Tour of the Alps 2022: GC Favourites

[Underneath article was written before the start of the Tour of the Alps and has not been updated]

The GC action is likely to begin on the second day of action. The riders tackle the Passo Mendola – 15.3 kilometres at 6.5% – and Passo Palade – 12.9 kilometres at 4.1% – in quick succession before a long descent leads onto a flat finale of 10 kilometres.

Stage 3 is similar, altough the last climb is much more trying. The Passo Furcia is 7.9 kilometres long and averages 7.6%, but the second climbs at almost 10%. The riders reach the summit with 24 kilometres remaining before they fly down to a false flat finale.

Stage 4 serves the only ‘uphill finish’ on the Tour of the Alps. The ascent to the finish line in Kals am Groβglockner commences with 3 kilometres at 9% before tranforming into a more rolling climb. Attacking on the steeper sections and staying ahead in the last 9 kilometres could be a winning strategy.

The last stage is more hill oriented. The finale is a 2.5 kilometres climb at 14% before the riders descend onto a flat run-in to the line.

Still active former winners of the Tour of the Alps – and its antecedent the Giro del Trentino – are Vincenzo Nibali (2008, 2013), Domenico Pozzovivo (2012), Richie Porte (2015), Mikel Landa (2016), Geraint Thomas (2017), Thibaut Pinot (2018), Pavel Sivakov (2019), and Simon Yates (2021).

None of the participants in 2022 did win a stage race this season.

Favourites 2022 Tour of the Alps

*** Pello Bilbao, Romain Bardet, Mikel Landa
** Thymen Arensman, Thibaut Pinot, Miguel Ángel López
* Richie Porte, Esteban Chaves, Hugh Carthy, Pavel Sivakov