Greg van Avermaet took his first win since the 2008 Vuelta a España when he sprinted to victory in stage six of the Tour of Austria. Van Avermaet jumped to the win from a 13-man break that held off the peloton by half a dozen seconds, with Matthew Brammeier in second and Daniele Bennati in third. Van Avermaet took over the points jersey. Fredrik Kessiakoff held on to his overall lead ahead of Mauro Santambrogio and Leopold König.
Van Avermaet thad to wait for a while to give a victory salute. "It's been a long time without a win - I think two years," he said at the press conference. It was actually almost three, as his last win stems from the 2008 Vuelta a España. He won stage nine from a 12-man group then. This time, he sprinted to victory in a 13-man break. But the field was close behind, ending only six seconds later. "At no point did I think we would stay away. With four kilometers to go the gap was only 25 seconds - it was really close."
A determined Van Avermaet did his share of the work to ensure a small-group sprint. "I just tried to keep the pace up and go for the victory in the sprint." There were some fast men in the group and Van Avermaet was anything but certain that he could take it. "I was not sure about Bennati because he is a really strong sprinter. Luckily I made it. He went with two hundred to go and I tried to take his wheel. In the end I was just a little bit faster."
Van Avermaet seemed to have a bright future when he took the points jersey in his very first Vuelta in 2008, at 23 years of age. But his motor stuttered and after two winless seasons he joined the American BMC team. "I am really happy in the BMC jersey," he said. "I am so satisfied that I can give BMC something back." The Belgian often sprinted, but not successfully. "I am always close to it - third, fourth, second. When you finally get it you are really happy."
Brammeier came close to the win in his first ProTour season. The double Irish champion was determined to make the move of the day in stage six. "Matt was close to sit in the break yesterday, so he really wanted to make it today," said his directeur sportif, Jens Zemke. "After 25 kilometers, a group of 13 riders was gone and he was in it." The maximum gap was four minutes, but the bunch was determined to get the break back. The effort fell a little short, despite the weather not working in the break's favor. "There was a strong wind blowing today," said Zemke.
This didn't deter the 13 men who jumped clear early. Several strong sprinters were represented. Besides Van Avermaet, Brammeier and Bennati, there was also German champion Robert Wagner. While the chase was on, mountain's leader Thomas Rohregger's (Leopard Trek) tire slipped and the Austrian crashed before the last mountain classification. He received a spare bike from his teammate Pires and caught the field before the finish. "I was very lucky. Except for a few bruises, nothing happened. Fortunately, Pires is about the same size as me, so I could easily switch to his bike," Rohregger said.
Rohregger slipped to tenth in the KOM ranking, but held on to his fifth place overall, 1'46 back to Kessiakoff. Rohregger is only 28 seconds off second place. While Kessiakoff rolled home in the bunch to easily defend his lead, the Astana rider admitted that the stage was hard. "The wind shifted constantly and the field was divided many times. In such conditions it is extremely difficult to stay ahead. Now the final preparations for tomorrows time trial begins."
Saturday's 30.1-kilometer time trial will decide the outcome of the 2011 Tour of Austria. Kessiakoff enjoys a good cushion over his rivals. "I am no 100-percent time trial specialist, but I'm certainly not worse than my opponents," said the 31-year-old confidently. He was third in the 2009 and 2010 Swedish time trial championships.
Rohregger doesn't care much about the history of riders in the individual discipline. "Past time trials are not important. Only the daily condition is [important] and my goal is still the podium!" Rohregger sits one spot behind Carlos Sastre.