Bouchard, first leader of the Tour of the Alps with Pello Bilbao second

The French Geoffrey Bouchard (Ag2r Citroen) is the first leader of the Tour of the Alpsby winning alone in the first stage contested by Cles and San Martino di Castrozza, which is 160.9 km, where Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) qualified for second place.

Bouchard (Dijon, 30 years old) was the strongest in a quintet of running runners and knew how to see the right opportunity to launch an attack at 25 km to go which made the pursuit of the peloton useless, which did not come in time to prevent the victory of France.

Winning the mountain of Giro y Vuelta, Bouchard He scored a time of 4h.12m22s at the finish line. After 5 seconds, a large first group entered with the Spaniards Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious), ahead of another French rider, Romain Bardet (DSM). In 9 seconds another group arrived where he was Mikel Landa |.

The first tour of the Alps was conducted by 7 men, including Bouchard, the Brazilian from Movistar Vinicius Rangel at Asier Etxeberria (Euskaltel Euskadi), who had the advantage of almost 8 minutes, when Bahrain began to react to the pursuit.

At Brocon Pass Geoffrey Bouchard climb faster than his fellow escaped and only Ben Zwehoff he was able to follow Gaul. Ineos also took matters into their own hands and reduced the difference to the second ascent of the day, the Passo Gobbera (4.2 km to 5.6%).

Bouchard crowned in the lead and launched to the finish line. This is not easy at all, because the work of Ineos, in particular of Richie Porter It put the Dijon rider in a tight spot, with just 15 seconds left with 2km left, enough of the lead to get his first professional victory.

all in all Bouchard He led Pello Bilbao by 9 seconds and Romain Bardet by 11, two of the overall favorites.

This Tuesday the second stage between San Martino di Castrozza and Lana, which is 154.1 km, is disputed.