Tour of the Alps: Thomas wins stage 3 to move into overall lead

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Geraint Thomas took control of the Tour of the Alps on Wednesday, claiming victory at the summit finish on stage 3 to take the race leader’s jersey from the shoulders of Thibaut Pinot (FDJ).

Team Sky bossed the 135.6km stage from Niederdoorf to Villnöß, which had been modified due to snow, and ended up with a one-two on the line as Mikel Landa, Thomas’ co-leader for next month’s Giro d’Italia, put in an impressive performance on the eight-kilometre final climb.

It was Landa who forged clear with Domenico Pozzovivo as the attacks started in the final five kilometres, and Thomas sprang from the 13-rider chasing group with just over a kilometre to go. As soon as he had cancelled out the 20-second gap and joined the two leaders he kicked again and, with Pozzovivo unable to follow, the Sky duo crossed the line together to celebrate a fine day’s work.

“I just went full gas – I didn’t expect to get across,” said Thomas. “But I managed to get across, took a couple of deep breaths and went again. Luckily I had the legs.”

The Welshman, who started the day in third place at four seconds, now leads the race from Pozzovivo by 16 seconds, with former race leader Thibaut Pinot (FDJ), slipping down to third at 19 seconds after finishing in the fragmented chasing group, 13 seconds down on Thomas and Landa.

Michele Scarponi also finished in that group and slipped to fourth overall, though it had looked for a moment like Dario Cataldo would take over Astana leadership as he followed the Landa-Pozzovivo move. He lost contact but was fresh enough to lead the chase for Scarponi before Thomas made his move.

It was a decent day for the Cannondale-Drapac team, who now have three riders in the top 10, including young rider classification leader Hugh Carthy, who was the one to break Sky’s grip on the final climb and kick off hostilities with five kilometres to go.

He was tracked by Landa but couldn’t respond when the Spaniard put in his own acceleration, though he, Pierre Rolland, and Davide Formolo all finished within 14 seconds of Thomas. Formolo, who tried to attack just before Thomas freed himself from the chasing group, is the American team’s best placed rider in fifth at 31 seconds.

For a second successive day snowfall caused a big mountain pass to be swerved, and the organisers introduced the Terneto climb in place of the high-altitude Erbe. The total distance was cut by seven kilometres but the second half of the route remained intact, throwing up the Alpe Rodengo – 12km in length with a brutal opening 8km section – some 30km before the final ascent.

And Sky’s one-two and leader’s jersey were a fair reflection of the way they imposed themselves throughout the day. Ian Boswell led from the bottom of the Rodengo to the top, cutting an assured figure as he made his way through the pine trees and round the hair-pins, Thomas, Landa, Kenny Elissonde, and Philip Deignan all tucked safely in his wake.

The pace wasn’t ridiculous but the bunch did thin out, and it didn’t seem like any of the overall favourites even considered going on the attack. In any case, it spelled trouble for the day’s breakaway, which only consisted of three riders: Davide Orrico (Sangemini), Leigh Howard (Aqua Blue Sport), and Filippo Fortin (Tirol Cycling).

Having built a lead of over six minutes, Orrico went solo on the climb and was the only one to survive over the top, with Fortin caught early on and Howard near the top. Orrico maintained an advantage on the descent but was soon caught on the final climb, 8.7km long at 6.5 per cent, whereupon Boswell reappeared at the head of affairs. It was soon over to Deignan to set the tempo, and the attacks began once the Sky leaders had just Elissonde for company.

Carthy lit it up with a strong acceleration from quite far back, Landa tracking it and a selection of around 10 almost immediately forming. Landa soon made his own move, with Pozzovivo and Cataldo the only riders able to follow, while Pinot led the chase. Cataldo was dropped as the leading duo stretched their lead to over 10 seconds, and then doubled it by the 3km to go banner.

13 riders were left in the chase, including Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Damiano Caruso (BMC) and, with the gap not closing, it was left until around 1.5km to go for a move to be made, with Formolo trying an acceleration.

Thomas was swiftly onto it and was soon away on his own, surging through the flamme rouge on his way to taking a strong grip on the race, further boosting his credentials ahead of the Giro.

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