Luis Leon Sanchez  scores a hat trick at the Tour of the Alps for team Astana

Today, Luis Leon Sanchez brought to Astana Team the third victory at this Tour of the Alps, taking a nice solo win on the streets of Austrian city of Lienz.

It was another warm day at the Tour of the Alps with a fast start in Klausen. For some time nobody could break away, but after the first climb, finally, a group of 9 riders went away

The breakaway managed to stay in front until almost the bottom of the final climb of the day Bannberg. There were several attacks from the group of GC favorites including Chris Froome.

To the top of the last climb all GC favorites came together. A few riders, including Luis Leon Sanchez, tried to escape on the descent, but the winning move came from Sanchez, who attacked with 2 km to go to win this stage.

George Bennett finished second, while the Dutch rider Koen Bouwman did third. Astana’s leader Miguel Angel Lopez finished 7th and Pello Bilbao was 9th.

The French rider Thibaut Pinot still leads the general classification with only one stage to go. Miguel Angel Lopez holds his 3rd place, 15 seconds behind the leader. Luis Leon Sanchez is 6th in the overall (+1.06).

"Today, in the final I knew I have to attack to win the stage. I did it for a few times, on the downhill and later inside the last two kilometers. The second time it worked well, and I could get a small gap, enough to win. I am happy with this victory since it gives me motivation and confirms I am in the right place for the Giro. Also, the whole team is strong and ready for the Giro d’Italia," said a super happy Luis Leon Sanchez.

Stage 5 of the race is 164.2 km from Rattenberg to Innsbruck. A part of the stage will be held on the circuit of the 2018 Road World Championships.

VIDEO: 2018 Tour of the Alps Stage 4  Highlights

2018 Tour of the Alps Stage 4 Top 10

1 Luis León Sánchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team 3:19:59 
2 George Bennett (NZl) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:00:06 
3 Koen Bouwman (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:00:11 
4 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ   
5 Fabio Aru (Ita) UAE Team Emirates   
6 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Bahrain-Merida   
7 Nicola Conci (Ita) Italian National Team   
8 Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana Pro Team   
9 Pello Bilbao (Spa) Astana Pro Team   
10 Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky