Cycling: It almost worked out with the home win. The Austrian Hermann Pernsteiner (Bahrain-Merida) is only 18 seconds behind overall winner Ben Hermans (Israel Cycling Academy). Dario Cataldo (Astana) secured #3 place in the Tour of Austria.
Bahrain-Merida dominates the 2018 Tour of Austria
Parallel to the Tour de France, the 7th Tour of Austria began in Feldkirch on July 70th. Right at the start there was a special feature: on the first stage, the times were already taken three kilometers before the finish, but the stage victory was only decided at the finish line. So won Matej Mohoric (Bahrain-Merida) the first leg ahead of teammate Giovanni Visconti. In terms of overall standings, the eventual winner secured himself Ben Hermans (Israel Cycling Academy) had an initial advantage of five seconds three kilometers from the finish. The Bahrain-Merida team, on the other hand, concentrated on the stage hunt, which was extremely successful. Giovanni Visconti won the second, the fourth and the eighth stage. Antonio Nibali, Vincenzo's brother, cheered on the seventh stage. Ben Hermans laid the foundation for his overall victory on the third day up to the Kitzbüheler Horn. There the Belgian was able to beat the Austrian Herman Pernsteiner lose another nine seconds and win the section.
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🤗 The Austrian Hermann #Pernsteiner receives the hug of his fans after today's stage ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/KGCV7qcGJd
- Team Bahrain Merida (@Bahrain_Merida) July 12, 2018
Hermann Pernsteiner was unlucky
Missed out on the mountainous fifth and hilly sixth stage of the Tour of Austria Herman Pernsteiner the chance to take the necessary time from his opponent. Both crossed the finish line at the same time, during the stage win at the Großglockner Pieter Weening (Roompot-Nederlandse Loterij) went and in Wenigzell alexey lutsenko (Astana). So Pernsteiner only had the chance to attack on the seventh section. But on Friday the 13th he was not lucky enough. Pernsteiner fell twice and dislocated his shoulder twice – and straightened it again himself. There were also two defects. After all, he was able to reach the finish line together with his opponents on this pitch-black day and thus defend #2 place in the overall ranking. He did the same on today's final stage in Wels. For 27-year-old Hermann Pernsteiner, it was certainly a good Tour of Austria, despite his injuries.