Tour of the Alps - "Awesome day": Cross-country cyclist Jasch wins the queen stage

Former speed skater Lennart Jasch has surprisingly won the queen stage of the Tour of the Alps, celebrating the biggest victory of his young cycling career. The 25-year-old took the victory single-handedly on the fourth stage of the highly competitive tour after 167.8 kilometres from Arco to Trento.

"I'm a bit overwhelmed. I would never have expected it. It was a really tough day. The longer it went on, the more I realised that I was the best of the group. At some point I took heart and set off. Then it was just incredibly hard," said Jasch, who had broken away from a breakaway group 25 kilometres before the finish.

At the Tour of the Alps, he will face former Tour champion Egan Bernal (Colombia), Olympic mountain bike champion Tom Pidcock (Great Britain) and Giro sixth-placed Giulio Pellizzari (Italy), who also leads the overall standings, among others.

Jasch comes from a speed skating family

Jasch was still speed skating until the beginning of 2024 and was even a member of the national team. Just like his sister Maira, who took part in the Winter Olympics in Milan this year. His father Helge is employed as a team leader at the German Speed Skating Association.

After suffering an imbalance, Jasch discovered his love of cycling in rehab in 2023. He eventually joined the German team Red-Bull-Bora-hansgrohe via sports expert Dan Lorang, but it wasn't enough for the professional team. Since this season, he has been employed by the Swiss Tudor team.

Career changers are not uncommon in cycling. German hopeful Florian Lipowitz was active in the biathlon for a long time, while four-time Vuelta champion Primoz Roglic started his career in ski jumping.

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