Tour of Austria
The first stage of the Tour of Austria on Tuesday saw a thrilling sprint to the finish and an Italian winner. Davide de Pretto beat the Portuguese Rui Filipe Alves Oliveira in a photo finish after 177.9 km in and around Bad Tatzmannsdorf. In the overall ranking, however, a German, Maximilian Wegscheid, took the lead.
03.07.2024 16.04
Online since today, 4:04 p.m. (Update: 4:53 p.m.)
Wegscheid crossed the finish line in Bad Tatzmannsdorf at the same time as winner de Pretto, but only officially in 71st place, but took the overall lead thanks to a win in the intermediate sprint in Stegersbach. The German will start the second stage at the same time as former time trial world champion Filippo Ganna from Italy and Oliveira. The second stage will take place on Wednesday (from 2 p.m. in the live stream on ORF ON) from Maria Taferl to Steyr.
In the battle for the day’s victory, after almost 178 km at top speed in Burgenland, de Pretto had a narrow lead over Oliveira. Up until 50 km before the finish, a breakaway group, which included the Austrian Olympic starter Tim Wafler, had set the tone.
First Ö-Tour stage after sprint at de Pretto
The Italian Davide de Pretto won the first stage of the Tour of Austria, which starts and finishes in Bad Tatzmannsdorf. Felix Großschartner was the best Austrian in eighth place in an exciting finish.
But it was only the finish photo that made the 22-year-old Italian certain that he had won for the first time in his professional career. The German Niklas Behrens came third. “That was completely unexpected and I am totally happy about my first professional victory. We actually wanted to ride for my team-mate Max Walscheid, but I had the best position in the final,” said de Pretto.
Großschartner with “good legs”
As the best Austrian, Felix Großschartner came in eighth, just like the day before in the prologue in St. Pölten. The Upper Austrian from the UAE-Emirates team is also the best red-white-red rider in the overall rankings, in seventh place, three seconds behind the leader. Paul Buschek is the second best Austrian in the overall rankings in 17th place. He is eight seconds behind the leader.
“It was a good day for me, and I had very good legs in the tough final,” said Großschartner, who is expecting a lot from the second stage: “I’m really looking forward to tomorrow’s Upper Austria stage. I live in Linz and train a lot around Steyr, so I know every meter.”
Tour of Austria 2024
First stage
Bad Tatzmannsdorf – Bad Tatzmannsdorf (177.9 km): 1. Davide de Pretto ITA 3:38:52 2. Rui Felipo Alves Oliveira POR gl. Time 3. Niklas Behrens GER -“- 4. Diego Ulissi ITA -“- 5. Martin Marcellusi ITA -“- 6. Gente Michels BEL -“- 7. Federico Biagini ITA -“- 8.
Felix Grossschartner
AUT -“- 9. Andre Drege NOR -“- 10. Colin Stüssi SUI -“- further: 35.
Paul Buschek
AUT
-“-
40.
Filippo Ganna
ITA
-“-
71.
Maximilian Walscheid
GER
-“-
74.
Michael Gogl
AUT -“- Overall standings after 1 of 5 stages: 1. Maximilian Walscheid GER 3:42:29 2. Filippo Ganna ITA same time 3. Rui Filipe Alves Oliveira POR -“- 4. Niklas Behrens GER + 0:01 5. Davide de Pretto ITA 0:02 6. Tomas Kopecky CZE -“- 7.
Felix Grossschartner
AUT 0:03 8. Magnus Sheffield USA -“- 9. Brandon Rivera Vargas COL 0:05 10. Andre Drege NOR 0:06 also: 17.
Paul Buschek
AUT
0:08
33.
Michael Gogl
AUT 0:12 Stage plan 2024 July 2nd Prologue St. Pölten (3 km) July 3rd Stage 1 Bad Tatzmannsdorf – Bad Tatzmannsdorf (174.9 km) July 4th Stage 2 Maria Taferl – Steyr (179 km) July 5th Stage 3 Schladming – St. Johann/Alpendorf (153.1 km) July 6th Stage 4 St. Johann/Alpendorf – Kals (151.5 km) July 7th Stage 5 Kufstein – Kühtai (143.8 km)
Total distance: 805 km
Altitude: 14,156
2024-07-03 14:04:38
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