Aleksandr Vlasov has withdrawn from the Tour of the Alps ahead of the final stage in order to travel to Belgium to take part in Liège-Bastogne-Liège on Sunday.
The Russian had been lying 7th overall at the Tour of the Alps, 49 seconds down on race leader Tao Geoghegan Hart (Ineos). Vlasov placed 14th in his lone previous Liège-Bastogne-Liège appearance a year ago.
Bora-Hansgrohe announced Vlasov’s abandon on Friday morning, indicating that he had been drafted into the Liège-Bastogne-Liège due to the unavailability of riders who had been earmarked for the race.
“Due to illness and a lack of riders in Belgium, @ale_vlasov won’t be lining up for today’s final stage @Tourof_TheAlps and will instead travel to Belgium for @LiegeBastogneL,” read a statement from Bora-Hansgrohe on Friday morning.
The 26-year-old will now join Jai Hindley in Bora-Hansgrohe’s line-up at Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Max Schachmann was expected to ride La Doyenne, but the German abandoned the Tour of the Alps after Wednesday’s stage due to a virus.
After placing 5th overall at last year’s Tour de France, Vlasov will lead Bora-Hansgrohe at the forthcoming Giro d’Italia on a route that looks well suited to his abilities.
Vlasov has already placed 5th overall at the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana and 9th at Tirreno-Adriatico this season, and he took second behind teammate Lennard Kämna on stage 3 of the Tour of the Alps.
Despite heavy rain overnight, the Tour of the Alps organisation confirmed that Friday’s final stage would follow the planned route in full.
“In full agreement with the CPA and the teams' representatives, the race will roll out as initially planned, including the Lavazé climb,” read the statement.
