The 2025 Tour of the Alps came to a conclusion on Friday, with a 112km loop around Lienz. Bahrain Victorious left Austria with a 6th place finish on GC and one of the four major jerseys. And all that despite losing leader Antonio Tiberi to illness on day two.
It was another overall top ten for Damiano Caruso – a 36th of his career. The Italian was keen to praise the performance of the team as a whole, especially with the first ‘Grand Tour’ of the year just a fortnight away.
“We have to be satisfied with the week. We lost our leader to sickness, but the reaction of the team was more than positive. We’ve managed to bring home the KoM jersey and also I managed to show good form, which confirms that we’re doing the right things in the build up to the Giro. I’m confident that personally I’ll be in top condition for the Giro, ready to perform my main role, which will be to look after Antonio. And if the occasion presents itself, it was be good to go for a stage too – that would be a perfect May from my point of view.”
Lead Sports Director Gorazd Štangelj was also impressed by what the group have achieved: “Generally we did the absolute maximum that we could have, certainly more than we expected after Antonio unfortunately had to leave the race. Damiano took over the situation very well, even on the final day he was up there with the best guys.”
As well as Caruso’s good result on GC, British rider Finlay Pickering came away with an unexpected prize: The ‘King of the Mountains’ blue jersey. Pickering spent 310km in breakaways, more than any other rider. The 22 year old made the front group on stages 1, 3 & 5, and picked up mountains points every day bar one. Pickering was understandably delighted with what is arguably the biggest achievement of his career so far: “First up, it’s nice to come back and finish the race, because last year I only managed part of the first stage, so I’ve put a few demons to bed! And to get the jersey as well, it’s just super – at least now I have something to show for being a pro bike rider, so I’m happy! It’s always hard going in the breakaway, but each day is another day on the bike, and I enjoy riding my bike!”
To be crowned the best climber in what many believe to be the toughest week’s racing on
the calendar is no small accomplishment. It is even more admirable considering his
horrific crash here last year, and another heavy fall on stage 3. Štangelj again:
“A big ‘chapeau’ also to Finlay. Today again he showed character, and how strong he is
mentally to be able to defend this jersey, which was very complicated with Koen
Bouwman (JAY) in the break as well. Fran [Miholjević] also did a great job. They joined the
breakaway and handled the situation. We know how hard Finn crashed last year – to
survive that and to come back to win this jersey is quite something. We wish him a good
recovery now and all the best for Romandie.”
Caruso was similarly full of praise for the manner of his teammate’s win:
“Finlay has ridden a great race. He’s shown what a strong climber he is, as well as
demonstrating character and courage. The fall he has last year was such a big one, and
then he had another big one this week. But the following day he was back fighting, and
again today. This says a lot about his character. He is young, so there will always be areas
to improve, but he can become a really important part of this team”
If it is Caruso and Pickering who will take the plaudits, this was a valiant ‘whole team’
performance. Youngsters Afonso Eulálio and Kasper Borremans played important roles in
the Bahrain racing strategy, and Fran Miholjević was also singled out for particular praise
by Štangelj:
“We should also mention Kasper Borremans, the development team rider who was with us
here. We were all impressed with him, and as Damiano just told him in the post-race
debrief, he really has talent and should keep on fighting. We have a good rider for the
future there.
I really admire Fran too; he showed again that he can be everywhere. He needs to
understand that he can’t do absolutely everything himself, and to share the work with his teammates, but as you’ve seen here, he can be such a big support, and do anything.
Looking forward, with the core of this line-up also going to the Giro, it’s clear from this
week that we are so strong in those areas of the team.”
Pickering was also unequivocal in his admiration for the incredible contribution the
Croatian made to a successful week for Bahrain Victorious:
“Fran is just a bit of a legend; he’s super strong, was climbing better than me today and
really put me on the limit. And then he goes and puts Damiano in position for the final
climb too, I mean hats off to him. MVP, what a guy!”
Congratulations to Finlay, Damiano, and all the team at TOTA 2025. TBV are represented
at Le Tour de Bretagne Cycliste this week, before the Spring Classics conclude on
Sunday with ‘La Doyenne’ (The Old Lady), as Liège-Bastogne-Liège takes place for the
111th time.
