Matthias Braendle ranks 3rd out of the breakaway group
The fifth and longest stage of the Tour of Austria ran over 226 kilometers from St Johann/Alpendorf to Sonntagberg. Once again facing extreme temperatures, the Italian Fabio Taborre (Team Aqua e Sapone) reached the finish line on the Sonntagberg in front of his countyman Marco Bandiera (Team Omega Quickstep). With a passionate sprint, Team NetApp’s Matthias Braendle claimed third place.
Team NetApp rider Marcel Wyss and Leopold Koenig crossed the finish with the second group. Both riders have risen in the overall ranking to 9th and 16th places respectively. Jakob Fuglsang (Team Radioshack) continues to lead the general classification, followed by Danilo Di Luca (Team Acqua e Sapone) and Steve Morabito (Team BMC).
Attempts to attack in the field were for a long time unsuccessful. Only after 75 km a group of 12 riders was able to breakaway, including Team NetApp’s Austrian rider Matthias Braendle. They soon managed to increase their advantage to 11.30 minutes, which they maintained to the finish.
“The last 1000 meters were really difficult. But it was difficult getting into the lead group in any case, since everyone knew that today there was a good chance that the group would prevail. So for the first 80 kilometers we rode full gas, until we escaped. In the final climb I knew that I had to maintain my own tempo and couldn’t go with the attack. That was the right decision, since I brought back a few riders. Fortunately it was enough for a third place,“ reports Matthias Braendle after the race.
After the mountains and the longest stage, the sixth day follows with a distance of 185 km from Waidhofen/Ybbs to Melk. A mountain classification of the second category and two of the third await the riders. After the last mountain classification the route runs downhill to the finish in Melk, where a further three laps of about 16 km are to be tackled.
1 stage, 1 July: Innsbruck - Innsbruck
2 stage, 2 July: Innsbruck - Kitzbüheler Horn
3 stage, 3 July: Kitzbühel - Lienz
4 stage, 4 July: Lienz - St. Johann/Alpendorf
5 stage, 5 July: St. Johann/Alpendorf - Sonntagberg
6 stage, 6 July: Waidhofen/Ybbs - Melk
7 stage, 7 July: Podersdorf am Neusiedler See / ITT
8 stage, 8 July: Podersdorf am Neusiedler See - Vienna
Line-Up:
Jan Barta, Cesare Benedetti, Matthias Braendle, Blaz Jarc, Leo Koenig,
Andreas Schillinger, Daniel Schorn, Marcel Wyss
