Development Jarno Widar wins Alpes Isère Tour

The Alpes Isère concluded its final stage in the shadow of Alpe D'Huez, with a challenging 170-kilometer route from Saint-Pierre d’Entremont to Le Bourg d’Oisans. Along the way, the riders faced challenges such as the Col d'Ornon and the Pas de la Confession. Jarno Widar (18) finished second today and thus secured the overall victory in the five-day tour. "I had a good feeling right from the start," Widar said. "I predicted beforehand that it would happen on the final climb, and so it did."

Widar managed to escape from an initial breakaway group of eight riders around 25 kilometers from the finish. Initially, he was accompanied by Tom Donnerwirth (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale DT) and José Félix Parra Cuerda (Equipo Kern Pharma), but when the former had to let go, the two were left to rely on each other. "If I wanted to win, I needed to leave leader Killian Verschuren (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale DT) behind. I only needed to gain one second on him, and I succeeded."

Around 15 kilometers from the end, Widar was already virtually in the yellow jersey. The stage victory went to the Spaniard, but the overall victory of the Alpes Isère went to the Lotto Dstny Development rider. "After the Classiques des Alpes last year, I can now add this tour to my achievements. This feels very special and gives confidence for the Giro Next Gen. Last Thursday, I was disappointed when I missed out on victory despite feeling the strongest. Being able to secure the yellow jersey now makes up for everything. The team has done a fantastic job all week. During the sprint stages, they did everything to keep me safe and not lose any time. They completely sacrificed themselves for me."