Bert Grabsch powered to a clear time time trial victory on the pancake flat 30-kilometer course in the seventh stage of the Tour of Austria. The German was 22 seconds faster than Jesse Sergent (RadioShack) and 32 seconds quicker than his HTC teammate Patrick Gretsch. Taylor Phinney (BMC) was fourth, 46 seconds adrift. Fredrik Kessiakoff managed an excellent fifth place and easily defended his overall lead. Czech rider Leopold König (NetApp) is now second overall, after BMC's Mauro Santambrogio dropped four minutes.
Grabsch made history by riding the fastest-ever time trial in the Tour of Austria, despite the route being about five kilometers longer than in previous years. His 34'36 translated to an average speed of 52.17 km/h. "I could have ridden faster, but the hot temperatures are not my thing," Grabsch said after the race. "That cost around 15 percent of my performance. But I wanted to win here and I did it - I am absolutely satisfied."
After a difficult spring plagued by sickness, Grabsch's season is turning around. "First the German nationals and now my good form has continued all the way through to this win too," he said. "The distance of about thirty kilometers suited me and the course was very flat and not too technical, which was an advantage."
Kessiakoff had several motivating factors. One was the leader's outfit. "The yellow jersey certainly motivated me. When the form is right you can be fast everywhere - in the mountains, in the time trial." The other one stems from his family background. "All I have to survive is tomorrow's stage. I am really looking forward to Vienna, where my grandfather was born."
Non-specialist Carlos Sastre put in a decent time trial, finishing 2'26 back and moving up into third place. Thomas Rohregger lost the mountains lead yesterday after a crash. Today he moved up one spot in the general classification, into fourth place. It came not without trouble, as the Austrian received one penalty and had one handicap.
Rohregger showed up without a transponder. "Sure, I went into the race with a lot of anger. That wasn't optimal at all; I couldn't get the intermediate times." Then he also took a turn inside the markers and was given a 20-second penalty for cutting the course.
The final stage takes place tomorrow in Austria's capital. After riding from the Neusiedler Lake, where the time trial took p[lace today, the peloton faces ten laps in the heart of Vienna.
Results stage 9 - 30.1km
1. GRABSCH Bert THR 34'36"
2. SERGENT Jesse RSH 22"
3. GRETSCH Patrick THR 32"
4. PHINNEY Taylor BMC 46"
5. KESSIAKOFF Fredrik AST 55"
6. BARTA Jan APP 01'10"
7. CHRISTENSEN Mads SBS 01'11"
8. MACHADO Tiago Jose Pinto RSH 01'17"
9. OVECHKIN Artem KAT 01'18"
10. STANNARD Ian SKY 01'24"
Overall classification after stage 9
1 KESSIAKOFF, Fredrik AST PRO TEAM AS 24.24.05 00.00.00
2 *KOENIG, Leopold APP TEAM NETAPP 24.26.33 00.02.28
3 SASTRE CANDIL, Carlo GEO GEOX-TMC 24.27.10 00.03.05
4 ROHREGGER, Thomas LEO LEOPARD TRE 24.28.04 00.03.59
5 MENCHOV, Denis GEO GEOX-TMC 24.28.07 00.04.02
6 SANTAMBROGIO, Mauro BMC RACING TEAM 24.28.39 00.04.34
7 POSSONI, Moris SKY PROCYCLING 24.28.41 00.04.36
8 BARTA, Jan APP TEAM NETAPP 24.28.51 00.04.46
9 LEQUATRE, Geoffroy RSH TEAM RADIOS 24.29.04 00.04.59
10 MIZUROV, Andrey AST PRO TEAM AS 24.29.14 00.05.09
11 BISOLTI, Alessandro FAR FARNESE VIN 24.29.39 00.05.34
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