Tour of the Alps 2024 - Stage 5: Lopez wins the tour, Paret-Peintre the final sprint

The sun came out again for the finale of the Tour of the Alps, after it had been rather scarce for the riders on the previous days. But on Friday it was able to shine brightly with Juan Pedro Lopez (Lidl-Trek). The little Spaniard could no longer be displaced from the overall leader's green jersey on the fifth day of the tour, which he had earned with his stage win two days earlier in Schwaz, when the Tour of the Alps made a guest appearance in Austria.

Now, in Levico Terme, where the final 119-kilometre stage of the tour started and finished, ninth place in the 16-man lead group was enough for him to take the stage win. Aurelien Paret-Peintre (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) won the final stage ahead of Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain-Victorious) and his brother Valentin (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale).

Tour of the Alps: Lopez only second Spanish winner

In addition to Lopez, Ben O'Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) and Tiberi also defended their second and third places in the overall standings, with Tiberi also taking the white jersey of the best young pro. Tobias Foss (Ineos Grenadiers) took the points classification by winning the day's two intermediate sprints. Simon Carr (EF Education EasyPost) also claimed the mountains jersey.

"My first stage win in my career is a very important step in my life," explained Lopez in the winner's interview, who was only the second Spaniard to win the race after Mikel Landa in 2016. Paret-Peintre, who has not often been recognised as a winner, was also "very happy. It's nice to finish a stage race like this," said the 28-year-old Frenchman after his fourth career victory. "It's nice that Ben also made it onto the podium. The week was a nice preparation for us for the Giro d'Italia."

>> Tour of the Alps 2024: route and TV broadcast

The top 10 of the 5th stage of the Tour of the Alps

1. Aurelien Paret-Peintre (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) 2:50:20
2. Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain-Victorious) +0:00
3. Valentin Paret-Peintre (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) +0:00
4. Romain Bardet (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL) +0:00
5. Wout Poels (Bahrain-Victorious) +0:00
6. Filippo Zana (Team Jayco-AlUla) +0:00
7. Oscar Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers) +0:00
8. Matteo Fabbro (Polti-Kometa) +0:00
9. Juan Pedro Loepz (Lidl-Trek) +0:00
10. Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling) +0:00

The final standings in the overall standings

1. Juan Pedro Loepz (Lidl-Trek) 18:20:43
2. Ben O'Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) +0:38
3. Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain-Victorious) +0:42
4. Valentin Paret-Peintre (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) +0:44
5. Romain Bardet (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL) +0:48
6. Wout Poels (Bahrain-Victorious) +0:48
7. Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling) +1:40
8. Giulio Pellizzari (VF Group - Bardiani CSF - Faizane) +1:54
9. Ivan Ramiro Sosa (Movistar) +2:55
10. Davide Piganzoli (Polti-Kometa) +2:58

>> The race report on stage 1 of the Tour of the Alps

>> The race report on stage 2 of the Tour of the Alps

>> The race report on stage 3 of the Tour of the Alps

>> The race report on stage 4 of the Tour of the Alps

How the 5th stage of the Tour of the Alps 2024 went

The start of the final stage was leisurely. Not even the intermediate sprint after 22 kilometres prompted anyone in the peloton to attack. Only Foss pushed his way to the front of the peloton to collect the points to secure his jersey. It took another ten kilometres before there was a real attack. Foss tried to break away with Lukas Pöstlberger (Austrian national team), Kyrylo Tsarenko (Corratec - Vini Fantini) and Charles Paige (TDT-Unibet), but was quickly caught again. That was the last straw.

As there were no further attacks, Foss was also ahead in the second sprint after 51 kilometres and secured the points. The race then went straight up the Palu del Fersina (1st category) for the first time. The 12.5 kilometre long and on average six per cent steep climb had to be ridden twice.

Team dsm-firmenich PostNL initially took command and quickly ensured that the head group shrank to 30 riders. Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) opened up a gap 6.5 kilometres before the top of the first pass. Giulio Pellizzari (VF Group - Bardiani CSF - Faizane) caught his rear wheel and went with him. A little later, Hugh Carthy (EF Education EasyPost) was also able to catch up. With 50 kilometres to go, the summit was reached for the first time and Carthy won the mountain classification. With a 30-second lead over the main group, the riders set off on the descent.

Bahrain-Victorious active, but without success

At the end of the descent, which went straight back up, the trio was placed. Luis Angel Mate (Euskaltel-Euskadi) took their place in the breakaway. The 40-year-old didn't get far, however, and Lidl-Trek took control again. It then remained quiet for a long time. Until Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain-Victorious) launched an attack seven kilometres later. The 22-year-old was caught 3000 metres later. Then his team-mate Wout Poels went.

Lopez's helpers were exhausted, but Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale jumped into the breach. Nevertheless, Poels defended a 25-second lead up to the summit, which he used for the final 25 kilometres of the tour. But shortly before the end of the descent, the chasers had caught him. But there was still one last climb. Romain Bardet (dsm-firmenich PostNL) used the 1700 metre Valico di Tenna ramp for a final attack. O'Connor immediately went with him, Lopez and Tiberi also quickly closed the gap.

At the top, however, everything came together again. There were still five kilometres to the finish. Further attempts to create time gaps up to the finish were in vain. And so a sprint out of the large group had to decide the winner. Aurelien Paret-Peintre then solved the matter with the best legs from the front.