Tour of the Alps 2018: The Route

The 2018 Tour of the Alps sets off on Monday 16 April to finish on Friday 20 april. The mountainous race takes in no less than 13,100 metres of climbing in five days of racing. The Queen Stage runs to the steep Alpe di Pampeago, while the last day of action offers a taste of the hilly circuit that will be used for the Worlds in Innsbruck later in 2018.

Stage 1 of the Tour of the Alps runs from Arco to Folgaria. The riders tackle two intermediate climbs. The last one - with KOM sprint in Serrada - is crested with 6.2 kilometres remaining. The descent leaves way to a rolling section before the riders face a 10% stretch in the last 700 metres.

As soon as the second day of action the Queen Stage is served. Following a race on hilly to mountainous terrain the finale is the demanding drag up the Alpe di Pampeago. In the last 4 kilometres it's a double digit climb, while the full climb is 7,9 kilometres at 9.6%. In the 2012 Giro d'Italia Roman Kreuziger took the stage honours ahead of Ryder Hesjedal and Joaquim Rodríguez.

Stage 3 seems to be tailor made for a group of attackers. The route includes intermediate climbs up the Passo della Mendola and the Passo Palade, after which a 20 kilometres drop leads to a flat finale of 6 kilometres.

The Tour of the Alps brings a hilly race to the table in stage 4. With almost 20 kilometres remaining the riders tackle Bannberg, a 7 kilometres climb at 6.5%, before a fast and technical descent plunges back down to the main road. The last 4.2 kilometres run on a downhill false flat to the finish line in Lienz.

In the 5th stage we will get a first taste of the route of the road race at the Worlds in Innsbruck. The last ride in the Tour of the Alps amounts to 164.2 kilometres and in the last 45 kilometres the riders enter on the final circuit of the 2018 World Championships. Three laps so three times up the 6.7 kilometres climb at 6% to Igls. The last time over the top it's 12.3 kilometres left to go - 6 of which on descent. The finish is on the Rennweg in Innsbruck, as it will be during the Worlds.

By the way, the above-mentioned circuit is raced six times next September, while the last lap will take in an extra climb.