The results of the second stage of the Tour of the Alps did not highlight Pavel Sivakov's strong ride, but his smile as he warmed down in Ineos Grenadier's team bus said more.

"It's a good sign after all the problems I had. I'm really happy to be back at my level," said Pavel Sivakov, showing his suffering and true talent in so few words.

Sivakov won the 2019 Tour de Alps and Tour de Pollogne and finished ninth overall in the 2019 Giro d'Italia, confirming the talent he showed as an under-23 athlete. However, he crashed on the rain-soaked opening stage of the 2020 Tour de France around Nice, and his Grand Boucle debut was a survival battle to Paris.

He also crashed in just five stages of the 2021 Giro d'Italia, and spent the rest of the season working for his Ineos Grenadiers teammates and chasing fitness; he was forced to retire from the Volta a Catalunya in March due to illness and the Russian invasion of Ukraine The UCI reacted by forcing him to change his nationality from Russia to France.

However, his new focus on securing a position on the Ineos Grenadiers team for the Giro d'Italia, rather than the Tour de France, seems to have given him renewed focus and good fortune.

Sivakov will be riding the second stage of the Tour of the Alps, directly up the Passo Rore at the foot of the Dolomites, with Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana Kazakstan), young Belgian talent Sian Uitdebroeks (Bora-Hansgrohe), Jonathan Caicedo (EF Education Easy Post), and Timen Arensmann (Team DSM) were dropped, putting their breakaway companions at their mercy.

Only Michael Stohler (Groupama-FDJ) continued to steer Sivakov, but he was caught up by Bahrain Victorious, the team of final stage winner Pero Bilbao. Sivakov also fought in the sprint, finishing in fifth place.

"I don't know if I'm the rider of the day. It was a good day. It was good to check my form and I really enjoyed it.

"There was a good group in front of me, so I tried to use that for the first half of the stage. Then on the Mendola Pass I decided to go harder and break away with a smaller group. I went clear on my own, but they came back. But Lopez and the other guys dropped me, so that was good.

"I felt really good on the climbs, but I wished it was a little harder. Especially if the last climb had been harder, I could have dropped Storer.

Sivakov was surprised that he was so quickly caught by the chase group of Bahrain Victorious on the descent to the finish in Lana, but he focused on his performance rather than the result. He hopes to secure a spot on the Ineos Grenadiers team for the Giro d'Italia and get his career back on the brilliant track it once was.

"I am here for the Giro d'Italia. Selection is still up in the air, but it's definitely an early season goal.

"After being at altitude in the Sierra Nevada, I wasn't sure of my form until I got here. After being at altitude in the Sierra Nevada, I wasn't confident in my form until I got here.