Pavel Sivakov continued Team Sky’s perfect start to the 2019 Tour of the Alps after claiming victory on stage two – his first success as a professional.
Sivakov authoritatively edged the duel with Czech Jan Hirt (Astana) on the dreadful gradients of Scena/ Schenna’s Schlossweg – though the race had lit up long before. The morning breakaway – Acosta Ospina (Nippo-Vini Fantini), Amador Castano (Manzana Postobon), Samitier (Euskadi-Murias), Visconti (Neri Sottoli-Selle Italia), Zardini (Neri Sottoli-Selle Italia) and Rocchetti (Team Colpack) – took the front in the early race, but both the group and the gap went splintering on the tough Passo Giovo/Jaufenpass ramps, whose clean roads were framed by snow in the final kilometers.
First on the top of the highest climb of the Tour of the Alps was Spaniard Sergio Samitier, the new KOM leader, followed by Zardini a few seconds behind, whilst the peloton led by Bahrain-Merida had erased the gap to the leader on the final kilometers uphill, and passed on the top with less than a minute to close, and still about 20 riders.
As advertised, the demanding and technical descent made more selections: Samitier remained clear with a minimal margin, and behind him Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) tried to break away twice, finding the timely reply by Bora and Team Sky. The decisive move came with 10 km to go, when Sivakov, Pernsteiner (Bahrain-Merida), Stalnov and Hirt (Astana), Poljanski (Bora-Hansgrohe), Cattaneo and Masnada (Androni-Sidermec) broke away and joined Samitier, relaunching the action and opening a 20-second gap on the Nibali’s and Froome’s group.
Entering in Scena/Schenna, the Team Sky Russian forced the pace, followed by Hirt, and then distanced the Czech on the tough final ramp. His well deserved joy for the first career pro win was shared in a hug with Tao Geoghegan Hart, 8th on the day. Mattia Cattaneo came in third, Majka and Nibali were 6th and 7th at 34 seconds, whilst Froome gave up 1.34: the two youngsters are due to share the Team Sky leader’s grades.
Pavel Sivakov: “We couldn’t wish for a better start to the race, with two stages and two stage wins. It’s unbelievable. Yesterday Tao had his first pro win and today I had my first pro win. It’s amazing!
“We’ve got a really really good young group. We work together really well, with another example of that today. The big favourites looked at Tao and I had the opportunity to go in the break. Big thanks to him and all the team for the job today.”
Stage 2 Brief Results:
- Pavel Sivakov (Team Sky) 4:58:17
- Jan Hirt (Astana) +4″
- Mattia Cattaneo (Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec) +17″
- Fausto Masnada (Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec) +22″
- Hermann Pernsteiner (Bahrain Merida) +29″
General Classification After Stage 2:
- Pavel Sivakov (Team Sky) 8:28:55
- Jan Hirt (Astana) +8″
- Mattia Cattaneo (Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec) +33″
- Rafal Majka (Bora-Hansgrohe) +39″
- Hermann Pernsteiner (Bahrain Merida) s.t.
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