Cycling: Riccardo Zoidl (CCC) and Patrick Schelling (Vorarlberg – Santic) just missed out on a huge success at the Tour of Austria on the Kitzbühler Horn. While the Austrian Zoidl was caught just one kilometer from the finish, the Swiss Schelling only lost to the day's winner Aleksandr Vlasov (Gazprom – RusVelo) in the last meters.
Dedicated breakaways again unlucky
At the beginning, the sixth and last stage of the Tour of Austria didn't look very demanding. But the bad end was yet to come. In the end, the 116,7 kilometer section had to be climbed up the Kitzbüheler Horn. With a length of 7,3 kilometers and an average gradient of 12,3 percent, the chance of winning the day was reserved for real climbers only. But first an eight-man escape group determined Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Wanty-Gobert), Luke Spengler (Wallonia – Bruxelles), Connor Swift (Arkea – Samsic), Stephen Rabitsch (Felbermayr – Simplon catfish), Daniel Auer (Maloja Pushbikers), Marek Rutkiewicz (Wibatech Merx 7R), Patrick Gamper (Tirol KTM Cycling Team) and Alexis Guerin (Delko – Marseille Provence) the events. Although they harmonized well, the breakaway attempt was thwarted by the peloton before the decisive phase.
Zoidl & Schelling just missed out on victory
On the ascent to the Kitzbüheler Horn, the pace in the peloton quickly increased. The entire peloton of the Tour of Austria promptly flew apart. A small group of strong climbers remained. After an attack by Reuben Fernandez (Movistar) came up empty, the Austrian tried Riccardo Zoidl (CCC). In fact, he was able to tear a gap at first. Only one kilometer before the finish he got four companions. Finally, further attacks gave him the rest. While Zoidl had to settle for eighth place in the end, he was allowed to Alexander Vlasov (Gazprom – RusVelo) happy about the day's victory. The Russian champion left the Swiss in the steep ramp Patrick Schelling (Vorarlberg – Santic) just behind. succeeded in the overall ranking Ben Hermans (Israel Cycling Academy) successfully defended the title of the Tour of Austria.