Tour of the Alps: Tao Geoghegan Hart claims first victory with Chris Froome sixth
- Published
Tao Geoghegan Hart joined Team Sky in 2017
Britain's Tao Geoghegan Hart claimed the first senior win of his career at the opening stage of the Tour of the Alps, while his Team Sky team-mate Chris Froome came sixth.
Geoghegan Hart, 24, edged out Alexander Aranburu of Spain and Switzerland's Roland Thalmann at the end of the 144km ride around Kufstein in Austria.
"I'm really happy to take my first professional win," he said.
This was the first of five stages in the event, which finishes on 26 April.
Froome, who finished fourth in this race last year, is trying to hit top form in time for the start of his bid for a fifth Tour de France title on July 6 in Brussels.
The 33-year-old had raced only twice previously this season, finishing 91st and 94th at the Tour of Colombia and Tour of Catalonia respectively and withdrew from February's UAE Tour.
This will be the final stage race for Team Sky with their current sponsor. Ineos, a chemicals firm owned by Britain's richest man Sir Jim Ratcliffe, takes over on 1 May.
Tour of the Alps - stage one result
1. Tao Geoghegan Hart (GB/Team Sky) 3hrs 30mins 48secs
2. Alexander Aranburu (Spa/Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) same time
3. Roland Thalmann (Swi/Team Vorarlberg Santic)
4. Pello Bilbao (Spa/Astana)
5. Nikita Stalnov (Kaz/Astana)
6. Chris Froome (GB/Team Sky)
7. Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus/Gazprom-Rusvelo)
8. Rafal Majka (Pol/Bora-Hansgrohe)
9. Giovanni Carboni (Ita/Bardiani CSF)
10. Dayer Quintana (Col/Neri Sottoli-Selle Italia-KTM)