Briton wins out of break that dominated the day
Team Sky’s Ian Stannard celebrated the fifth stage of the Tour of Austria with his first professional victory. The Briton squared off against Gatis Smukulis (HTC-Highroad) and Stefan Denifl (Leopard Trek) in a three-up sprint to seal up the win. Astana’s Fredrik Kessiakoff was able to defend his lead in the overall and maintains a 1 minute 18 second advantage over Mauro Santambrogio (BMC Racing), with Leopold König (Team NetApp) in third a further 8 seconds back.
“It was fantastic,” Stannard said after his success. “To win the final sprint is a dream come true!”
Denifl was also happy with his performance today. “I have been trying to reach my top-form this season. Today I got the OK from my team to try an escape, and I was able to pay back the work of my team with a top-three result,” he said. “Nobody could beat Ian today,” Denifl said of the Briton’s ride.
The day’s stage, which took the peloton from St Johann/Alpendorf to Schladming was 157.2 kilometers in length with three categorized climbs on offer. Yesterday’s tough ride through the mountains showed in the legs of the riders, with the first 20 kilometers being taken in by the riders at an easy pace.
A group of five, that included Stefan Denifl (Leopard Trek), Gatis Smukulis (HTC-Highroad), Yannick Eijssen (BMC Racing), Gregory Rast (RadioShack) and the day’s winner Ian Stannard (Team Sky), was able to separate themselves from the creeping peloton. The quintet extended their lead over the category four Pass Lueg, and again on the ascent of the Abtenau around 20 kilometers later.
The leaders maintained a solid advantage through the sprints in Eben and Mandling, but when they arrived at the finishing circuit around Schladming, a motivated Team Geox drove the chase to protect their lead in the teams classification. The break’s advantage was down to 2 minutes and 45 seconds the first time the escape crossed the finish line and, with Cofidis also adding manpower to the pursuit, their lead began to erode quickly.
As the escape powered toward the finish the gap continued to fall, but it was too little too late for the peloton, who crossed the line 49 seconds after Stannard sprinted to win the stage.
Tomorrows 155 kilometer stage six takes the riders from Hainburg an der Donau to Bruck an der Leitha. With only three category four climbs on offer, Kessiakoff is expected to maintain his advantage into the final day’s individual time trial.