Tour of the Alps: Thibaut Pinot rides to stage 5 win from two-man break, Romain Bardet takes overall
Romain Bardet earned the win for the top place in the general classification on final day of racing.
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Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) rode onto the top step of the podium on stage 5 of the 2022 Tour of the Alps.
Pinot ended a nearly 1,000-day drought, a day after finishing second on stage 4.
His previous win was on stage 14 of the 2019 Tour de France, the ascent of the Col du Tourmalet.
“Even if it was raining, I wanted this one, and I knew that I had great legs,” said Pinot. “It’s a big relief for me to win. To come back here is something very
strong for me.”
David de la Cruz (Astana-Qazaqstan), who had escaped with Pinot earlier in the stage, trailed the French rider across the line after the two held the chasing bunch over five climbs — and descents — on wet roads.
From the chasing group, Lennard Kämna (Bora-Hansgrohe) who won stage 3, was the best and took the final podium position.
Romain Bardet (Team DSM) distanced rival Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) on the climb to Stronach and rode into the overall win.
“I am really very happy with this victory, especially in the way. I am proud of our team. It’s been two years of development and everyone who joined the project,” Bardet commented.
The stormy final stage, 114.5km, which started and ended in Lienz, saw Pinot and de la Cruz ride off the front of a small break on an uncategorized climb.
Over the undulating course, it appeared that de la Cruz was handling the wet roads better and looked to have an advantage over Pinot.
However, Pinot was able to get back on the Astana rider’s wheels following the descent of the Bannberg climb, before the assault on Stronach.
The two had built a maximum margin of more than 12:30 over the peloton, with Bardet’s and Bilbao’s group between.
On the climb of Stronach, it looked as though Pinot was having mechanical issues, but assistance from the team car set him right, again.
The Groupama-FDJ star launched several attacks on de la Cruz, but was not able to shake him, and the two would have to settle for a mano-a-mano sprint for the stage win.
The Stronach proved decisive for the GC battle, and midway through the ascent, Bilbao came unhitched when Bardey and teammate Thymen Arensman applied pressure.
The Team DSM riders summited together, along with Pinot’s teammate Michael Storer, and had only 11km of a mostly flat run-in to the finish.
Bilbao was unable to make up the gap in the final kilometers and was ridden off the overall podium, while Storer climbed into second, and Arensman into third after the final day of racing.
2022 Tour of the Alps Stage 5 Results
- Thibaut Pinot Sprint (Groupama-FDJ) 03:09:24
- David De La Cruz (Astana-Qazaqstan), at :07
- Lennard Kämna (Bora-Hansgrohe), at 1:46
- Igor Arrieta (Equipo Kern Pharma), at 2:43
- Torstein Træen (Uno-X Pro Cycling), at 3:26
- Andrey Amador (Ineos Grenadiers), at 08:09
- Michael Storer (Groupama-FDJ), at 8:36
- Romain Bardet (Team DSM), at 8:36
- Thymen Arensman (Team DSM), at 8:38
- Attila Valter (Groupama-FDJ), at 9:15
2022 Tour of the Alps Final General Classification
- Romain Bardet (Team DSM), at :18:59:29
- Michael Storer (Groupama-FDJ), at :14
- Thymen Arensman (Team DSM), at :16
- Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious), at :37
- Attila Valter (Groupama-FDJ), at :49
- Felix Gall (AG2R Citroën), at :53
- Richie Porte (Ineos Grenadiers), at 1:00
- Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious), at 1:57
- Hugh Carthy (EF Education-EasyPost), at 2:08
- Pavel Sivakov (Ineos Grenadiers), at 02:13