Tour of the Alps ready to kick off. Thomas and Tiberi: “It will light up from the start”

Open, spectacular, challenging. The best definition of what the 47th Tour of the Alps, starting tomorrow, Monday, April 15th, with the first stage from Neumarkt/Egna to Kurtinig adW/Cortina sulla Strada del Vino (133.3 km), has been given by two of the most anticipated athletes at the start, Geraint Thomas and Antonio Tiberi, the main characters of the eve’s press conference at the Würth Italia headquarters, which hosted the entire eve day of the #TotA 2024 under a beautiful sun, on Sunday, April 14th.

As characteristic for the Tour of the Alps, there will be no shortage of terrain to attack, to surprise. On the other hand, there is no clear cut favorite, and that’s the best guarantee for a great show in Südtirol/Alto Adige, Tirol and Trentino.

Thomas, like Romain Bardet, has won the Tour of the Alps once already. Others, like Ben O’Connor (stage winner in 2019) and Hugh Carthy (overall second in 2023), have shown they have all it takes to aim high in the Euroregion. And beware of those not yet familiar with the Tour of the Alps, like Filippo Zana and Wout Poels, but have all the credentials to do well.

“The Tour of the Alps will be a tough and beautiful race, as usual – explained Thomas, winner of the 2018 Tour de France and runner-up in the 2023 Giro d'Italia - this year perhaps even more so. The course presents tough, explosive climbs, and the weather could also play its part. I expect things to happen right from the start: last year, stage one proved to be more important than expected in the overall scenario.”

In a finish like Cortina’s, INEOS-Grenadiers could rely be able to rely on significant support by the likes of Italian Filippo Ganna and Norway’s’ Tobias Foss. “I feel good,” said Thomas – better than last year, and our team has both quality and experience in this race: the opponents are there, but we have confidence.”

Antonio Tiberi will be tackling the Tour of the Alps as designated leader for the first time: “The Tour of the Alps was a springboard for many youngsters to break out on the stage races scene, and I hope this can happen to me as well. I won’t be content with being the best Italian: I always take the start to finish ahead of everybody else.”

“We count on a good team, also featuring Wout Poels, who can provide great support in managing the race and its moment with his experience. It will be a tough Tour of the Alps right from the start: we went on recon on stage 1, and the final climb is really hard. A final podium at the #TotA would give me the ideal morale boost ahead of the Giro d'Italia,” concluded Tiberi.