Sans griesst in Österreich! Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Austria, where we meet for the 13th edition of the Tour of Austria - or in German, Österreich-Rundfahrt. The climbers will be looking forward for the first two days, with tough mountaintop finishes, before things will calm down for the rest of the race.
Let's first take a look at the profiles, so you can follow what we're talking about:
Spoiler
Only the two flat stages are slightly different from last year, with stage 3 being 2km longer, stage 6 6km shorter. But all in all, we can say it's the same race. Meaning that the GC will mainly be made on the first two stages, plus the closing ITT. Although stage 4 is rated mountainous - rightfully so given the HC climb - it ends after only a short uphill sprint. Stage 5 requires the riders to be well positioned on the start of the final uphill, as it's long enough to cause some gaps for riders who aren't attentive enough.
One rider mastered this race in the last two years, and he's returning again - we're of course talking about Aleksandr Pluchkin. Five stage wins, two points jerseys and - most importantly - two GC wins in two years is impressive! Can he complete the hat trick even after his first decline?
And yet another former winner returns to this race - David Abal finished on top back in 2014. Schleck, Alarcon, Dekker and Amador are all riding in PT, and so don't get a shot at winning this race for the second time, whereas Brajkovic still is in the MGUCI database, but didn't get a contract anymore.
But at least, we do have some more riders returning who finished in the Top 10 last year: First of all, the last two year's runner-up Uran, but also 6th Martin and 7th Nerz.
Let's take a closer look at the presumed top GC contenders and their team support:
The list is of course led by Aleksandr Pluchkin, who still is the lone strongest climber in the peloton - and one of the best time trialists as well. He will again be the top favorite, despite his decline. Decent puncheur skills, good stamina, resistance and recovery as well as a strong acceleration compared with most other GC contenders round off his great skillset.
And as if all of that wasn't enough, he also brings a support team with a lot of depth, consisting of Topchanyuk, Dzhus and Nitu for the mountains and Laas and Tanovitchii for the hills.
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Stefan Denifl is the second strongest climber on the startlist, and while he's slightly stronger on the hills than the Moldovan, he'll likely concede a few seconds on the closing ITT. His achilles heel might be his rather bad resistance, as well as the lack of acceleration, which might cost some outstanding stage results. But on the long climbs, he definitely can be dangerous!
Furthermore, he really has a luxury climbing domestique by his side, with Intxausti. But almost the entire rest of the team - Carpenter, Ahmad Zamri, Dees and Juodvalkis - are decent climbers as well, so a lack of support could not be an excuse for failing! But well, he surely won't think of failing in his home race, on the contrary - can the home soil even give him enough of a boost to challenge Pluchkin?
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Even though he's slightly weaker on the climbs, beware of Mattia Cattaneo! The Italian is the strongest time trialist among the GC contenders - although just a tad faster than Pluchkin - and his stunning resistance might help him to keep up longer than expected on the uphills as well! What might hurt him, however, are the hilltop finishes, as he doesn't like those short inclines too much. But a decent acceleration could still help him to keep up with the strongest.
And as the two previously mentioned riders, he brings a great support cast for the mountains - Pomoshnikov and Stancu could be outright leaders in other teams. Domagalski and Matte will make sure the top domestiques won't have to step into action too early - a lot of depth once again!
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But almost as strong a time trialist is Ryan Eastman. The US American dominated the Continental Tour last year, and brings a skillset very similar to Cattaneo's. A tad quicker on the hills, a bit slower in time trials, and somewhat weaker in terms of physical stats - but definitely a podium contender as well!
However, while his top domestiques Suaza and Squire - with the latter being a great puncheur as well - are very strong, too, the rest of the team won't be able to provide much support on the uphills. Let's see if that's enough - especially if he should take the leader jersey early in the race.
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And we do yet have another 82 climber - Tim Wellens. While he matches Denifl on the hills - being among the strongest of those presented so far - he unfortunately matches him as well in terms of time trialing skills. Meaning that he'll likely lose some time on the final day. Can he make good use of the hilltop finish stages to get enough of a gap ahead of that final ITT? His great resistance might help him to ride up those hills at full speed all the way!
Again, he shouldn't be short of team support, both in the mountains and on the hills. Poljanski and Bernard can do both, while Hacecky and Shapira are rather specialists for the longer climbs. All in all, we can definitely speak of a very solid support cast once more!
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Let's go slightly down the ladder in terms of pure climbing skills, and we get to 2018 and 2019 runner-up Rigoberto Uran. Just like Pluchkin and Denifl, he went through his first decline this offseason, but still handles those uphills really well. Furthermore, he matches Eastman's time trialing skills, meaning he's among the strongest in this discipline - and despite his age, he has a great resistance, too. The hills won't scare him, either, as he almost matches Pluchkin there. Can he repeat his podium, or even step up one more spot?
One question will be if he'll get enough bananas in the mountains, as Ivanov and Martinez might just be at the lower end of those who could provide support on those long uphills. Compared to most other contenders presented so far, we have to speak of a rather weak team - how can the Colombian handle this?
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We then get to a great hybrid racer in Rasmus Guldhammer. While the Dane matches Uran's climbing skills, he's among the very best puncheurs among the GC contenders. However, in terms of time trialing he's just second tier - along with the likes of Denifl - so he'll have to make very good use of the hilly finishes in order to get a great final GC result! Having the best acceleration and the fastest sprint among these contenders will surely help, will it?
However, while we were talking of a rather weak support cast for Uran, we'll have to say there's none at all for the Dane. None of his teammates - and there are only 5 of them - is even a decent climber, so that might be a big, big disadvantage on those long climbs compared to his main competitors!
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Sergio Luis Henao Montoya is yet another climber in the 81 category, but he's weaker than Guldhammer on the hills and slower than Uran in time trials - hence presented after these two. His plus might be the combination of good resistance and acceleration, which could help him to keep up on those not too difficult hilly finishes.
With Bartl and future super-climber Aular, he can count on two solid domestiques in the mountains, while Minguez Ayala could pull him up the shorter climbs. This squad is definitely nothing to scoff at, but we've already seen better as well. Let's see if it's enough to cover their leader's weaknesses.
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While Hugh Carthy is a decent puncheur, he's the weakest time trialist presented so far, hence presented last in this group of climbers. However, we all know the season Farfetch have had so far - never ever underestimate any of their riders! Although it seems clear that he's yet another rider who has to make very good use of the hillier stages in order to get a great final result.
And at least on paper, his support team doesn't look very supportive, to be honest. Figueiredo sure is a decent climber, but no more. And then, there's not much more, neither for the mountains nor for the hills. But well, it's Farfetch 2020...
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Let's again go down in terms of pure climbing skills, as we arrive at level 80. We won't present Intxausti in detail, as he's mainly here to help Denifl - although with his good handling of the TT bike, he might be in for a Top 10 result as a team leader...
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So let's directly move on to Dominik Nerz, who - we already said it - finished inside these Top 10 last year, taking 7th place. While we already know everything about his climbing skills, in terms of time trialing we could call him Denifl-level as well. He is however somewhat weaker on the hills - and his resistance is only slightly higher than the Austrian's. But he's scored some good result already this year, so why not here? Maybe the German speaking spectators can motivate him further?
We know it - Kraftwerk don't have many stars, but a lot of depth. And so, every single of their riders has at least one of mountain or hill skills of at least 75 - De la Cruz as his main domestique has both. And all of them have both mountain and hill stats above 70 - that's some true depth! Maillet, Geniez and Tatarinov can climb well, too, while Denz, Moazemi and Scheit will rather help him on the hills - or go for line honors on their own. The team's the star, they say - for Kraftwerk this really seems appropriate.
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Daniel Martin cracked the Top 10 as well, taking 6th place last year. Compared to Denz, he's stronger on the hills - matching Denifl - but a bit weaker in TTs - matching Denifl as well. However, he's got much better resistance than the Austrian, and a really good acceleration as well. Whereas it might be hard to get a better result than 6th after his second decline, he could still have another Top 10 result in him - but the competition will be stiff!
Therefore, he'll be glad to count on the help of Borisavljevic in the mountains. Mat Senan and Fernandez should be able to support him as well, with the latter being his strongest helper on the hills. And bar time trialist Robert, all team members also have mountain and hill stats above 70, which sounds promising for a good team performance.
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Are you still with us? Two riders to go! Pierre Paolo Penasa comes first. He's one point lower than Martin both in hills and time trials, but his rather low resistance could be what keeps him from scoring a really great result. On the other hand, he matches Guldhammer's great acceleration, meaning that if he's in the fight for a stage win on the uphills, watch out for him! And we all know that bonus seconds can have a big impact in the end - can he get some?
At least, the vikings should provide him some good support in the mountains, with Gebremedhin, Hasta and Lehtinen. The support cast is about as good as Pluchkin's - but the leader might not be... But well, maybe they've found the right genetic sequences by know, to make him match the Moldovan superhuman?
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Superhuman is definitely not what describes Georg Preidler's time trialing skills. Without that final day, he might be the locals' second hope for a great result, but we all know he won't finish on the very top of the rankings. Although the time trial isn't very long, he will still lose a big bunch of time. However, being the strongest puncheur among the top GC contenders, he might at least go for a stage win. And who knows, maybe the home crowd can give him enough energy to still somehow get a Top 10 finish?
But actually, Konig - even though being "only" the backup leader - has already beaten his leader in some races this year. Will he at least support Preidler in his home race? He's the only rider on their lineup who could do so, with Robov being a good domestique for the hills.
After that much text, let's actually take a look at some numbers:
Rider
Mo
TT
Hi
Res
Acc
Pluchkin
84
78
74
77
73
Denifl
83
71
75
69
63
Cattaneo
82
79
70
80
70
Eastman
82
77
71
75
69
Wellens
82
72
75
80
68
Uran
81
77
73
80
70
Guldhammer
81
71
77
75
76
Henao Montoya
81
70
70
78
72
Carthy
81
67
75
76
69
Intxausti
80
75
69
75
67
Nerz
80
73
72
72
68
Martin
80
71
75
75
73
Penasa
80
70
74
72
76
Preidler
80
58
78
77
69
Abal
79
75
68
74
70
Latour
79
70
75
78
74
Pomoshnikov
79
64
74
76
66
Pantano Gomez
79
54
71
74
68
De la Cruz
78
74
75
76
73
Konig
78
73
74
74
65
Diaz
78
72
70
73
68
Suaza
78
71
63
73
76
Stancu
78
66
69
74
71
Nazaret
78
63
69
75
69
Roson
78
61
76
70
74
Now, let's move on to the stage win contenders. The ones for the mountains are listed above, so let's directly take a look at the best puncheurs having made their way to Austria:
Rider
Hi
Res
Acc
Mo
Preidler
78
77
69
80
Moazemi
78
72
73
73
Areruya
77
77
74
77
Guldhammer
77
75
76
81
Poljanski
77
70
71
77
Squire
77
70
71
77
Laas
76
73
76
74
Robov
76
73
71
72
Tanovitchii
76
72
71
68
Rodriguez Galindo
76
72
67
74
Carpenter
76
71
72
76
Scheit
76
71
71
72
Roson
76
70
74
78
Denz
76
70
73
74
Rodriguez
76
70
71
70
To the locals' great delight, this list sees their hero Preidler on top - meaning that none of the division's true top puncheurs are present this week. Well, it's pretty understandable, with one hilltop finish after a huge mountain, and another one on top of a rather lengthy ascent where the mountain skills might come into play, too.
But at least, this list shows us that some really strong hybrids (in addition to those presented as GC contenders) are participating in this race as well: Areruya, Poljanski, Squire, Carpenter and Roson - with the likes of Latour or De la Cruz just missing out on this list.
However, without a clear top puncheur, stages 4 and 5 could be wide open - maybe even to breakaways?
Let's then have a look at the presumed top contenders on stages 3 and 6 - the sprinters:
Rider
Spr
Acc
Res
Fl
Mo
Maksimov
81
84
69
72
53
Zabel
81
79
70
74
60
Ciolek
81
76
66
73
50
Kupfernagel
80
80
66
74
53
Havik
79
76
68
73
56
Vaquera
78
80
65
71
55
Hodeg
77
76
72
70
53
Favilli
76
74
67
71
63
Garcia Cortina
75
74
72
74
64
Just like for the puncheurs, we can't really speak of a strong sprinter field, either. Which isn't a huge surprise, with Olympia's Tour clashing, actually.
Nonetheless, for riders stand out: Maksimov and the three Germans Zabel, Ciolek and Kupfernagel, who almost have a home race here. Let's see if the others on the list will have a chance, too - with such a small sprinter field, it seems however not completely unlikely that even the breakaway could take the win on those stages.
If we included the mountain stat on this list, this isn't by accident. It just shows that it won't necessarily be a given that all of them actually survive the mountain stages! Whereas they should be fine on the first two stages - given that the tough mountains only come at the end - stage 4 with the early HC climb might be what they fear most. Let's see...
What we see as well is that Zabel with Favilli and especially Ciolek with Havik actually bring really strong leadout riders - will that make a difference?
Now let's look at those who will have to wait longest for their sole chance for a stage win - the time trialists:
Rider
TT
Res
Fl
Rec
Mo
Cattaneo
79
80
70
80
82
Goldstein
79
72
74
72
55
Robert
79
70
67
68
57
Pluchkin
78
77
73
77
84
Golovash
78
69
72
66
60
Uran
77
80
71
75
81
Dees
77
76
71
72
75
Verona
77
75
71
67
54
Eastman
77
75
70
76
82
Pokälä
77
73
70
73
64
Hussein
77
69
68
71
68
Nechita
76
71
74
71
63
De Bod
75
76
72
70
69
Intxausti
75
75
68
72
80
Jallays
75
74
75
73
61
Ahmad Zamri
75
74
70
75
75
Abal
75
74
66
71
79
Given that most pure time trialists don't like the mountains at all, it doesn't come as a surprise that none of the top specialists are present here. So the top favorites for the closing stage must be Cattaneo, as he'll surely use less energy on the previous stages than Goldstein or Robert - but watch out for Pluchkin, who won this time trial last year! With Uran and Eastman in the Top 10 on this list as well, this could really be one for the GC contenders!
And last but not least, let's mention the rising stars - the U25 contenders:
Rider
Mo
TT
Hi
Res
Acc
Min
77
66
74
76
64
Aular
77
66
69
72
68
Areruya
77
65
77
77
74
Schleck
77
53
73
71
73
Dulanjana
74
74
72
71
61
Habtemichael
74
70
71
70
65
Almeida
74
67
67
74
70
Williams
74
66
70
74
70
Areruya should probably be the favorite here, being the strongest hybrid rider and about as strong as Min and Aular in time trials - but most importantly, being the uncontested leader of his team. Sure, Schleck matches his skills on the long uphills - but he's the single worst time trialist of the whole peloton.
Min might lead his team as well, in which case he could even have a shot at the win as well, but at least at the podium. Or will someone take the white jersey from a strong breakaway ride? We'll see.
And that's pretty much all you have to know pre-race. Except for the startlist, of course, which comes here!
We do have four Austrians competing in this race, whereof two are among the strongest climbers - Denifl and Preidler. Salzmann and neo-pro Gall are here to get some experience and to support their leaders.
I actually tried to make shorter reports this time - but failed. So all stages but the two flat ones will have two-part reports once again... Sorry guys!
Romandie's performance was definately encouraging for Preidler. If he has enough buffer come the final TT, he may make it, but I'm not so sure. Though I'd fancy a stage win or two from him.
Konig didn't had his best days in Ukraine, but he serves as the "insurance policy" for the team in this race like in California.
Thill and Robov could be contenders for the KoM jersey as seen from their performances in the last few races. But they'll go against stiff competition from other KoM contenders like Ivanov and Le Court
There's a non-zero chance that Steimle might actually sprint for Podium Ambition on the two flat stages with that startlist.
That alone would get me interested in this race, but then there's this preview to top it off!
You've jinxed us now Fabianski, finally our luck will run out after you pointed it out in the preview
A top 10 is the aim for Carthy here, but we need selective mountain and hill stages to achieve that realistically. Our depth is maligned with good reason - although why waste money on domestiques for a guy who isn't ever a top 5 climber in any race he enters - but Figueiredo normally excels in these kind of races as a Zubeldia type riding to a top 20. I'm also not sure why we didn't send a sprinter here, but hopefully it means we try and go in the break for once.
I have to say I'm glad to not see ourselves embroiled in this clusterfest of top GC contenders. So much quality.
Going to be tough for us to find our footing here. Sprints and U25 are our goals , but even there our chances look flimsy so any points are good points for us really.
Thanks for another amazing preview and another race Fab!
Another year in PCT, another entry into Osterreich, another line-up with no Bennett. Hope JA can fill his shoes decently enough and win that U25 jersey.
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant." [ICL] Santos-Euskadi | [PT] Xero Racing
Good to great start for us, Denifl losing by inches sucks but it's an encouraging sign. Need to get the rest of the guys up to top 50, as we wanna score a ton of points here as it's one of last few Denifl RDs.
Gotta hope Stage 2 goes same way, just a few inches better and we're golden
Kraftwerk involved in controlling the race, always a good sign. Nerz got great support, shame he just lost the wheel in the last km but he is fighting for a top 10. 5th in Teams is encouraging.
Int. Österreich-Rundfahrt 
Brajkovic still is in the MGUCI database, but didn't get a contract anymore.
