photo credits @ TotA
Michael Storer (Tudor) came from behind to claim the overall victory in the Tour of the Alps today, after the Australian rider attack from out of the GC group with 34km remaining, clawing back valuable time after dropping overnight leader Thymen Arensman(Ineos Grenadiers) to wrest back the green jersey back after relinquishing on the previous day.
Arensman, who started the day with an 11-second lead on Storer, tried to follow the Tudor rider on the penultimate climb, but a massive effort by Storer’s teammate Florian Stork, left the Dutch rider struggling to stay on terms.
Meanwhile, Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale’s Paul Seixas and Nicolas Prodhomme led the race home, with the latter crossing the line to seize the final stage victory. The duo had been part of a larger 15-rider breakaway, before jettisoning group on the final ascent to Stronach.
From there, the pair rode in unison until the finish, with Seixas allowing the loyal domestique Prodhomme to take the win.
Earlier, Lennard Kämna (Lidl-Trek), Fran Miholjević, Finlay Pickering (Bahrain – Victorious), Matteo Vanhuffel (Development Team Picnic PostNL), Ben Zwiehoff, Emil Herzog (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Koen Bouwman (Jayco AlUla), Seixas, Prodhomme, Jakob Fuglsang (Israel-Premier Tech), Lucas Eriksson (Tudor), Vicente Rojas, Manuele Tarozzi (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè), Mattia Bais (Polti VisitMalta) and Daniel Geismayr (Vorarlberg), rode clear of the peloton ahead of the first categorized climb of the Bannberg.
With just under 12km to go, Seixas made a bold attack out of the breakaway, with only his teammate Prodhomme able to follow, with Seixas later tipping his hat to his fellow Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale rider.
