Cycling: Simon Carr won the fourth stage of the Tour of the Alps. The Briton was part of a large breakaway group and was the only one able to escape to the finish ahead of the favorite group. He also benefited from a serious crash by his pursuer Chris Harper. Overall leader remains Juan Pedro Lopez, who had to fend off numerous attacks today.
Carr also wins because Harper falls
The series of serious falls in professional cycling just won't stop. After the accidents on the Tour of the Basque Country, a rider has now also suffered serious injuries on the Tour of the Alps. --Chris Harper (Jayco AlUla) was on the verge of catching up with the solo leader on the penultimate descent, but then fell in a long left-hand bend because of a manhole cover. The chasing group then almost completely stopped tracking work, so that there were runaways Simon Carr (EF – EasyPost) was able to win the stage safely. There is currently no update on Chris Harper's health. After the accident, the Australian was able to sit up independently and appeared to be responsive.
Mühlberger in the breakaway group
Eleven dangerous breakaways formed the escape group on today's 141,3 kilometer long stage from Leifers/Laives to Borgo Valsugana. The Austrians were also there Gregor Muehlberger (Movistar) and the Italian Mattia Bais (Polti – Kometa), the leader in the mountain classification. But it was his teammate who posed a particular threat to the overall standings Davide Piganzoli (Polti – Kometa). At the start of the stage, the Italian was only 2:01 minutes behind the current leader. Than up the Passo del Compet Sergio Higuita (Bora – hansgrohe) and Simon Carr (EF – EasyPost) attacked and broke away, Bais fell back into the peloton. This meant that he would lose the mountain jersey today to Carr, who, together with Higuita, set off as an extremely strong duo. At the Passo del Vetriolo, Higuita could no longer keep up with Carr's pace.
Harper & O'Connor fall on the descent
The peloton also had a good time up the Passo del Vetriolo. Through attacks from --Chris Harper (Jayco AlUla) and Ben O'Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), the favorite group was thinned out and the overall leader was isolated. But Juan Pedro Lopez placeholder image (Lidl – Trek) couldn’t be left behind. On the descent, Harper and O'Connor attacked again. Harper in particular was able to make up a lot of time on the descent and came within 15 seconds of the solo leader Simon Carr (EF – EasyPost). But then the mishap: Harper's rear wheel was levered out by a manhole cover. He then hits his head against a lamppost. The following O'Connor also fell. But while he was able to continue driving, Harper had to give up the race. This meant that the winner was clear: Simon Carr could no longer be caught because the pace in the chasing group was completely reduced for a short time after the fall.
All against Lopez
On the last climb the chasing group found its way back to an appropriate pace. Valentin Paret Peintre (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) opened the final with his attack for second place in this stage and for the overall ranking. The Frenchman was able to break away immediately and quickly gained a lead of over 40 seconds. With that he solved Juan Pedro Lopez placeholder image (Lidl – Trek) as virtual leader. The Spaniard himself had to follow up, but at the same time he was repeatedly hit Romain Bardet (dsm-company PostNL), Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain – Victorious) and Wout poels (Bahrain – Victorious) attacked. The four of them were finally able to catch up with Paret-Peintre. Lopez, who was almost beaten, fought his way back again and again and was able to successfully defend his green jersey. Second place on today's stage is ultimately secured Michael Storer (Tudor), who was able to drive back into the chasing group – and pass – on the descent.
The casco le acaba de salvar de una buena avería a Chris Harper… Casco siempre!!! #TotA pic.twitter.com/tmPv4pzv2F
— Zero (@Errigx) April 18, 2024
Stage 3 next year? Simon Carr takes the stage win!
Tour of the Alps 2023 Stage 5
Tour of the Alps 2023 Stage 4 #TotA pic.twitter.com/DqknGPnYjX— Eemeli (@LosBrolin) April 18, 2024