Chris Harper takes important second place at Tour of the Alps: "I was just trying to play it cool and not spend too much energy"

Chris Harper took a perfect first step towards the final classification, gaining important seconds on some of his main competitors with second place in the opening stage with chaotic finish marked by fireworks among the GC favourites.

"The whole final was a bit cat and mouse. A couple of teams had a couple of riders in the front so I was just trying to play it cool and not spend too much energy, and still try to be at the front of the race," Harper analyzed the stage finale in press release.

"I think everyone who was seen as a favourite coming into the week was in the front group. Obviously, there’s still a lot of hard stages to go so there’ll still be a big fight for the GC. We’ll see going into the other stages, but I feel good. We’ve got a strong team here and I’m sure we’ll have plenty more opportunities throughout the week."