Austrian cycling fans had to wait 13 years for another home winner of the Lidl Tour of Austria. With his triumph, Gregor Mühlberger also made history: he is only the second Austrian rider to defend the leader’s jersey from the opening stage all the way to the finish. Patrick Konrad of Lidl–Trek enjoyed a positive farewell in front of tens of thousands of spectators in Lower Austria and Vienna, finishing third as Sam Watson claimed the sprint victory.
Lower Austria’s Langenlois celebrated its Tour debut today. For the first time in the 75-year history of the Tour of Austria, the historic town centre at Holzplatz, with its impressive wine estates and picturesque squares, hosted a stage start. The final stage covered 109 kilometres and 758 metres of elevation gain on the way to the Austrian capital, Vienna, which last hosted a stage finish in 2014. On that occasion, Carinthian Marco Haller won the so-called “Sprint Royal”.
Langenlois, part of Lower Austria’s Sportland region, showed its windy side today. Strong crosswinds and tailwinds promised a high-speed race. The riders completed two laps around Langenlois, featuring a Škoda intermediate sprint, while the Mautner Markhof mountain classification at the Schilterner Berg through the vineyards provided the main obstacle.
Just five kilometres after the start, six riders broke clear: Philipp Hofbauer of Team Vorarlberg, the second-best Austrian in the general classification in 15th place; Flip Lepka of Schwingshandl Intralogistics; German breakaway specialist Mauro Brenner, who had featured in escape groups on every day of the Lidl Tour of Austria; Václav Ježek of the Czech Republic; Sweden’s Joel Mellby; and Poland’s Konrad Czabok, who lost contact a few kilometres later. At the Škoda sprint in Kirchberg am Wagram, approximately halfway through the race, the leading quintet held an advantage of around one minute over the peloton.
Incredible atmosphere at the Dopplerhütte, British victory in Vienna
Around 30 kilometres from the finish, the climb towards the Dopplerhütte began, where countless fans were already waiting for the riders. As the breakaway’s advantage dropped below one minute, WorldTour stars including Jan Christen of UAE Team Emirates XRG and Héctor Álvarez of Lidl–Trek launched attacks from the shrinking peloton.
In Mauerbach, shortly before Vienna, only Flip Lepka remained a few seconds ahead of the fast-approaching field. A bunch sprint in front of a superb crowd outside Vienna’s Burgtheater was imminent – and that was exactly how the race was decided.
Sam Watson of Netcompany INEOS proved to be the fastest rider, beating Vincenzo Albanese of EF Education–EasyPost and Austrian Patrick Konrad of Lidl–Trek. For Tour de France stage winner Konrad, it was a positive conclusion to the race:
“Recently, I had to abandon the Tour de Suisse due to illness. My form was not perfect at the Lidl Tour of Austria, but finishing like this in front of so many spectators was a very satisfying end to the race.”
Gregor Mühlberger makes Austrian cycling history
Austrian cycling fans had waited 13 years for another home victory in the national tour following Riccardo Zoidl’s triumph. The 32-year-old Gregor Mühlberger, the third overall winner from Lower Austria, is the first rider representing the Austrian national team to win the race since Harald Morscher in 1994.
Gerrit Glomser claimed two stage victories at the 2003 edition of the race, a feat Mühlberger matched over the past few days. He is also only the second Austrian after Roman Humenberger in 1971 to wear the leader’s jersey from the first stage until the final finish.
His victory did not come out of nowhere. Mühlberger’s performances over the past decade, as well as his 15th-place finish at this year’s Giro d’Italia, where he played a decisive role as a key domestique in Felix Gall’s second-place finish overall, demonstrated his outstanding ability.
“Mübsi” has already been crowned Austrian elite road champion twice and celebrated the fifth stage-race victory of his career today. His palmarès also includes prestigious stage wins at the Tour of the Alps, the Deutschland Tour, the BinckBank Tour and two stages of the Sibiu Cycling Tour. Another standout achievement was his victory at the German classic Rund um Köln in 2017.
For the Salzburg-based rider, a dream came true today:
“I would like to thank my entire team. They sacrificed so much for me. Without a team, it is impossible to win a race with such a strong field.”
He said he first realised that overall victory was within reach after the final climb to the Dopplerhütte outside Vienna:
“This is not just any victory for me. Winning the biggest race in my home country is incredibly special. We are all staying in Vienna tonight. My whole family and many friends are here, of course. We are going to celebrate properly together.”
The classification winners
Gregor Mühlberger won the general classification by 1:25 minutes ahead of UAE Team Emirates XRG rider Kevin Vermaerke and by 1:40 minutes ahead of Bauke Mollema of Lidl–Trek.
Team Vorarlberg rider Philipp Hofbauer moved up to 14th place today and, as in the previous year, finished as the second-best Austrian.
Kevin Vermaerke of UAE Team Emirates XRG won the Škoda points classification ahead of Gregor Mühlberger. Poland’s Piotr Pękala of ATT Investments was crowned the best climber in the Mautner Markhof classification, also ahead of Mühlberger.
Andrew August of Netcompany INEOS won the DAN Küchen classification for the best young rider. Mauro Brenner, last year’s German champion, was named the most active rider, while Netcompany INEOS won the team classification.
The Tirol KTM Cycling Team also produced an outstanding performance, finishing fifth overall as the best Continental team.
Text and Video Credits: Tour of Austria; Photo credits Tour of Austria & Expa Pictures
