It has been almost three years since he claimed victory. On Friday April 25, Frenchman Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) won the fifth and final cycling stage of the Tour of the Alps, a 114.5 km loop around Lienz in Austria, ahead of Spaniard David de la Cruz (Astana) .
It’s even a double French success since Romain Bardet (DSM) won the event, his second success in a cycling stage race, the last dating back to August 2013 in the Tour de l’Ain, and his tenth in everything about the WorldTour circuit. The leader of the DSM team distanced in the last ascent of the day the leader of the classification, the Spaniard Pello Bilbao (Bahrain-Victorious), who arrived forty seconds after the Auvergne rider.
??? Magnificent Thibaut Pinot!!! The Frenchman wins the last stage of the Tour des Alpes and returns to victory… https://t.co/6m5w0eq0Ed
Two weeks before the start of the Tour of Italy, Bardet, 31, becomes the third Frenchman to win this stage race between Italy and Austria, after Luc Leblanc in 1997 and Thibaut Pinot in 2018. “I am really very happy with this victory, especially in the way. I am proud of our team”said Bardet on arrival.
“Today I was mad”
For Thibaut Pinot, this victory has a taste of revenge, he who had failed in second place the day before, during the fourth stage, at the top of the Grossglockner, taken over on the wire by Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana Qazaqstan). “It’s a big relief for me to win, in addition to the Tour des Alpes which is my favorite event. To come back here is something very strong,” savored Pinot, also 31, on Eurosport.
“Today I was mad. Even though it was raining, I wanted this one, and I knew I had great legs. »
Above all, the rider from Franche-Comté puts an end to three long years of scarcity on the professional World Tour circuit since his success at the Tourmalet during the Tour de France 2019. Above all, Thibaut Pinot seems to ward off the negative spiral that tormented him since its retirement during this same edition of the Grande Boucle who nevertheless stretched out her arms.