72nd Int. Österreich-Rundfahrt - Tour of Austria (July 2nd-6th)

[Mayomaniac]

Here we go! Looking at it a bit longer the route is better than expected. They went for the TotA approach, shorter stages, but potential action on all of them.

Sadly the startlist is rather meh, Sivakov looks like the favourite, but with this kind of route and his bad descending skills you never know. Ineos are also bringing Plapp, Narvaez, Rowe, Rivera & the entitled Puccio while UAE are bringing Formolo, Covi, Bennett, Hirschi and also Ackermann (punishment for climbing too well recently?).
Jayco are bringing Pena, Bingoal Guerin and Eolo-Kometa are bringing Fortunato, but that's about it for WT and PCT climbers. On the CT level Adria Mobile are bringing Hocevar, Hrinkow, Vorarlberg and Felbermayr are bringing the Austria-level sputniks (Zoidl, Rapp, Cabedo, Berlin), Tirol it's youngsters and WSA Graz Martin Messner. Would be ice if Alpecin brought with their main team.
The Startlist

 

[Mayomaniac]

That final short ramp on stage 2, up to the Schneeburggasse via the Höttinger Gasse is the same that they used in the Innsbruck WC, but this time there's no straight run in that allows you to carry all your speed into it, but a sharp left turn.
Stage 3 is always meh, a finish in Zell am See or a punchy uphill finish at the ski station above it and you have a real incentive to go crazy on the Großglockner.

 

[Landeirovic]

Hirschi for the Gc and 2 stage wins

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Are all the PCT teams on vacation? There's barely anything else to ride during the Tour for them, yet only Eolo and Bingoal are bothering with this one. The WT field is okay given the spot on the calendar, IMO, although it's still stupid that Bora aren't here.

GC really should be Ineos versus UAE, all the GC days favour using your numbers so I would not be shocked if the second or third-best climber on either team wins this one.

 

[yaco]

I am interested in whether Jayco's De Pena proves his performance in Slovenie was not a miracle - Also, Berhe who performed well in Suisse in his first race in 4 months - They are the future Jayco climbers.

 

[search]

Are all the PCT teams on vacation? There's barely anything else to ride during the Tour for them, yet only Eolo and Bingoal are bothering with this one. The WT field is okay given the spot on the calendar, IMO, although it's still stupid that Bora aren't here.

the race was set up late, by that point Bora had already confirmed to go to Sibiu, same as Bardiani, Lotto, Uno-X, Q36.5 and Corratec. Some are also heading to China for Qinghai Lake.

No idea why IPT isn't around, though. It's normally a good race for their Tour omissions like Fuglsang or Froome.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Are all the PCT teams on vacation? There's barely anything else to ride during the Tour for them, yet only Eolo and Bingoal are bothering with this one. The WT field is okay given the spot on the calendar, IMO, although it's still stupid that Bora aren't here.

GC really should be Ineos versus UAE, all the GC days favour using your numbers so I would not be shocked if the second or third-best climber on either team wins this one.

What @search said, many are racing Sibiu and a few even Quinghai Lake (that one takes some time to get used to the altitude before the race) and they weren't able to really bank on this race after it didn't happen for 3 years in a row...

 

[Gigs_98]

Really good route, except I don't like they put the only proper uphill finish in the last stage. But I'm mostly glad the race is finally back. I always loved the all or nothing attacks on the Großglockner. Brings back really good memories.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Really good route, except I don't like they put the only proper uphill finish in the last stage. But I'm mostly glad the race is finally back. I always loved the all or nothing attacks on the Großglockner. Brings back really good memories.

The thing is that they often don't find anyone else who is willing to pay for the finish of the Glockner stage. When de la Parte broughht his Volta watts to Austria they had merged it with the Horn MTF because nobody was willing to pay for the finish of the freaking Glockner stage. Blows my mind...

 

[Gigs_98]

The thing is that they often don't find anyone else who is willing to pay for the finish of the Glockner stage. When de la Parte broughht his Volta watts to Austria they had merged it with the Horn MTF because nobody was willing to pay for the finish of the freaking Glockner stage. Blows my mind...

Cycling is just too big of a niche sport in Austria to warrant the prices of the organization. It's a pity but it has been the problem of this race for ever. When I was a kid they were still at least broadcasting the Glockner and the Kitzbüheler Horn stages and those were semi big deals. But after the ORF stopped doing that this race became extremely irrelevant to the sporting world of Austria.

 

[EddyMazzoleni]

Cycling is just too big of a niche sport in Austria to warrant the prices of the organization. It's a pity but it has been the problem of this race for ever. When I was a kid they were still at least broadcasting the Glockner and the Kitzbüheler Horn stages and those were semi big deals. But after the ORF stopped doing that this race became extremely irrelevant to the sporting world of Austria.

Just out of curiosity, what other sport are really followed in summer?. 'Caused i'd imagine that in winter Alpine skiing and skijumping are pretty big, and also football, but none of those are really on in this period, and one would think that with the beautifull mountain road in Austria people would at least understand the commercial value of broadcasting the race.

 

[Gigs_98]

Just out of curiosity, what other sport are really followed in summer?. 'Caused i'd imagine that in winter Alpine skiing and skijumping are pretty big, and also football, but none of those are really on in this period, and one would think that with the beautifull mountain road in Austria people would at least understand the commercial value of broadcasting the race.

I mean if the euros or the world cup take place during a summer that's of course what everything is about. Other than that historically F1 is huge in Austria and I guess Tennis is pretty big. But my statement was also much more about how little Austrians care about the Tour of Austria than about how much they care about anything else.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Some changes have happened on the startlist: Apeci are bringing Vergallito, Jayco have added Sobrero, UAE have Novak there instead of Hirschi and no Fortunato, only youngsters for Eolo-Kometa. No Cabedo and Berlin for Team Vorarlberg either.

 

[DJ Sprtsch]

As long as Welay Hagos Berhe is riding I’m happy.

 

[QueenStagiaire]

1		65	RITZINGER Felix
2		75	HORVAT Žiga
3		103	KAEMPE Stinus Bjerring
4		121	WILK Luke

Break of the day

 

[Faserr]

Ackermann wins the first stage.

 

[Ricco']

Plapp already lost 5 minutes

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

According to the rankings at PCS, the second highest ranking sprinter in the field after Ackermann is Patryk Stosz.

No, me neither.

 

[yaco]

Looking at the profiles there is one or possibly two more chances for Ackermann.

 

[Faserr]

Looking at the profiles there is one or possibly two more chances for Ackermann.

But he needs to be climbing like in the Giro or better.

 

[yaco]

But he needs to be climbing like in the Giro or better.

He should make the finish of today's stage - This is not an overly mountainous edition of Austria.

 

[RedheadDane]

Narvaez won.

 

[Faserr]

Nice sprint.
Ackermann didn't sprint. No legs or boxed in.

 

[Skijumper Roglic fan]

According to the rankings at PCS, the second highest ranking sprinter in the field after Ackermann is Patryk Stosz.

No, me neither.

Stosz is quite good, actually… I follow these CT races, 1.2 and 2.2, and he‘s really fast.

I always wonder how he‘d do if he‘d stepped up to WT with CCC.

He‘s living the life of a pro cyclist, just at CT level, nowadays. I always admire Poland and its cycling culture: well organized CT teams, and tons of 1.2 and 2.2 races. Sadly, hardly anyone in middle and Western Europe seems to care too much… But Voster and HRE are the real deal - believe or not…

 

[armchairclimber]

Interesting to see Javier Serrano doing well here. Hope he keeps it up.