Tour of the Alps 2021 cycling - 'Perfect' - Gianni Moscon wins opening stage for Ineos Grenadiers

ByDan Quarrell

Updated 19/04/2021 at 14:24 GMT

The opening day of the 2021 Tour of the Alps ended up being a perfect one for Gianni Moscon and the Ineos Grenadiers. The Italian would not be denied in an exquisite sprint after a perfectly-managed day of racing from Ineos. Watch the 2021 Tour of the Alps live on Eurosport, eurosport.co.uk and the Eurosport app.

Gianni Moscon timed his sprint to perfection to claim victory for Ineos on Stage 1 of the Tour of the Alps in Innsbruck.

Ineos produced a sublime day of racing as a team to deliver Moscon to the finish of the 140.6k stage and enable the Italian to grab the win.

The 22-year-old Norwegian Idar Andersen (Uno-X Pro Cycling Team) sprung a surprise with a quite brilliant performance to come up just short in second.

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Alexandr Riabushenko came in third for UAE Team-Emirates but it was Moscon who delivered in the finish straight to deny Andersen a famous win.

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"Moscon took his chance and he took it well," said Eurosport's Matt Stephens, who praised a "perfect" performance from Moscon and Ineos.

Moscon said after the stage: "There's no better way to get back racing after two months away due to an injury.

I've lived in Innsbruck for three years and so I was really motivated to try to win at 'home'.

"It gave me that bit extra that made the difference. Knowing the roads was an advantage, especially psychologically. I knew what was coming and knew how to judge my effort. Of course, you need the legs too and it worked out perfectly.

"The battle for the GC will be hard because some of the best climbers in the world are here as they get ready for the Giro d'Italia.

"We'll try to defend the lead, but I know I might struggle. I just want to enjoy doing the second stage in the leader's jersey."

The stage from Brixen to Innsbruck is the first of five in the race with the conclusion coming in Riva del Garda on Friday.

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04/10/2021 at 11:15