Tour of the Alps 2021 – Simon Yates claims impressive title as Felix Grossschartner wins final stage

Updated 23/04/2021 at 23:31 GMT

Simon Yates has demonstrated that he is in impressive form ahead of the Giro d’Italia, which starts on May 8 and is live and ad-free on the Eurosport App and eurosport.co.uk. Yates is expected to be challenged by Egan Bernal and Remco Evenepoel, two hugely talented riders on the comeback trail from injury.

Grossschartner wins final stage at Tour of the Alps, Yates claims impressive title

Simon Yates (Team BikeExchange) secured the overall Tour of the Alps title as Felix Grossschartner (Bora–Hansgrohe) soloed clear to win Stage 5.

Yates did the damage on the previous two stages, showing his climbing prowess to crack his GC rivals and lay down the gauntlet ahead of the Giro d’Italia. He came into Friday’s stage to Riva del Garda with a 58-second lead.

The 28-year-old is among the favourites for the Giro – a Grand Tour that has spectacularly eluded him twice, most notably in 2018 when he imploded in the final week as Chris Froome soared into the maglia rosa. The race starts in Sicily on May 8.

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Grossschartner broke clear of a small front group with 19 kilometres remaining, opening up a 30-second lead on the final climb.

Yates claims impressive Tour of the Alps title

The Austrian was in the breakaway that was swallowed up on Stage 4, but he never looked like being caught this time as he cruised down the long last descent to triumph.

Nicolas Roche (DSM) and Alessandro De Marchi (Israel Start-Up Nation) came home in second and third.

Yates maintained his GC lead over Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) to take the overall title by 58 seconds.