, and improved his third place from last #TotA’s stage 4 in Predazzo.

Before the race lit up in the finale, it was Filippo Ganna (INEOS Grenadiers) who stole the show with a long solitary action, ended on the first time up the Pillberg. Nearly 100 km of breakaway for him, exactly one hundred days before the start of the Paris Olympic Games: Top Ganna has his route already charted.

LOPEZ: "ONE OF THE TOUGHEST DAYS OF MY LIFE"

The Spaniard winner looked tired but beaming with his first professional win at the post-race press conference. “It was one of the toughest days of my life as a cyclist – he began. – At the beginning, I felt my hands and legs were blocked, then on the final climbs, I had good sensations and I tried to go. It doesn’t rain very often where I live, and when it happens I usually don’t go out training: I tried not to think about it, and focus on my position on the climbs and descents.”

"At the first pass over Pillberg, I saw Bardet attack, but he wasn't gaining ground. Instead, Pellizzari’s moved seemed more effective, and I tried to follow him. We worked well together, and I congratulate him: he was very good."

"Once I crossed the finish line, the emotions overwhelmed me. I thought about the work and the effort made to achieve a result like this. Also, I come from a difficult season, where I was not able to reward my team’s trust due to physical problems. Thanks to the team’s help and a psychologist, I got out of it: today I am happy again."

HOW IT UNFOLDED

Right after the start in Schwaz, Ganna was the first to make a move: his powerful action was followed by Tronchon (Decathlon-Ag2r), and then the Italian moved on alone. The hour-record holder opened a gap of about 4 minutes through the Inn valley, and had a couple of minutes to defend before the race tackled the challenging combo of the Weerberg and Pillberg climbs, to be faced twice.

Ganna was caught by the peloton with 27km to go, during the first ascent to the Pillberg. After an attempt by Bardet, it was another Italian who went on the attack: Giulio Pellizzari tried an acceleration, and it was Juanpe Lopez to follow him. The Spaniard set a high pace into the final lap on the Weerberg, and then got clear in the last time up the Pillberg. Behind the leading duo, Foss had no teammates to help him in the chase, and limited the damage, while having to surrender the Green Jersey to Lopez by 31 seconds.

The Norwegian beat the other GC men at the finish line in Schwaz, at 38 seconds from the winner. Bardet (DSM) was fourth, followed by Aurélien Paret-Peintre (Decathlon-Ag2r), Tiberi and Poels (Bahrain), O’Connor and Valentin Paret-Peintre (Decathlon-Ag2r), and Sosa (Movistar).

It wasn’t a good day for Jayco-AlUla, with Harper (1’59”) and Zana (2’11”) surrendering big gaps. Geraint Thomas gave up 3’01” after working for teammate Foss.

In the standings, Lopez now leads Foss by 31”, O’Connor by 45”, Tiberi, Bardet, Poels by 48”. Pellizzari also moved up the standings, and is now eighth at 57”.

TOMORROW THE QUEEN STAGE, FROM LEIFERS/LAIVES TO BORGO VALSUGANA

The Tour of the Alps returns to Südtirol/Alto Adige for the depart of Thursday, April 18th’s stage 4, from Leifers/Laives to Borgo Valsugana, in Trentino, boasting 141.3 Km and just under 4000 meters of elevation gain. On paper, it is the most challenging stage of #TotA 2024.

The San Lugano and Redebus passes will characterize the first part of the race, before a long and smooth descent to Pergine Valsugana. From there, it will be time for the Compet pass: 845 meters of elevation gain in just over 10 km, with gradients exceeding 10%. The subsequent fast descent towards Levico leads to another significant climb, a challenging and unprecedented side of Passo del Vetriolo, known as "Strada dei Baiti". Another long descent will introduce to the race finale through a last difficulty, the Colle San Marco, before the arrival in Borgo Valsugana.

THE TOUR OF THE ALPS ON TV

Tomorrow, Thursday, the Tour of the Alps will be live on TV from 1:30 PM (CET).

TV: Eurosport (Europe, Pacific Asia, Central America, South America), RaiSport (Italy, San Marino, Vatican State), ORF (Austria), Equipe TV (France, Monaco, Andorra), EITB (Spain), FloSports (United State, Canada, Australia), DirecTV (Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Perù, Uruguay and Venezuela) and RTVC (Colombia).