Tour of the Alps: Lennard Kämna attacks breakaway in final kilometer to win stage 3
Pello Bilbao retains overall race lead ahead of the race taking on Swiss peaks.
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Lennard Kämna (Bora-Hansgrohe) won the third stage of the 2022 Tour of the Alps ahead of Andrey Amador (Ineos Grenadiers) and Jonathan Lastra (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA).
The German Kämna took the win from what was left of all-day break, when he attacked in the final kilometer.
“I saw everybody was on the limit, therefore I tried it a third time. I am really happy that it worked out in the end and this win also means a lot to me ahead of the Giro,” Kämna said. “To me it was also clear that the last climb won’t be decisive, therefore I was happy in the chasing group because the gap was not too big. We came back after the downhill and at that point I knew that I did everything perfect so far.”
The 154.6 km stage finished in Villabassa, Italy, after taking on three categorized climbs, including the Cat. 1 Passo Furcia, at 6km averaging at 9 percent.
It took a hard hour of racing for the break to form, averaging in excess of 47kph, and included Natnael Tesfatsion (Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli), James Piccoli (Israel-Premier Tech), Vadim Pronskiy (Astana-Qazaqstan), Merhawi Kudus (EF Education-EasyPost), William Barta and José Joaquín Rojas (both Movistar Team), Chris Hamilton (Team DSM), Torstein Træen (Uno-X), Reuben Thompson (Groupama-FDJ), Amador, Kämna, and Lastra.
This bunch was allowed as much as four minutes’ gap by the leader’s jersey group. Ineos also aided Bahrain-Victorious in keeping control of the escapees.
Pavel Sivakov and Richie Porte (both Ineos Grenadiers) in the main bunch were marked by race leader Pello Bilbao (Bahrain-Victorious), while Miguel Ángel López (Astana-Qazaqstan) tried to animate the race, but was also brought to heel.
By the midway point of the race, just half of this group remained after an accelerations by Pronskiy and Træen. Bad luck struck Træen when he crashed while descending the Passo Furcia.
The margin between the big group and the few remaining escapees had been steadily reduced, while mechanicals and fatigue further thinned the front of the race.
At the head of the race, Piccoli attacked with Amador following inside of 5km to go, but it was Kämna who has the best legs after the red kite.
Bilbao still nurses a slim, six-second lead over Romain Bardet (Team DSM) in the general classification as the race heads to the Swiss Alps for Thursday’s stage 4.
2022 Tour of the Alps Stage 3 Results
- Lennard Kämna (Bora-hansgrohe, 4:02:56
- Andrey Amador (Ineos Grenadiers), at :03
- Jonathan Lastra (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), at :04
- Natnael Tesfazion (Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli), at :04
- William Barta (Movistar Team), at :04
- James Piccoli (Israel-Premier Tech), at :04
- Vadim Pronskiy (Astana Qazaqstan Team), at :04
- Sean Quinn (EF Education-EasyPost), at :57
- Felix Gall (AG2R Citroën Team), at :57
- Pavel Sivakov (Ineos Grenadiers), at :57
2022 Tour of the Alps General Classification
- Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious 12:12:08
- Romain Bardet (Team DSM), at :06
- Attila Valter (Groupama-FDJ), at :12
- Felix Gall (AG2R Citroën), at :16
- Pavel Sivakov (Ineos Grenadiers), at .s.t
- Einer Rubio (Movistar Team), at .s.t
- Edward Dunbar (Ineos Grenadiers), at .s.t
- Thymen Arensman (Team DSM), at .s.t
- Esteban Chaves (EF Education-EasyPost), at .s.t
- Richie Porte (Ineos Grenadiers), at .s.t