Tour of the Alps 2018, Luis Leon Sanchez gets the victory on stage 4

Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana) wins Tour of the Alps 2018 stage 4. The Spaniard attacked with over 2 kilometers remaining and crossed the finish line in Lienz solo. George Bennett (Lotto Nl – Jumbo), who finished in second, tried to jump across the gap but Leon Sanchez’s advantage was hard to be bridged. Another Lotto Nl – Jumbo, Koen Bowman, finished in third by winning the sprint of the GC riders group over Thibaut Pinot (Groupama – FDJ). The Frenchman holds on his shoulders the overall jersey of the Tour of the Alps with only one stage to go.

Today’s breakaway broke out late: Ben Hermans tried several times to go clear and succeeded in opening a gap with over 102 kilometers remaining out of the 134 scheduled. Hubert Dupont, Davide Villella, Mikel Bizkarra, Felix Grossschartner, Louis Meintjes, David De la Cruz, Mark Padun and Kristijan Durasek joined the Belgian jut before the summit of Terento up-hill. The leading group of nine have sat in the front of the race until at first Felbermayr – Simplon (!) and then Team Sky injected in pace on the climb to Anras. Only Villella and Bizkarra resisted in the break but they were chased as soon as the race hit the valley floor.

UAE Team Emirates and Team Sky kept the lead of the peloton until the race hit the bottom of Bannberg up-hill. At this point of racing no team was controlling the race and several riders attacked. Nicola Conci (Italy) and then Koen Bowman moved up to the lead and at the meantime Fabio Aru attacked. Conci dropped Bowman with 13 kilometers to go but the Italian, chased by Aru and Pello Bilbao, joined shortly after the Dutchman. By the way on the summit of Bannberg climb Kenny Ellissonde attacked and the GC guys reeled in the break. The pace at the front slowed down and a group of 10 with the stage winner Leon Sanchez succeeded in chasing the lead with 11 kilometers to go.

Chris Froome attempted to move an attack as soon as he hit the descent to Linz and the same did Miguel Angel Lopez. Both the four times Tour the France winner and the Colombian didn’t achieve an advantage on the group. A group of fifteen was all together when the race hit the flat road to Lienz with over 4 kilometers remaining. The decisive attack was moved with 2 km to go. Luis Leon Sanchez took advantage of a moment of indecision and attacked solo regardless of the group’s reaction. Bennett tried to jump across the gap but didn’t succeed in chasing the Spaniard. Leon Sanchez took in this way the second success in this season.

Tour of the Alps 2018 stage 4 results

1 SANCHEZ Luis Leon Astana Pro Team   3:19:59
2 BENNETT George Team LottoNL-Jumbo   + 0:06
3 BOUWMAN Koen Team LottoNL-Jumbo   + 0:11
4 PINOT Thibaut Groupama – FDJ   ,,
5 ARU Fabio UAE-Team Emirates   ,,
6 POZZOVIVO Domenico Bahrain Merida Pro Cycling Team   ,,
7 LOPEZ Miguel Angel Astana Pro Team   ,,
8 CONCI Nicola Italy   ,,
9 BILBAO Pello Astana Pro Team   ,,
10 FROOME Christopher Team Sky   ,,

Tour of the Alps 2018 General Classification

1 PINOT Thibaut Groupama – FDJ   12:29
2 POZZOVIVO Domenico Bahrain Merida Pro Cycling Team  + 0:15
3 LOPEZ Miguel Angel Astana Pro Team   ,,
4 FROOME Christopher Team Sky  + 0:16
5 ARU Fabio UAE-Team Emirates  + 0:50
6 SANCHEZ Luis Leon Astana Pro Team  + 1:06
7 BENNETT George Team LottoNL-Jumbo  + 1:10
8 O’CONNOR Ben Dimension Data   ,,
9 CICCONE Giulio Bardiani – CSF   + 1:45
10 HIRT Jan Astana Pro Team   + 1:55