Italian solos to glory at the Tour of the Alps
Italian Alessandro De Marchi soloed to a memorable and stunning victory on stage two of the Tour of the Alps.
The veteran used all of his experience to outfox his breakaway rivals on the longest stage of this year’s race to take a special first win in Team Jayco AlUla colours for the 37-year-old.
De Marchi initially made up part of a six-man breakaway that opened up a sizeable advantage over the peloton ahead of the first climb of the stage. As the road continued to rise, the numbers in the breakaway started to fall, with just three riders, including De Marchi, remaining ahead of the final obstacle of the day, the category two Gnadenwald ascent.
Patrick Gamper was the first rider to make a bid for glory, but De Marchi refused to panic as he slowly clawed his way back to the head of the race before launching an attack of his own. Simon Pellaud was able to follow the Italian at first, before the three-time Vuelta a España stage winner made his race wining move with 17km to go.
There was no looking back for De Marchi as he raced away over the top of the climb, putting over one minute into his rivals. As the line approached the Team Jayco AlUla man had time to savour the moment and his first victory since 2021.
The stage win sees De Marchi move into the lead of points jersey classification, while teammate Chris Harper maintains his second place overall.
Alessandro De Marchi:
“It took a lot [of courage], but I was confident. Two years ago I found a new, nice, super environment here at Team Jayco AlUla and in the end I knew it was just about the right moment, the right time.
Already last year in the Giro we were there to play, and this year again, we are there, and with a bit of luck and a bit of courage, sometimes it happens.
When you are almost 38, in this era of cycling a win like this is one of the most important after so many years, and I repeat, at this age, in this cycling, it means a lot.”
David McPartland (Sport Director):
“Alessandro had the opportunity today to go in the break and he certainly took it with open arms, that’s for sure! He’s one of the best in the business at making it to the finish in breakaways and today he was a crucial part of that strong group.
When it came down to the business end of the stage in the final, basically he was the strongest on that final climb, without doubt. He really deserved the win, he had the legs to make it happen today and to represent Team Jayco AlUla up there on the podium with a stage win, it’s a fantastic day for all involved.”
2024 Tour of the Alps – Stage 2:
- Alessandro De Marchi (Team Jayco AlUla) 4:47:37
- Patrick Gamper +1’20”
- Simon Pellaud +1’24”
2024 Tour of the Alps – GC:
- Tobias Foss 8:06:20
- Chris Harper (Team Jayco AlUla) +0:04
- Esteban Chaves +0:06
