photo credits @ TotA
Marco Frigo (Israel-Premier Tech) claimed stage 3 of the Tour of the Alps, after attacking from the breakaway group on the approach to the Furkelpass, holding off the chase for some 70km to seize a solo victory.
Meanwhile, Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) won the sprint for second place, finishing 19 seconds down on Frigo, with Derek Gee (Israel-Premier Tech) rounding out the podium.
However, Michael Storer (Tudor) kept the race leader’s green jersey, holding a 41-second lead over Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek), while Paul Seixas (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) remains in third at 41 seconds back.
Frigo was previously part of a 21-rider breakaway group that contained the likes of Lennard Kämna (Lidl-Trek), Alessandro De Marchi (Jaco AlUla) and Hugh Carthy (EF Education-EasyPost), who were clinging to a three gap along the Antermoia climb.
Unhappy with the pace, Frigo made his winning move on the Furkelpass, while most of his former breakaway companions were caught on the long ascent.
With 21km to go, the Italian rider continued to maintain a comfortable advantage on the final Vierschachberg climb, while his teammate Matthew Riccitello attacked the field to try and shake up the overall classification.
However, in the course of doing so, the American rider also dragged some GC riders closer to Frigo, as they chased him down over the summit and down the descent.
Riccitello was eventually caught, but Frigo was still 40 seconds clear after the descent and so had time to ease up, celebrate his victory and savor his first professional victory.
