2025 Tour of the Alps (April 21-25)

[Samu Cuenca]

Frigo came in from the cold and proved yet again that attacking early from a big breakaway can be a successful strategy, even though it often defies logic.


Stage 4: Sillian - Obertilliach, 163 km

The riders enter Austria for the start of stage 4, but they won't be away from Italian roads for long. There are only 20 km between the start and the finish today, so it could easily have been a time trial, but this is not Tour de Romandie.

The race continues across some of the training roads of Mayomaniac, and returns to finishing at around 15:00 CET.

The first 28.5 km are false flat, before the riders make a left turn in Schluderbach/Carbonin. The next 5 km at 6% avg. lead the riders to the highest point of the whole race, the Col Sant'Angelo (1757m), which is 50m lower than the nearby Passo Tre Croci. It is steeper from the opposite direction.

The route goes downhill for the next 26 km (including 5 km which drop 8.5%) until the riders arrive at the bottom of the Passo di Sant'Antonio, which, in combination with the last 10 km of the
Kreuzbergpass/Passo di Monte Croce di Comelico, will soften the legs ahead of the second half of the stage.

The next 40 km will bring the riders down through the Pustertal/Val Pusteria and back into Austria, where a series of 3 climbs in short succession, including parts of the Pustertaler Höhenstrasse, will decide the outcome.

The first one to Anras was climbed from the opposite direction when Mikel Landa won there in the 2016 Giro del Trentino, and will also be used again on the final stage tomorrow just like it was on the Lienz stage in 2022. The descent includes a stretch of 2 km at close to 10% average

The next climb has a ramp of 2 km at 5.5-6%, then a 600m descent followed by 2 km at 10-11%.
I don't know what the locals call it, but I have named it the Fronstadlerberg because it peaks just outside the tiny village of Fronstadl.

Then it's time for the final challenge, the Kartitscher Sattel. The descent afterwards is 3 km at 3-4%, so even Felix Gall shouldn't be dropped there.

The final km to the line in Obertilliach averages 4-5% (3-4% in the last few hundred metres).


Close to the finish, the riders will pass by the local biathlon and cross country centre which hosts the annual Dolomitenlauf, as well as IBU Cup (the level underneath the World Cup) and IBU Junior/Youth Cup races. The area was also a residence of the GBOAT, Ole Einar Bjørndalen, during his career.

Philipp Lipowitz crossing the line to become Jr. World Champion in the individual at the 2021 IBU Youth & Junior World Championships in Obertilliach

 

[Mayomaniac]

Frigo came in from the cold and proved yet again that attacking early from a big breakaway can be a successful strategy, even though it often defies logic.


Stage 4: Sillian - Obertilliach, 163 km

The riders enter Austria for the start of stage 4, but they won't be away from Italian roads for long. There are only 20 km between the start and the finish today, so it could easily have been a time trial, but this is not Tour de Romandie.

The race continues across some of the training roads of Mayomaniac, and returns to finishing at around 15:00 CET.

The first 28.5 km are false flat, before the riders make a left turn in Schluderbach/Carbonin. The next 5 km at 6% avg. lead the riders to the highest point of the whole race, the Col Sant'Angelo (1757m), which is 50m lower than the nearby Passo Tre Croci. It is steeper from the opposite direction.

The route goes downhill for the next 26 km (including 5 km which drop 8.5%) until the riders arrive at the bottom of the Passo di Sant'Antonio, which, in combination with the last 10 km of the
Kreuzbergpass/Passo di Monte Croce di Comelico, will soften the legs ahead of the second half of the stage.

The next 40 km will bring the riders down through the Pustertal/Val Pusteria and back into Austria, where a series of 3 climbs in short succession, including parts of the Pustertaler Höhenstrasse, will decide the outcome.

The first one to Anras was climbed from the opposite direction when Mikel Landa won there in the 2016 Giro del Trentino, and will also be used again on the final stage tomorrow just like it was on the Lienz stage in 2022. The descent includes a stretch of 2 km at close to 10% average

The next climb has a ramp of 2 km at 5.5-6%, then a 600m descent followed by 2 km at 10-11%.
I don't know what the locals call it, but I have named it the Fronstadlerberg because it peaks just outside the tiny village of Fronstadl.

Then it's time for the final challenge, the Kartitscher Sattel. The descent afterwards is 3 km at 3-4%, so even Felix Gall shouldn't be dropped there.

The final km to the line in Obertilliach averages 4-5% (3-4% in the last few hundred metres).


Close to the finish, the riders will pass by the local biathlon and cross country centre which hosts the annual Dolomitenlauf, as well as IBU Cup (the level underneath the World Cup) and IBU Junior/Youth Cup races. The area was also a residence of the GBOAT, Ole Einar Bjørndalen, during his career.

Philipp Lipowitz crossing the line to become Jr. World Champion in the individual at the 2021 IBU Youth & Junior World Championships in Obertilliach

The penultimate climb is the Tessenberg climb from the Eastern side. It's not part of the Pustertaler Höhenstraße, but one of those typical steep roads on the Northern side of the valley. The first 3 climbs of the day have fast descents, I reach around 70 km/h on open roads without taking any risks. You either blow the race up on the penultimate climb or ride irregular on the final one, hard tempo at the start, save some energy on the false flat and then go all out on the 12% section near the top, so that you have a small gap on the downhill before the final uphill kicker (If you descent further down all the way to Kötschach-Mauthen like they did 3 years ago it's actually a really technical descent with tons of twists and turns and short uphill ramps).

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Break of 6 with 3-4 mins which includes Bouchard from AG2R who is +4:55 behind, so the group will likely keep the peloton honest.

 

[wirral]

Bouchard abandoned so if they wanted they could let the break go. I don't think they will.

Just as I typed that, it looks like the break is capitulating. GC battle?

 

[hayneplane]

Insanity that we have a 7.5km at 7.5% average gradient unclassified here yet in some of the Belgian races in spring we saw them have names and profiles for ‘climbs’ of 0.2km at 2% in at least one race although I can’t recall exactly which race it was.

 

[Red Rick]

Insanity that we have a 7.5km at 7.5% average gradient unclassified here yet in some of the Belgian races in spring we saw them have names and profiles for ‘climbs’ of 0.2km at 2% in at least one race although I can’t recall exactly which race it was.

Mate where I'm from there's a very prestigious Strava KOM that's like 14 meters in altitude gain.

 

[topcat]

Mate where I'm from there's a very prestigious Strava KOM that's like 14 meters in altitude gain.

The lowlands?

 

[Rechtschreibfehler]

Insanity that we have a 7.5km at 7.5% average gradient unclassified here yet in some of the Belgian races in spring we saw them have names and profiles for ‘climbs’ of 0.2km at 2% in at least one race although I can’t recall exactly which race it was.

In the flatlands, everything that's a bumb is basically a mountain. We have many a mountain in Berlin for example, the highest one peaking at a massive 120m above sea level. It's also not entirely natural because it's mostly made up out of rubble from the war, from like 15.000 buildings. The mountain closest to where I grew up is mighty 68 meters high, it does posses so a somewhat steep cobbled climb even.

 

[Tim Cahill]

If Thymen Arensman attacks before the cameras are rolling did it even happen?

 

[wirral]

I want pictures.

 

[SafeBet]

Not more than 15 riders in the peloton.
Arensman with almost 3 minutes and virtual leader in GC!

Edit: 17 riders in peloton.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Safe to say the last 50kms are going to be pretty wild methinks.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Where did Arensmann attack, on Passo di San Antonio?