Back-to-back victories at Alpes Isère Tour as Moritz Kretschy wins stage 2
The perfect start for the IPT Academy at the Alpes Isère Tour continued on Thursday, as Moritz Kretschy took his first victory for the team following a surprise late attack on stage 2, and Rotem Tene won the bunch sprint for third place seconds later.
Since joining the IPT Academy for 2024, Kretschy has been a key part of multiple victories, but today is finally his chance to take the spotlight. The German rider attacked following the day’s final intermediate sprint, located just 5.6 kilometers out from the finish in Satolas-et-Bonce, and only home rider Maxime Decomble (CGF) was alert to the danger.
Despite never holding a significant gap over the peloton, the pair were able to contest for the victory, where Kretschy’s sprint a little over 100 meters from the line proved too much for Decomble. The 23-year-old’s win was as impressive as Viggo Moore’s in Wednesday’s opening stage.
“Today I was probably not the strongest, but I was the smartest,” says Kretschy. “The whole day I made sure not to waste any energy, and it paid off, so I’m happy!
“It was the plan to try something today in the final – I was sure that after the bonus sprint, there would be a good chance. I thought there would be a lot of chaos, so I took my chance.
“Decomble caught me with 3km to go, and after that I did maybe two more pulls with him. In the last kilometer I was sitting on his wheel as I was f****d from my effort, but it meant I could win the sprint.”
Kretschy is now the team’s best-placed rider on GC, sitting seventh, 28 seconds behind new leader Valentin Darbellay. Tene is 10th overall, a further 11 seconds off the yellow jersey.
Tene adds: “The boys did great today. Patrick [Casey] took us to the first key point really well, and we were really well synchronized. We tried to keep Viggo in the leader’s jersey, but that didn’t work out. Instead, Moritz, Luke, and I were in the front group over the climbs, which meant we could play in the end.
“Moritz caught a really good moment to go and he made a really smart move, and the peloton played around a bit, so they stayed away. I cleaned up the bunch sprint behind – I wouldn’t say easily, but there was a good gap.
“Morale is really high, we’re really well synchronized, so it’s great fun right now.”
Photos: Philip Melchior/Alpes Isère Tour
