Joe Dombrowski spent the day at the front of the Tour of the Alps, with the peloton and overall contenders deep in the peloton on the Passo San Valentino climb, 15km from the finish.

The Astana Cazaxtan rider was caught just 3km from the finish after battling the long gradient, his own limits, and the riders chasing him. He was also passed by Tao Geoghegan Hart and other overall contenders, but fought to the end and finished 12th.

Despite an injury-plagued spring, it was a satisfying day for the North American athletes, despite missing out on the win.

"It's not good for morale to be down in the standings when there are 100 riders in front of you in the Volta a Catalunya. Things are better now," Dombrowski said after putting on his cape, before heading to the team bus at Astana Cazaxtan on the other side of the mountain.

"The first two months of the season were the worst. I got sick several times, two weeks ago I had a skin infection, and it was one thing after another. This good run shows that I am moving in the right direction."

Dombrowski made an instinctive decision to jump to a 12-man breakaway group that formed on a long valley road south of Bolzano. The Ineos Grenadiers forced the other teams to lead the chase, and this breakaway seemed to have a chance to steal the glory. However, they squandered their lead.

"Before the first climb, I thought we were going to win the stage because we had seven minutes," Dombrowski said confidently.

"Then the mid-stage climb slowed me down quite a bit. I still had 2:50 on the last climb down, but it was really, really hard to win after 15km of climbing and being on the run all day. It was a nice try."

Dombrowski will compete in the Tour de Romandie next week, raising the possibility that the Tour de France will be the 2023 Grand Tour; he won a stage at the 2019 Giro d'Italia, but this year's Tour has more chances for breakaways and stage wins are many.

"It's going to be a Tour, but it's also the first reserve in the Giro team because some of the guys are injured," he explained.

"I like the Giro and racing in Italy, but this year there are a lot of time trials and sprint stages, so there are not many stages where I have a chance. The Tour de France suits my style better."