Cycling: Ben Hermans (Israel Cycling Academy) crowned himself King of the Glockner on the fourth stage of the Tour of Austria. The Belgian not only won today's section, but also took the lead in the overall standings. He is now about to defend his title.
Zimmermann & Schinnagel in the breakaway group
Over the Dientner Sattel, through Zell am See, and up to the Grossglockner. That was today's route for the professionals at the Tour of Austria. But before reaching the summit of this year's Tour of Austria, they had to cover a total of 103,5 kilometers from Radstadt to the Fuscher Törl. Kenny Molly (Wallonie-Bruxelles), Thibault Guernalec (Arkéa – Samsic), Laurent Pichon (Arkéa – Samsic), Alexis Guerin (Delko – Marseille Provence), Edoardo Zardini (Neri Sottoli – Selle Italia – KTM), and the two Germans Georg Zimmermann (Tirol KTM Cycling Team) and Johannes Schinnagel (Maloja Pushbikers) formed the day's breakaway group. However, Edoardo Zardini was the last of them to be caught by the peloton on the climb to the Grossglockner.
Hermans intercepts O'Connor
On the final climb, the Gazprom-RusVelo and Movistar teams in particular pushed the pace. The peloton quickly splintered, leaving only a group of favorites. Dimension Data also had a strong presence but initially held back from attacking. Austria's hope, Riccardo Zoidl (CCC), struggled to keep up but managed to rejoin the group several times by riding at his own pace. Although Team Movistar, with winner Anacona , launched three attacks, it wasn't enough for the victory. Ben O'Connor (Dimension Data) looked like the certain winner for a long time, but in the final 500 meters, last year's winner, Ben Hermans (Israel Cycling Academy), managed to close the gap. He ultimately dropped his companion and won the stage. Austria's Riccardo Zoidl finished sixth.