Tour of the Alps: Pello Bilbao wins stage 4

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Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) outsprinted Aleksandr Vlasov (Astana-Premier Tech) and race leader Simon Yates (Team BikeExchange) to take a thrilling stage 4 victory in Pieve di Bono at the Tour of the Alps.

The Basque rider finished off a virtuoso display of descending with an unbeatable sprint on the penultimate stage of the race, flying down the side of the Castel Condino climb in pursuit of Vlasov and Yates before hitting the front and leading the way into the final kilometre.

Neither Yates nor the Russian, who struggled to keep up at the end of the downhill, could match Bilbao's burst to the line, and so the 31-year-old took his first win of the season, and first road race victory since his double at the 2019 Giro d'Italia.

58 seconds after the leaders had finished, Nairo Quintana (Arkéa-Samsic) rolled over the line in fourth, while the impressive 22-year-old Jefferson Cepeda (Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec) and Hugh Carthy (EF Education-Nippo) were fifth and sixth, 1:06 down. 

Sivakov, who struggled on the climb and was dropped 11 kilometres from the finish, finished in 14th at 1:48, dropping off the podium.

With just Friday's hilly stage to Riva del Garda left to run, Bilbao moved up to second overall, 58 seconds down on Yates. Vlasov is up to third overall, 1:06 down.

Yates and Vlasov had earlier emerged as the strongest two men on the tough final Boniprati climb, detaching themselves from an elite group with a pair of attacks in the final three kilometres of the mountain. 

It looked as though they would contest the finish alone before Bilbao appeared just behind them on the highly technical descent just under two kilometres from the line.

It was all still to play for in terms of the stage win but Bilbao was a man on a mission.

"Today was a special day. I want to have this victory – I knew it was a perfect finish for me," Bilbao said after the finish. "Also, losing some seconds in the top, I was convinced that I could go back in the front group."

Bilbao dedicated his victory to Michele Scarponi, his former teammate at Astana who died four years ago today.

"These descents are not ones to do every day. It's not possible to take these risks every day, but today was a special day – I want to dedicate this victory to Scarpa, to Michele, so I gave it everything,” he said.

"Before coming to this race, I was already thinking that it's a perfect race for the spectators – also for me. I love these kinds of stages where it's not just about legs – you can play cards in a different way like yesterday. It's a race I really enjoy. I like to play in these kinds of races."

How it unfolded

The penultimate stage of the Tour of the Alps saw the peloton race 168.6 kilometres from Naturns to Pieve di Bono east of the tip of Lake Garda, serving up several major climbs along the way. 

The first major obstacle was the Passo Castrin, which peaked after 50 kilometres – an unclassified climb despite being 24.5 kilometres long and its final nine kilometres averaging 8.5 per cent.

The first-category climb of the Passo Campo Carlo Magno – the other side of the famous Madonna di Campiglio – peaked after 102 kilometres of racing, with 15 kilometres of climbing at six per cent on the menu. 

A long descent would follow, with the smaller Sella Giudicarie coming after 139 kilometres. The day's final difficulty would be the second-category Castel Condino climb to Boniprati (10 kilometres at 6.8 percent), which peaked just 7.5 kilometres from the finish line.

Almost immediately, a small group of riders jumped away on the short climb from the start. Larry Warbasse (AG2R Citroën) got out front with Márlon Dina (Eolo-Kometa), Lukas Pöstlberger (Bora-Hansgrohe), and five others, though the move didn't last very long.

The attack was brought back on the Castrin, though several of the riders tried once again shortly after, to no avail. Warbasse went once again on a steep section, bringing Chris Froome (Israel Start-Up Nation) with him and kicking off what would be the day's main break.

Soon after, yet more riders made it across on the upper slopes of the climb. Dina, Hermann Pernsteiner (Bahrain Victorious), Nicolas Roche (Team DSM), Luis León Sánchez (Astana Premier Tech), Attila Valter (Groupama-FDJ), Felix Großschartner (Bora-Hansgrohe), Nicolas Prodhomme (AG2R Citroën), and Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Trek-Segafredo) made it 11 out front.

The break crossed the top of the Castrin two minutes up on the peloton, which was now led by Team BikeExchange on behalf of their man, race leader Simon Yates. The Australian squad kept the break on a similarly tight leash as the riders dropped down into the Val di Sole.

There wasn't much change in the situation on the Campo Carlo Magno, with the advantage fluctuating between the 1:40 and two-minute mark. Dina was first over the top, taking the virtual lead of the mountain classification. On the descent to Pinzolo, the break lay just a minute up on the peloton, still led by BikeExchange.

With little action coming on the valley road, the break took a 1:05 lead into the final 35 kilometres and the Sella Giudicarie climb, then 50 seconds over the top, and just 30 at the 25-kilometre mark. By the first pass through the finish line before Castel Condino, the gap was down to just 20 seconds.

The break's adventure came to an end at 18 kilometres to go, with BikeExchange continuing to push on to the bottom of the climb a kilometre later. Bahrain Victorious, Astana-Premier Tech, Bora-Hansgrohe, and Ineos Grenadiers all joined them up front to start the day's final test.

Arkéa-Samsic's Winner Anacona joined the fray on the lower slopes as the peloton quickly splintered under the high pace. Ineos took over eight kilometres from the top, with four men working on behalf of Pavel Sivakov as Yates and Nairo Quintana lay just behind. With five kilometres left of the climb, only Dani Martínez was left for Sivakov among a group of 16 men at the head of the race. 

Hugh Carthy (EF Education-Nippo) was first to attack 500 metres later, at 11.5 kilometres from the finish. Sivakov was surprisingly dropped soon after, leaving no Ineos riders up front as Yates led the chase behind Carthy. 

The race leader got across with Quintana, Dan Martin (Israel Start-Up Nation), Aleksandr Vlasov (Astana-Premier Tech), Jai Hindley (Team DSM), Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious), and best young rider Jefferson Cepeda (Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec).

Yates put on the pressure in the final three kilometres of the climb, pushing on after a brief move from Vlasov. Only the Russian and Martin could go with him as Quintana and Carthy gave chase. Further back, Sivakov was in real trouble, waving on Martínez, who looked far stronger.

Martin was detached at the front 2.5 kilometres from the top, leaving Vlasov and Yates out front. The pair crested the summit – Vlasov first, vitally for Dina's KOM bid – eight seconds up on Martin, with Quintana and Bilbao further back and a three-man group of Hindley, Cepeda and Carthy the next group on the road.

A narrow and twisting descent through the forest followed, with Martin coming a cropper early on as he was unable to slow down enough for a tight bend. Hindley also fell as riders took risks to limit their losses. 

Bilbao, meanwhile, flew down the descent and threw caution to the wind, making contact with the two leaders – a new virtual podium for the race – 1.8 kilometres from the line.

The Basque rider hit the front straight away on the final fast curves of the descent, piling on the pressure and putting Vlasov in trouble heading into the final kilometre. He led the way into the final 500 metres and was the man to open the sprint with 250 metres to go, just as Vlasov got back on.

The finish angled uphill once again, but despite his efforts on the descent and the short section of flat road into Pieve di Bono, Bilbao's burst to victory never looked in doubt. Yates backed off after a near touch of wheels and so Bilbao won by more than a bike length.