The last day of racing at Alpes Isère Tour saw the Development program and the rest of the peloton faced with the toughest stage of the week: with over 4000 metres of climbing throughout the 150 kilometre route. It was a fast start to the stage before things settled into a more contained rhythm with the breakaway up the road.
On the climb at around 50 kilometres to go the team came to the fore and took over the pace making, setting an incredibly strong tempo and splitting the peloton. Over the top it was just Finn O’Brien, Jurgen Zomermaand and Matteo Vanhuffel in a front group of around ten riders. From there, O’Brien helped to keep the pace high and further distance those who were dropped, before Zomermaand launched a counter attack when the original break was caught. Zomermaand’s move was reeled back in and things slowed a little with O’Brien returning to do one last pull, before both Zomermaand and Vanhuffel tried to get clear; but they were both quickly marked and shut down.
Coming into the last 20 kilometres, a counter move went from one rider so the impetus switched to the race leader’s team to then close things down, with the team’s duo sitting in the wheels. Onto the last climb to the line the front group slowly reduced in size, with Vanhuffel climbing with the very best, ultimately finishing the day in third place. It would be a result that would see him end the race third on GC, while sixth on the day moved Zomermaand up to seventh overall; and a good teammate’s ride saw rewarded for O’Brien who held on for tenth on the stage.
Vanhuffel said: “We set out today with a plan and we wanted to make it tough and do our best to see if we could move up on GC and go for the stage win. The guys did a really good job. We ticked every box of the plan and in the end I gave my all to finish off a perfect day of teamwork with the third place.”