We have 16 riders lined up to compete on this hilly course. Half of them come from Magna-Ryanair, with Volkswagen-Mapei the only other team to send more than one rider. These are the starters:
Rohregger, Eibegger, Schrangl, Graf, Haller, Hofer, Hrinkow and Paulus Brändle, Preidler and Schorn Denifl Kohl Eisel Zoidl Taubel
It takes three laps for something to finally happen. Eisel, Graf and reigning champion Schorn venture a long-range attack.
Since Magna and Volkswagen are both represented, they don't bother chasing. With them out of the picture, the leaders happily keep extending their advantage - lapping the 'peloton' twice in the process!
Needless to say, the winner is going to be someone from the trio. Inside 20 km to go, Graf makes his bid for victory.
They reach the climb shortly afterwards, and the gap is growing...
... but Eisel and Schorn bring him back after the descent.
An uphill sprint between them to decide who claims the jersey, then!
In the steepest section, Eisel makes his move. Schorn doesn't seem to have anything to respond with, but Graf is following.
Eisel clicks in another gear and accelerates - gapping Graf too.
Graf had the legs, but played his cards too early. A tactical Bernhard Eisel is the new Austrian champion!
Back in the 'peloton', the first sign of life all race is finally seen when Bernhard Kohl attacks on the climb with two laps to go. However, by the time they come past the finish line to start the final lap, the organisers stop them.
An understandable decision, given that they were a ludicrous 55 minutes behind at the time!
The route is back and forth on the opposite sides of the same road. At the halfway point, the top 5 stands as following:
1
Brändle
30'06
2
Rohregger
+ 13
3
Graf
+ 17
4
Zoidl
+ 21
5
Denifl
+ 26
For the time being, it looks like the only Austrian team in the race are going to closely miss out on both their national titles!
Let's not forget that the 2nd half of the race remains, however. By the finish, Rohregger has increased the distance between him and team mate Graf to 10 seconds - perhaps indicating a late acceleration from him.
Wikipedia rider Denifl would've been more of a threat if the race had included a couple of climbs. Instead, he continues losing time to Rohregger at the exact same speed throughout the entire race - timing in with a deficit of 26 seconds.
Zoidl had the Magna duo and a definitive spot on the podium within reach after 20 km, but apparently overestimated himself a bit early on and comes home 20 seconds off the lead.
That leaves only one rider - he who is leading after half the race. Rohregger has been faster than everyone else since then, but Mathias Brändle shows that he is clearly the strongest rider by going 4 seconds quicker!
Another year in the national TT kit for Brändle, while Magna come out of these races with two 2nd places and one 3rd. Better luck next year!
