Jan Hirt (CCC) proved that he is a future top climber in the making when he claimed a marvelous solo victory in the Tour of Austria queen stage. In an exciting duel, he dropped David Belda (Roth) with an attack 1km from the top of the famous Grossglockner climb and distanced the Spaniard by 42 seconds to take both the win and the race lead. Guillaume Martin (Wanty) finished third and is 1.17 behind Hirt in second place on GC.

We have gathered a few reactions.

Confident Jan Hirt: I never doubted that I could win

After great team effort and outstanding climbing performance, Jan Hirt won arguably the hardest stage of Tour of Austria. He also took over the GC lead.

“Yesterday I didn’t lose too much time in a stage which didn’t really suit me, so today I was in a good position to attack the general classification,” Jan Hirt said afterwards. “Everything went perfectly today. We started to set the pace late in the stage and when the climb started we wanted to make it hard for everyone. The plan was to attack with around 7km to go and my teammates did a great job in helping me materialize that strategy. We were in the control the entire time and I never doubted that I could win.

“I had strong legs today and had fantastic support of my team. Now I want to bring the yellow leader’s jersey to Vienna! I’m looking forward to the Dobratsch tomorrow, as I’ve placed second here last year.

“Now the goal is to keep the jersey. It’s always hard to defend the lead, but I have a solid advantage, a strong team and I believe that we can take the victory home. Tomorrow is another stage with a mountain top finish. If my legs are good, I will try to go for another win, but we will see tomorrow how my body reacts to today’s effort.”

David Belda: Hirt was too strong for me

David Belda finished 2nd. His teammate Andrea Pasqualon could keep the green jersey of best sprinter.

"I am really happy with my 2nd place", explained Belda after the finish, "it was really hard and Hirt was too strong for me."
 

Earlier, Matthias Krizek, who wanted to show himself in front of his fans, made it into the breakaway of the day. He won 3 out of 3 sprints and could help Andrea Pasqualon to defend his green jersey of the best sprinter.

Guillaume Martin confirms his potential in Austrian queen stage

Guillaume Martin finished in third place in the queen stage :

"I'm obviously happy. I think I could do better if I didn't get enthusiastic after my attack with 6 km to go. Another rider countered me. I don't have any regrets, I'm looking forward to the next stages. It is going to be difficult to get the first place in the general classification but we never know."

Astana climber bounces back from crash in Austrian queen stage

"I crashed after just 5 km,” said Astana’s Bakhtiyar Kozhatayev. “I changed the bike and with the help of my teammates I was able to get back to the top group. I’m quite happy with my eight place. I have good feelings and I'd like to do well tomorrow on the Dobratsch climb.”

Kozhatayev is eighth in the General Classification at 3.31.

"The team is doing well,” said sport director Alexander Shefer. “They are having a good experience here in the Austrian mountains. We will try to escape and win a stage.”

Difficult day for Stölting in Austrian queen stage

By the end of the stage, Rasmus Guldhammer and Christian Mager were the Stölting’s highest finishers in 25th and 29th respectively, both just over 8 minutes down on the stage winner.

With the break back in the fold the fireworks soon kicked off, as riders made their bid for glory. For Team Stölting Service Group it was a case of getting to the bottom of the climb in the best shape possible, working together to stay out of trouble, and then damage-limitation mode as the climbers kicked off the action.

After the stage Sports Director, Gregor Willwohl said: “It was a really honest stage today, one for the climbers. On a stage like this we just have to do what we can and I think we did what we’re capable of today so we will look ahead to the opportunities to come.”