The wait is over for Marco Frigo: in his third season as a professional, the 25-year-old today claimed his first career victory, producing an unforgettable solo performance of over 70 kilometers to win stage 3 of the Tour of the Alps in Innichen.
Frigo attacked from a 21-rider breakaway group on the approach to the category 1 Furkelpass and impressively never looked like being caught by the peloton despite undulating terrain in the second half of the stage.
The Italian had previously finished third (from a three-rider breakaway) on stage 15 of his Giro d’Italia debut in 2023, before being caught inside the final kilometer of Tour de la Provence stage 2 last year. Today, however, he was not going to be denied.
He says: “It has been a great day. We knew it could be a breakaway day today and we paid attention to that. Luckily I entered a big group, but big groups can be chaos. I knew it was probably a good idea to make the selection from distance.
“Actually, the attacks today were me trying to test the legs because I’m here at this race for a bit of preparation. I didn’t believe in the first part [that I could win], but once the gap was increasing I did everything I could.”
In a season of long attacks, it is believed that Frigo’s successful solo effort today is the longest of the lot.
“I remembered what happened at the Vuelta last year [when he was second on stage 6] in the same situation – Ben O’Connor attacked from far and he went to the finish,” he adds.
“I had good legs, of course, and it was good to race at my pace. This is my first professional victory, I did it my way, solo, so I’m super happy.”
A great day for IPT was enhanced when Derek Gee finished third in the reduced bunch sprint 19 seconds behind Frigo, capping his strongest performance of the race so far.
Sports Director Oscar Guerrero says: “It was a very nice day for the team. We knew that a breakaway was an option today, but we also thought that other teams would want to accelerate on the climbs, making it hard for a breakaway.
“Only with the legs that Marco had today was this performance possible. In the end, nobody else from the breakaway could follow him. Marco was amazing – he has tried so many times to win a race like this before, he has been second, third, and even caught on the finish line as he was in Provence last year, but today he was so impressive. A long attack, with big climbs, and he deserves it.
“I think this will be just the start of Marco’s victories. This will give him a lot of motivation and confidence, and he knows how to move in breakaways. He is very smart, and he showed this today with the timing of the attack.
“Of course, it wasn’t just about Marco today. Derek showed that he is getting better each day, and we are all happy to see him finish third. We gave Matthew [Riccitello] a free card on the final climb, and he showed that he is climbing really well, too.”
STAGE 3 (Sterzing-Ratschings/Vipiteno-Racines – Innichen/San Candido, 145,5 Km) – STAGE CLASSIFICATION
- Marco Frigo (Israel – Premier Tech)
- Jai Hindley (RedBull-BORA) +0:19
- Derek Gee (Israel – Premier Tech) +0:19
GENERAL CLASSIFICATION
- Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling)
- Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) +0:41
- Paul Seixas (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) +0:41
