Just as pure climbers avoid the cobblestones of Paris-Roubaix, sprinters usually avoid the Tour de Alps. They know that the five-day race across the Trentino region of northern Italy and into southern Austria is mountainous and every day a pain for their fast muscles.

But Giacomo Nizzolo had a masochistic smile on his face after finishing 32nd in the first stage of the 2022 Tour of the Alps, Primiero/San Martino di Castrozza. Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) led the 40-man group, finishing just five seconds behind the Frenchman.

Nizzolo and Ben Swift (Ineos Grenadiers) were the only sprinters in the group and were unable to fight for position on the uphill valley road to the finish as the overall contenders tried to catch up with Bouchard and earn bonus seconds.

"Today was a big training day for me, but unfortunately it was too hard a day to win a stage. I couldn't have been any better today," Nizzolo told Cycling News while searching for a nearby hotel.

"I think all the teams waited too long in the early part of the race before starting an organized chase. Maybe we underestimated the break riders. It was the first stage, so I fell asleep a little bit, and that caught up to them."

"I didn't have a chance in the sprint to the finish, but being in the lead group confirmed that I had recovered from my crash in Milan-San Remo.

Nizzolo was with the lead group on the final climb up Poggio, ready to either sprint or fight for second place behind Matej Mohoric, when he crashed on the descent. He also broke a bone in his hand and missed Ghent-Wevelgem and other sprint opportunities in early April.

He quickly returned to training, went to higher altitudes, and even tested his race legs on the hilly De Brabante Pile last week, finishing 18th in the chase group.

Now he spends a week in the Italian and Austrian Alps, making up for lost races and suffering to be at his best for the rapidly approaching Giro d'Italia.

"I need to suffer," he said. I had a different race program for the Giro d'Italia, but the crash in Milan-San Remo changed things. This will be a hard week for me and for my muscles, but I need it."