Christian Scaroni barely had time to enjoy yesterday's success at the Classic Var before leaving his mark again in French territory, demonstrating excellent form. The 27-year-old from Brescia of XDS Astana Team hadn't won since 2022, but at the start of this season he has already achieved a total (for now) of two victories and two second places.

"Yesterday was beautiful, an incredible emotion, it was like breaking the ice, but today was even more difficult, all the teams were waiting for our move," said an emotional Scaroni right after the finish line. In the first stage of the Tour des Alpes Maritimes with a summit finish in Gourdon, he beat a rampant Santiago Buitrago in a sprint, who could also count on the support of his teammate Lenny Martinez.

The entire day was heavily influenced by the work of Ef Education Easy Post, which took control from the initial kilometers, first controlling the six-rider breakaway and then accelerating uphill to put opponents in difficulty. "I believe Samuele Battistella had a hand in the Ef Education action" - Scaroni joked after the finish - "last year we were teammates and he knows me very well, maybe he was the one who said that I struggle a bit with long climbs and high rhythms. I felt good throughout the stage and when the Bahrain Victorious Team then gave the decisive acceleration, I climbed at my own pace and rejoined the head of the race. Despite the very high pace, I tried to hold on and then play everything in the sprint with Buitrago. I'm really happy with how it went and especially with finally reaching an excellent state of form."

Tomorrow the Tour des Alpes Maritimes will conclude with the second stage of only 132 kilometers from Villefranche Sur Mer to Vence, an eventful day where Scaroni will try to defend his overall lead, which is now just 4" ahead of Buitrago. "Tomorrow will certainly be a very tough day, but with the entire team we will try to give our maximum to bring home this precious lead."