Cycling: Fausto Masnada (Androni Giocattoli – Sidemec) has won the third stage of the Tour of the Alps. The Italian used the free ticket – issued by Team Sky – to break out of the group of favorites with 1,5 kilometers to go. Pavel Sivakov (Sky) remains the overall leader, also thanks to the strong help from Chris Froome (Sky).
AG2R La Mondiale works for free
On the third section from Salurn to Baselga di Pinè, which is only 106,3 kilometers long, the strong climbers were once again able to put themselves in the limelight at the Tour of the Alps. However, the mountains in Brusago and Lago di Santa Colomba did not result in any gaps among the favourites. Only the final ascent kindled the fire of the top climbers and ended the escape of the escapees. In the person of Elie Gesbert (Arkéa – Samsic) the last fugitive was caught here. The Frenchman attacked several times from the leading group and was clearly the strongest breakaway today. Especially the team AG2R La Mondiale was for captain Alexis Vuillermoz in the peloton always tries to keep the gap to the breakaway within limits. Ultimately, however, the work for the French team did not pay off.
Chris Froome as helper - Fausto Masnada as winner
Herman Pernsteiner (Bahrain – Merida) launched the first attack on the final climb, followed by Other Zeits (Astana). However, it only got really serious after the attacks Rafal Mayka (Bora – hansgrohe) and Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain – Merida) around 5,8 kilometers from the finish. Now Team Sky had to react. No less than Chris Froome (Sky) upped the ante and closed the gap for his teammates Pavel Shivakov (Sky) and Tao Geoghegan Hart (Sky). His high speed ensured that no serious competitor could drive away for overall victory. Instead used Fausto Masnada (Androni Giocattoli – Sidemec) the chance to pull through as a soloist with around 1,5 kilometers to go. Team Sky allowed him to let the Italian dust off the dangerous time bonus. Rafal Majka was third behind Tao Geoghegan Hart.
#TotA 🏆 @FaustoMasnada 🇮🇹 @AndroniGiocatto Ha ganado la 3ª etapa del @Tourof_TheAlps 🇮🇹
🎥 PMG Sports pic.twitter.com/UVakOwLUkr
- Passion Cycling 🚴🏻 (@pasiociclismo) 24 April 2019