Cycling: While the Belgian time trial specialist Kristof Vandewalle was finally able to celebrate his first stage win in Podersdorf am See after a third and a second stage place in the last two years, the British overall leader Pete Kennaugh defended on the penultimate stage of the 66th Int. Tour of Austria his leadership. The two Austrians Patrick Konrad and Riccardo Zoidl provided a thriller in seconds!
Podersdorf am See celebrated its tenth tour anniversary today. In the past nine years, the last major exchange of blows for the overall victory of the Tour took place at Lake Neusiedl. The German time trial world champion Bert Grabsch achieved the fastest average speed ever driven in 2011 with 52,17 km/h. Four-time world champion Fabian Cancellara won last year with 51,75 km/h. Today's stage winner Kristof Vandewalle from Team Trek Factory - three-time Belgian champion and 2013 world champion with his Quickstep team - mastered the absolutely flat 24,1-kilometer route in a strong north-west wind at a speed of 51,94 km/h. He beat his Trek teammate and stage winner Jesse Sergent by 15 seconds and Manuel Quinziato (BMC) by 18 seconds. “In 2012 I finished second behind Pinotti in Podersdorf, in 2013 I finished third behind Cancellara and Pinotti. Victory was only a matter of time.", smiled Vandewalle.
Then came the favorites in the battle for overall victory and dark clouds gathered over Podersdorf am See. Last year's winner Riccardo Zoidl from Trek drove a strong individual time trial and finished ninth. “In the end, the last drivers had even more headwind from the turn and a better stage placement was therefore not possible. I gave everything and am happy about the happy end of the tour,” said Zoidl at the finish. And he adds: "After the botched start last Sunday, I'm happy that I'm now driving to Vienna in fifth place overall."
The battle for first place in the overall standings was more than exciting: while Pete Kennaugh confidently defended his lead ahead of Javier Moreno (Movistar/plus 19:1 minutes) with stage 03, Damiano Caruso (Cannondale) is 1:42 minutes behind the third place. Behind them, Patrick Konrad from Gourmetfein Wels and Riccardo Zoidl fought a duel of seconds, which the 22-year-old Konrad won by two seconds: "Incredible, I didn't think it would be that close against Ricci. The radio failed during the time trial. But that didn't matter, because it was full throttle anyway. Now I'm wearing the jersey of the best Austrian to Vienna tomorrow. It is an absolute dream and my big thanks go to my Gourmetfein team, who drove fantastically all week.” And to top it off, Konrad has also secured the Tchibo U25 rating.
Pete Kennaugh drives tomorrow as the overall leader of the 66th Int. Austria round trip to the federal capital Vienna: “I was already ailing today, the last difficult stages didn't go by without a trace. If I survive tomorrow, that will be my greatest success on the road.” And Kennaugh would be the first British Tour winner in the 66-year Tour history.