In the third stage of the Tour of Austria, the riders had to do 142 kilometers from yesterday’s finish line in Kitzbuehel to Lienz. Due to the flat final stretch, this difficult mountain stage ended with a group sprint, in which the Italian Sacha Modolo (Team Colnago) pushed through ahead of Daniel Schorn and Francesco Gavazzi (Team Astana).

As expected, the General Classification remained the same. It saw Danilo Di Luca (Team Astana) at the front, ahead of Steve Morabito (Team BMC) and Thomas Rohregger (Team Radioshack). The best ranking Team NetApp rider remains Marcel Wyss in the 10th place, 1:27 minutes behind the lead rider.

A group of 30 riders tried to escape after the start, but they were soon prevented by the first climb. Eventually a 6-person breakaway group pushed through. But those leading the General Classification didn't want to leave it to chance, so they brought the breakaway riders back in good time. Team NetApp’s Daniel Schorn had to concede defeat in the group sprint, as the Italian Modolo only just beat him to the finish.

"It’s a shame that it wasn’t quite enough. You don’t get that kind of opportunity every day. At first I couldn't keep up and had to catch up in the descent. Jan did a great job bringing me back into position. Because of the headwind I wanted to wait as long as possible and then when I started the sprint, Modolo had already sped past me. It’s really irritating, since I had great legs today and a really high final velocity,“ describes Daniel Schorn directly after the finish.

„Daniel performed at a really high level today. The final mountain was very steep and difficult. Leaving the mountains behind him and then still having enough power for the sprint emphasizes his great shape,“ adds Sport Director Jens Heppner.

After already two mountain stages, the fourth day of the Tour of Austria follows with the Großglockner stage. This extends over the 141.3 kilometers from Lienz to St Johann/Alpendorf. The highest crossing point in this stage is the Hochtor with a height of 2504 meters. 

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

Website of the race