2017 Int. Österreich-Rundfahrt-Tour of Austria (2.HC)

[May0maniac]

Enough with the Tour talk, let's talk about the real deal that starts tomorrow.
The stages:
Prologue » Graz › Schlossberg (0.8k)
Stage 1 » Graz › Wien (193.8k)
Stage 2 » Wieselburg › Pöggstall (199.6k)
Stage 3 » Wieselburg › Altheim (226.2k)
stage 4 » Salzburg › Kitzbüheler Horn (82.7k)
Stage 5 » Kitzbühel › St. Johann - Alpenbdorf (212.5k)
Stage 6 » St. Johann - Alpenbdorf › Wels (203.9k)

The startlist: http://www.procyclingstats.com/race/Int._Osterreich-Rundfahrt-Tour_of_Austria_2017_Startlist

The gi favourites should be Zakarin, Superman Lopez (if he's ready after the last crash), and Rein Taaramäe. No Formolo, instead of him we've got Brendan Canty.
DD are bringing Anton and Debesay, Delko Delio Fernandez and Dani Diaz, Gazprom the usual Sputniks and Aqua Blue Denifl for KoM. CCC have Großschartner and Schlegel, but Großschartner's form is a bit of a question mark.
A bit about the local riders who could do something on gc:
- Felbermayr are bringing Richie Zoidl, Eibegger and Rabitsch, a decent amount of firepower.
- Amplatz-BMC have Pernsteiner, a Marathon MTBer who was already 6th on gc last year and this year he finished 6th on gc in Slovenia and 2nd in the Tour d'Azerbaïdjan.
- The big surprise could be Daniel Geismayr from Team Vorarlberg, another Marathon MTBer who just finished 3rd at the WC, this year he was 7th on gc in the Tour de Savoie Mont Blanc, his first stage race on the road.
The sprinters and stagehunters are also not to bad, overall it's a rather decent field.

 

[Ricco']

Any live coverage?

 

[Ruudz0r]

Looking forward to this one, love the uphill prologue as well.

Hopefully Lopez will be good and can beat the Katusha duo without mountain support.

 

[May0maniac]

Re:

Any live coverage?

Nope only delayed coverage and just highlights.
http://www.oesterreich-rundfahrt.at/tour-inside/tv-zeiten
It's a shame, the field is pretty decent, sprinters like Viviani, Minali and Gibbons and stagehunters like Albanese, Gatto, Restrepo Nordhaug, Slagter and Vanmarcke and a few interesting gc riders.

 

[Tank Engine]

Enough with the Tour talk, let's talk about the real deal that starts tomorrow.
The stages:
Prologue » Graz › Schlossberg (0.8k)
Stage 1 » Graz › Wien (193.8k)
Stage 2 » Wieselburg › Pöggstall (199.6k)

Thats a tough 800m.

Thanks for the profiles, but Stage 1 repeats itself.

Here is Stage 2 (click on hohendiagram)
http://www.oesterreich-rundfahrt.at/strecke/2-etappe-2017

Seems a bit of a waste of the Hochtor.

Good to see Lopez back so soon.

 

[bob.a.feet]

Zakarin or Lopez will win, just depends on who has recovered better.

 

[May0maniac]

Enough with the Tour talk, let's talk about the real deal that starts tomorrow.
The stages:
Prologue » Graz › Schlossberg (0.8k)
Stage 1 » Graz › Wien (193.8k)
Stage 2 » Wieselburg › Pöggstall (199.6k)

Thats a tough 800m.

Thanks for the profiles, but Stage 1 repeats itself.

Here is Stage 2 (click on hohendiagram)
http://www.oesterreich-rundfahrt.at/strecke/2-etappe-2017

Seems a bit of a waste of the Hochtor.

Good to see Lopez back so soon.

Thanks for telling me, I fixed it.
Hochtor comes after a hard MTF and with 3 climbs (ok, Pass Thurn is not a categorized climb and rather easy, but it's a decent warm-up with something like 10km at 4.1%), so it could work.
Of course it's rather see a finish in Zell am See or a similar uphill finish in Schmitten right above Zell am See, but it worked when Fuglsang won the whole thing, so fingers crossed.
It's still an unbalanced route, but at least this time they don't go totally crazy with the uphill finishes and mountain stages, it's a step in the right direction.

 

[Tonton]

Too bad it's going to be lost in the TdF craze...nice race. Zakarin? Yes.

 

[ppanther92]

Prologue will be between Schlemmer and Clarke who are both absolute beasts on short distances.

Favourites for the overall classement are of course Lopez and Zakarin, while the sprints seem to be reserved for Viviani.

I am looking forwars to a strong showing of the Austrians too. Zoidl seems to be gaining back form, Pernsteiner already looked good at his debut last year and Grossschartner also had a nice season.

 

[Ricco']

My only wish is that Antón shows something on Kitzbueheler Horn. :razz:

 

[ppanther92]

In my opinion Austria should have sent a national team like Italy. With some of Konrad, Mühlberger, Preidler, Brändle, Pöstlberger they would have been one of the strongest teams.

Fun fact: William Clarke is appearently sleeping on Preidlers couch before the prologue.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Tratnik FTW today.

 

[DNP-Old]

Start times: http://computerauswertung.at/veranstaltungen/2017/170703/startlist_prolog.pdf
Ticker: http://www.radsport-news.com/live/live_174.htm

 

[May0maniac]

Re:

Prologue will be between Schlemmer and Clarke who are both absolute beasts on short distances.

Favourites for the overall classement are of course Lopez and Zakarin, while the sprints seem to be reserved for Viviani.

I am looking forwars to a strong showing of the Austrians too. Zoidl seems to be gaining back form, Pernsteiner already looked good at his debut last year and Grossschartner also had a nice season.

ATM Gatto is almost 4 seconds ahead of Clarke.

 

[DNP-Old]

Lopez 2nd as of right now, Zakarin down somewhere in the 100's.

 

[Tank Engine]

Re:

Lopez 2nd as of right now, Zakarin down somewhere in the 100's.

What happened so that Zakarin is so low down? Did they ride the course in reverse?

 

[May0maniac]

Taaramäe only 122nd, wtf?

 

[May0maniac]

Stage top 10:
1. Gatto
2. Superman Lopez
3. William Clarke
4. Eibegger
5. Vanmarcke
6. Perez
7. Vendrame
8. Tratnik
9. Weening
10. Schlemmer

 

[The_Beach]

Re: Re:

Lopez 2nd as of right now, Zakarin down somewhere in the 100's.

What happened so that Zakarin is so low down? Did they ride the course in reverse?

Read somewhere that he gained some weight after the Giro, so I don't think you should expect a big show from him in Austria. He is probably just building form slowly towards the Vuelta

 

[DNP-Old]

Taaramae and Zakarin 124th and 135th respectively out of 141 riders. That is next level bad.

 

[bob.a.feet]

Pretty good result for Lopez, hoping for a good performance in the Vuelta.

 

[Ruudz0r]

Some crosswind action atm a group of about 30 riders is chasing Smukulis who has about 30s over them, the big peloton is 2.20 further back with 10K to go.
No idea who are in the first group and who are not.

 

[roundabout]

http://livetiming.at/live.php?V_ID=170703

 

[ppanther92]

So typical taht Zoidl already lost the Tour at a flat stage. Always the same. Lopez also lost 1:42, but he seems in stellar form. Can see him getting back this time on the climbs.

 

[Lexman]

1. Viviani
2. Van Marcke

Van Marcke new leader