Tour of the Alps gears up: Tomorrow in Neumarkt/Egna teams presentation and fun for all
Tomorrow, Sunday, will see a rich eve for the 2024 Tour of the Alps (April 15-19), starting at 11:00 AM at the Würth Italy headquarters with music, entertainment, street food, and children’s activities. At 5:00 PM, the highly anticipated teams presentation will be preceded by a press conference with Thomas and Tiberi. Monday, April 15, the race gets off with stage 1, Neumarkt/Egna – Kurtining adW/Cortina sSdV, which will also mark the debut of the VAR at the Tour of the Alps
Preparations are in full swing at the Würth Italy headquarters in Neumarkt/Egna for the rich day of eve events that will officially start the program of the 47th edition of this Euro-regional stage race across Südtirol/Alto Adige, Tirol, and Trentino (April 15-19, 2024).
Tomorrow, Sunday April 14th, Egna will open its doors to the entire Tour of the Alps caravan and more. From 11:00 AM, Würth's headquarters will come alive with a day packed with activities for everyone, from entertainment and music to street food and children's cycling routes—a rich preview of what cycling enthusiasts will encounter across all venues of the 2024 Tour of the Alps thanks to an extensive program of side events.
At 4:15 PM, the traditional eve press conference will feature Geraint Thomas (INEOS Grenadiers) and Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious). Thomas, the 2017 Tour of the Alps and 2018 Tour de France winner, is approaching another attempt at the Giro d’Italia pink jersey, while Tiberi is among the emerging figures aiming to fill the void left by Nibali in the Italian stage-racing scene.
After the press conference, at 5:00 PM, the day will reach its peak with the public presentation of all 18 starting teams, and of course all the most anticipated favorites: besides Thomas and Tiberi, riders like Filippo Ganna, Ben O'Connor, Romain Bardet, Wout Poels, Filippo Zana, and Hugh Carthy, among others, will take the stage.
This will be the final act before things get serious: on Monday, April 15, Neumarkt/Egna, a charming town nestled on the Südtirol/Alto Adige’s Wine Road and one of Italy’s Most Beautiful Villages, will host the start of the Tour of the Alps for a challenging 133,3 km stage ending in Kurtinig adW/Cortina sSdV.
With a significant presence of international media, and over 100 Countries watching the racing show on TV, plenty of eyes will be on Südtirol/Alto Adige, Tirol, and Trentino for five days of high-intensity competition.
Nevertheless, some ‘special observes’ are joining the field from this year. For the first time in 2024, the Tour of the Alps has been designated by the International Cycling Union as one of the events equipped with VAR (Video Assistant Referee). Introduced a few seasons ago in the World Tour, VAR will support the Jury Commissioners in assessing controversial incidents or those that escape the judges' eyes.
Equipped with a special control room positioned in a dedicated truck in the finish area, the VAR official will be in constant contact with the Jury via radio and a channel reserved for commissioners, able to make immediate decisions in agreement with the Jury, if significant irregularities and rule violations are detected.
From the VAR truck, it will be possible to simultaneously check all images shot by various operators (helicopter, motorcycle, fixed cameras), provided by the production coordinated by Infront Sports & Media. This is certainly a unique and special way to observe a race full of insights and themes, from every perspective.
And that is the beauty of the Tour of the Alps: with a lively race dynamic, short and intense courses and classy protagonists looking to shine, surrounded by the great beauty of the three territories that host it, not a moment can be lost.
