Tour of the Alps: Rohan Dennis wins snow-shortened stage 2

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Rohan Dennis (BMC) claimed victory on the snow-shortened second stage of the Tour of the Alps in Innervillgraten, while Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) divested Michele Scarponi (Astana) of the race leader’s fuchsia jersey.

Dennis showed impressive strength to rip clear of a sizeable leading group on the uphill finish to take the stage honours. Pinot was unable to get back on terms, but the six-second time bonus he picked up for second place was enough to bring him level on time with Scarponi and move into the overall lead on points.

Davide Ballerini (Androni Giocattoli) claimed third on the stage, while Geraint Thomas (Sky) continued his Giro d’Italia preparations with fourth ahead of Eduard Prades (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA).

After losing 21 seconds in the finale of Monday’s opening stage, Dennis was pleased to make amends with his smart finish here. The Australian is set to make his Giro d’Italia debut next month, where he will line up alongside Tejay van Garderen.

“Yesterday was a confidence hit so to be able to get the win today gives me a bit of confidence for May,” Dennis, who moves up to 7th overall in the Tour of the Alps, 11 seconds behind Pinot. “The rest of this week, with the bigger climbs, might suit me a bit better.”

Heavy snow meant that the mighty Brenner Pass was removed from the day’s stage, which was shortened by 40 kilometres with the start moved from Innsbruck to Vipiteno. The amendment to the stage left just two climbs on the day’s agenda, the category 2 St. Julia, and the uncategorised haul to the finish.

Buffeted by a chilly tailwind, there was a brisk start to proceedings, and the early escapees Pascal Ackermann (Bora - Hansgrohe), Patrick Gamper (Tirol Cycling Team), Niccolò Salvietti (Sangemini - MG.Kvis) and Simone Velasco (Bardiani - CSF) would cover some 50.2 kilometres in the stiff first hour of racing.

With the bunch puffed along by the tailwind, establishing a winning advantage was always going to be a difficult task for the leading quartet. Their maximum buffer was 2:10, and they were duly brought to heel at the base of St. Julia, with a shade under 30 kilometres remaining.

On the climb, Alexander Foliforov (Gazprom Rusvelo), winner of the mountain time trial to Alpe di Siusi at last year’s Giro, was prominent. The Russian went clear in the company of Michele Gazzara (Sangemini - Mg. K Vis) and Nicholas Schultz (Caja Rural), but quickly shed himself of company and proceeded towards the summit alone.

Foliforov’s advantage was a mere 10 seconds by the top, however, as he was stalked by a strong chase group composed of last year’s winner Mikel Landa (Sky), Ilia Koshevoy (Wilier Triestina) and Stefano Pirazzi (Bardiani). They caught Foliforov on the long descent, and were later joined by Damiano Caruso (BMC), opening a lead of 30 seconds over the peloton.

Pirazzi, as is his wont, was the principal aggressor in the leading group. The Italian attacked alone on the shallow descent off the St. Julia, but was caught by Landa and Caruso with 7 kilometres remaining as the road climbed towards the finish.

As Cannondale-Drapac led the chase, Landa, Caruso and Pirazzi carried a gap of 20 seconds into the final three kilometres. Pirazzi was particularly generous in his efforts, but there was little he could do to prevent their eventual recapture.

With the margin still hovering around ten seconds with a kilometre to go, Pirazzi attacked a lone, but it was a forlorn effort as the sizeable chasing group, which contained all of the overall favourites, closed in on the final approach to the finish.

After Pirazzi was engulfed by the chasers, Eduard Prades (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) led out the uphill sprint, but he was soon passed by Dennis’ powerful effort. Pinot did his best to respond, but had to settle for second behind the Australian.

Overnight leader Scarponi finished safely inside the front group, but was not in contention for a high placing and lost his jersey to Pinot. Scarponi lies second overall, in the same time as Pinot, while Thomas sits in third, three seconds back, with Davide Formolo (Cannondale-Drapac) a further six seconds down in fourth.

The day belonged to Dennis, however, who praised the organisers for removing the snowbound Brenner Pass. “It wasn’t a super, super hard climb but with the length and with the snow on top of the climb it would have changed the race a lot,” Dennis said. “I’m glad the organisers were smart and did the right thing and took it out.”

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