Ladies and gentlemen, for the last time this year it's: Servus & sans griesst in Österreich! The decisive stage is upon us - an almost 25km long individual time trial. No helpers, no slipstream - everyone has to show on his own what's left in his legs!
Just like yesterday, we're in Podersdorf am See, on the shores of Lake Neusiedl. Start and finish will both be here, allowing the fans to see the riders twice. The route first leads us southwards, to Illmitz, where we'll have an intermediate time check in front of the local national park's information center.
Then, it's all the way back northwards - and even slightly further than just to the start line. All in all, it's a pan-flat course, perfectly suited to all the time trialists around!
And so, let's take a look at those specialists - and at the Top 20 of the current GC!
Rank
Time Difference
Rider
TT
Res
Fl
Rec
158
+ 1h58'07
Verona
77
75
71
67
157
+ 1h57'49
Robert
79
70
67
68
154
+ 1h44'17
Goldstein
79
72
74
72
139
+ 1h03'29
Golovash
78
69
72
66
133
+ 55'54
Hussein
77
69
68
71
131
+ 52'54
Jallays
75
74
75
73
128
+ 51'01
Nechita
76
71
74
71
126
+ 50'48
Pokälä
77
73
70
73
88
+ 21'44
De Bod
75
76
72
70
63
+ 13'29
Ahmad Zamri
75
74
70
75
39
+ 9'26
Dees
77
76
71
72
20
+ 5'26
Gebremedhin
64
74
69
76
19
+ 5'22
De la Cruz
74
76
69
75
18
+ 5'01
Pomoshnikov
64
76
71
74
17
+ 4'47
Min
66
76
68
69
16
+ 4'17
Abal
75
74
66
71
15
+ 3'18
Areruya
65
77
72
77
14
+ 3'16
Uran
77
80
71
75
13
+ 2'50
Martin
71
75
68
73
12
+ 2'49
Intxausti
75
75
68
72
11
+ 2'31
Henao Montoya
70
78
69
75
10
+ 2'31
Penasa
70
72
70
77
9
+ 2'25
Nerz
73
72
70
74
8
+ 2'17
Carthy
67
76
71
78
7
+ 2'12
Guldhammer
71
75
68
74
6
+ 1'59
Cattaneo
79
80
70
80
5
+ 1'59
Eastman
77
75
70
76
4
+ 1'59
Latour
70
78
69
80
3
+ 1'44
Denifl
71
69
69
74
2
+ 40
Wellens
72
80
72
76
1
27h25'35
Pluchkin
78
77
73
77
The first 8 riders on the list all are in the bottom 35 of the GC, hence one of them will likely set the early best time. We can also see that several Top 20 riders are very competent time trialists - especially Abal and Uran will be hoping to climb up a few spots. Intxausti should have a great shot at making it two DK - SVA Zalgiris riders in the Top 10, which would of course be a great result for them!
While it's highly unlikely that Pluchkin will be in danger today - last year he won this final stage - the fight for the remaining podium spots could be tense! While Wellens should have good cards in the fight for 2nd, Denifl will probably have a hard time battling against Eastman and especially Cattaneo, who is among the strongest time trialists at the start line today!
But well, after a whole week of racing, pure TT strength is not necessarily all that counts. But more bad news for the Austrian - Cattaneo also recovers like pretty much no-one else... The stage is set for a great race, that's for sure!
Let's take a look at what the bookies think. On top of their list: Cattaneo, Pluchkin and Uran, who likely is so high up due to his great resistance. With Goldstein and Robert, we have two early starters taking the next spots, along with Dees. Eastman is the final GC rider listed, along with Golovash, Verona and Pokälä.
Red lantern Ciolek is getting ready to launch this final stage of the 2020 Österreich-Rundfahrt. It's yet another sunny day here in Austria - but as you can see on the map, there's plenty of wind blowing at the seashore! In fact, the riders will mainly have to face crosswinds for most of the stage, but it will partly be headwinds on the way to the time check, and therefore partly tailwinds on the way back. Let's hope the conditions at least remain stable, so we have a fair race for everyone!
The German will definitely struggle to get rid of the last GC place, as the man starting next is on the bookies' Top 10 list. Verona sets an intermediate time of 12'59" - which is 1'41" faster than Ciolek, i.e. he has already almost caught up.
Robert is a slightly faster time trialist on paper - and also on the road, by the time check. He lowers the best time by 4", to 12'55".
And Goldstein is among the very early startes as well, with only 5 riders having been worse than him in the GC so far. He'll probably not be among the worst 5 tonight, as he loses just 2" on the best time. 2nd place for him so far.
That's already the end of this tour for Verona, as he's easily the first rider reaching the finish line today. Let's see how long his time of 29'58" will stand!
Ciolek is of course no reference for him, the German loses 3'17" and will likely be at the other end of the table by the end of the stage...
However, Robert was 4" faster about half-way through the race - and he kept up his good pace! His time of 29'46" means he went 12" faster than Verona, taking over the hot seat!
We didn't really have Schomber on the list, but the German currently holds the 4th intermediate time, being the only one to more or less keep up with the specialists. At the finish line, his deficit has grown to 41", which is easily 3rd place so far.
Well, it obviously isn't anymore as Goldstein crosses the line. The Israeli was only two seconds down in Illmitz - and it's 4" at the finish line. 2nd place for him.
Golovash is the next stage win contender out on the road, and he posts the 4th time in Illmitz, just 5" down. However, the wind has increased in strength, from 24 to 31km/h - meaning he faced more headwind on the first part, but might benefit from a little more support on the way back to Podersdorf.
The same obviously holds for Kenian ITT champion Hussein. However, he can't quite keep up with the Ukranian. Although he posts the 5th time, he's already 14" off the best mark. Which is 4" faster than Schomber, behind whom we have a gap of more than 20" to 7th placed Maksimov at this point. Meaning that the points jersey should definitely be sealed for Pluchkin.
Jallays isn't among the best time trialists, but is no slouch, either. Given his time trial skills, the 20" deficit he has at the intermediate time probably is a slight disappointment. Let's see if he can use the stronger tail-cross-winds in his favor on the next 14km!
Golovash did well on the first section - and apparently on the second one, too! He get's really close to the best time... 29'40" ... 29'41" ... 29'42" ... 29'43" ... 29'44" ... 29'45" - we have a new leader! The Ukranian beats Robert by less than a second, but it's good enough for the hot seat! And it's great news for Pluchkin, who sees that the team's setup must be great today!
Unnoticed by the cameras, we had Vanderpool setting a decent intermediate time, somewhere behind the top guns and "the rest". 29" back currently is 8th place. Which is exactly the same time Nechita posts - which definitely is really disappointing by the Romanian!
Pokälä does slightly better, but 21" is surely a much bigger time loss than what he was hoping for. He takes over that same 8th place with this time.
Stoenchev wasn't on any favorites list - but the Bulgarian ITT champion does pretty well. 9th place for him, 26" down. Admittedly, the wind has again slightly decreased, so he might have had an easier job on the first part - but will have less wind support on his way back.
Jallays wasn't great on the first section, but only lost 8" on the way back, probably still benefitting from the stronger (partial) tailwinds. A deficit of 28" currently is 6th place - 12" behind Hussein (who unfortunately finished under the radar of our cameras), 13" ahead of Schomber.
Vanderpool at least is caught by the cameras when crossing the finish line, posting the 8th time so far. 48" is the deficit on the leader, and 24" the advantage on the next rider, Maksimov. Who definitely won't win the points jersey, that's clear by now.
Nechita posted the same intermediate time as Vanderpool - and by the finish line, the two are only separated by 2". In the Romanian's favor, who therefore again takes over 8th place from the Barbadian ITT champion.
Pokälä had a rather disappointing first part - but he somewhat redeemed himself on the second section as well. Just like Jallays, he lost 8" on his way back - meaning he comes one second short of the Belgian's time. 7th place for the Finn, 29" down.
Thill is another one of those riders who might pull off a surprise result, being just outside the category of listed riders in the preview. The Luxembourgian double-champion posts the 9th intermediate time, 22" off Robert's pace, who's still leading at this point.
However, De Bod does even much better - the South African only loses 7" so far, which is the 5th time in Illmitz!
And Bille is doing a decent race as well, but rather in the Thill region. He loses one second less, i.e. 10th place with a 21" deficit, right ahead of the Luxembourger.
Stoenchev actually proves the wind theory, i.e. he had less resistance on the way to Illmitz, but as well less help on the way back. He loses two spots and finishes 11th so far, 53" behind Golovash.
And what about Thill? Well, he constantly lost time - but no spot. He loses 42" on the day, which is current 9th place for him.
Then we have De Bod crossing the finish line. The South African only trailed by 7" at the time check - could he even gain back some time?
Well, no. But he went on to finish on a great virtual 5th place, only 13" off the lead, beating Hussein by one second! Well done, I'd dare to say!
And how did Bille do on the second part? Pretty well, as he matches Pokälä's time for 8th - or rather, he even was a few milliseconds faster! A good performance from him as well - maybe benefitting on his way back from the wind getting stronger again!
"Stronger wind" is surely not what Ahmad Zamri wanted to hear - but it's a fact. The Malaysian TT champion won't be happy with the 12th intermediate time (+ 24"), but maybe he can gain back some time on the remaining kilometers?
Domagalski wasn't on the favorites list as well, but the Pole actually posts a better time than Ahmad Zamri - by two seconds. A deficit of 22" currently means 11th place, a few fractions ahead of Thill.
If Ahmad Zamri couldn't deliver, it's maybe Dees's turn to save the team result? So far, he does pretty well, posting the 6th intermediate time, only 10" off the lead.
When speaking of him, here's the Malysian champion crossing the finish line. And while he didn't gain back any time on a flying Golovash, at least he climbed up two spots. He finishes provisional 10th, 37" down.
Which he however loses soon after, as Domagalski beats him by one second. 10th place for the Pole, 36" back.
Let's just take a break from the strongest time trialists and take a look at the battle for 3rd in the U25 standings. It's Aular vs Schleck, with the Ugandan bringing a 31" advantage into this stage.
Aular is 43rd at the split time, 54" behind the best. And as Schleck crosses the line with a 2'28" deficit, he has already lost his podium spot by more than a minute - and surely won't gain it back.
But now let's get back to the top contenders - and just in time, as Dees flies toward the finish line! He was 6th, 10" back in Illmitz - and he's still 10" back at the finish line, which is 4th place for the Dutchman! A great time - and maybe the attack for the lead in the team standings?
And now, with only the Top 25 yet to start their race, let's take a look at the current Top 20 at both the time check and the finish line:
We pick up again with a rider outside the GC Top 20, given that he posts a good time: Faiers even enters the Top 10, posting the 8th time so far. He loses 17" - probably favored by the again weaker winds on his way to Illmitz.
Someone who does similarly well - actually even slightly better - is Konig. With the 7th intermediate time (+ 12"), he should have good chances of improving by one spot and entering the GC Top 20!
And given that Gebremedhin, who holds that exact 20th place, was only 13" ahead pre-stage and now crosses the line at the split with a 1'09" deficit, the Czech should actually achieve what must be the bare minimum goal for his team.
De la Cruz may not be his team's best placed rider in the GC, but he likely is their strongest time trialist. And this shows: 5th place at the time check, only 6" down on Robert!
Which means that he'll likely overtake at least Pomoshnikov in the GC, as the Russian only posts the 55th time, 55" off the leading pace.
Min's Korean ITT champion jersey doesn't necessarily mean he's a great specialist of the discipline - he's rather not, actually. Still, despite losing 54" by the intermediate time check, he's still on a safe way to 2nd in the U25 standings - as it's unlikely he'll gain 90 seconds on Areruya today.
Abal's race definitely wasn't as good as he had hoped for so far - he's clearly on the declining edge of his career. However, he still has some good races in his legs - like today, as he posts the 4th intermediate time, only 4" off the lead!
However, he needs to gain a minute on Areruya to gain just one spot - a mission that seems to be possible, given that the Rwandan is clocked with a 43" deficit at that point! Still, he's faster than Min, therefore further extending his lead in the U25 standings.
Uran definitely is a man on a mission - and his mission is to at least get a GC Top 10, after he came 2nd last year. It's a failed race for him anyway, but he still wants to save what's possible to save. With 3rd place at the time check - 3" behind Robert - he surely is on track!
It's a long time that we haven seen any pictures from the finish line - here we go, as Faiers concludes his Österreich-Rundfahrt! However, while the weaker wind favored him on the first section, it rather was a disadvantage on the way back. He drops from 8th to 11th, losing a total of 33".
The next rider at the split time then is Irish veteran Martin. He isn't among the best nor among the worst time trialists - but he does a good job so far. 12th place for him, with only 16" lost - which however means he has lost half his advantage on Uran so far!
Intxausti surely aims higher than just keeping his position - and he only needs to gain 18" to enter the Top 10! So far, this looks pretty good, as he posts the 7th time, with only 5" off the lead!
Which means that he has already overtaken Henao Montoya by one second, as the Colombian crosses the line with a 24" deficit. Does he have enough left to gain back this spot?
We're terribly sorry, but somehow our cameras missed the arrival of Konig. He actually shares Faiers' fate, losing some spots on the second section. The Czech finishes 11th, 31" down.
We do however have pictures of De la Cruz finishing his race, having overtaken Gebremedhin on the final meters. He loses 3 spots as well, dropping from 5th to 8th - but with a loss of just 20", that's still a good performance!
Gebremedhin, on the other hand, clearly doesn't like those races against the clock. He concedes more than two minutes today: 90th place with a 2'28" deficit. Which means that both Faiers and Konig have overtaken him in the GC - it will very likely not be a Top 20 for the Swede.
Unfortunately, Gebremedhin's team leader Penasa isn't a rider who particularly likes the time trial bike, either. But his intermediate time is still disappointing: 28th place, 28" down. Which means that Intxausti has already left him behind as well - and Martin only trails him by 7" by this point!
Nerz is doing much better, as expected. The German is on a good way to defend his GC Top 10, losing 12" so far. That's provisional 11th place.
Someone who might struggle staying inside the Top 10 though is Carthy. The Brit is already 32" behind, which is only good enough for 35th place. Meaning that Nerz has already flown past him in the virtual GC. Intxausti at 5" and Henao Montoya at 6" are already pretty close, too...
One more rider is done with his Österreich-Rundfahrt: Pomoshnikov also loses a lot of time, conceding 2'04" to Golovash today. Provisional 75th place for him. Meaning he drops behind De la Cruz - the virtual GC leader - and Konig, and exactly matches Faiers' overall time! The Russian is ranked ahead, though, hence at least defending a Top 20 spot!
Min is the next to return his Bib to the race organizers. He's two seconds faster than Pomoshnikov, hence remaining ahead in the GC as well. He'll finish at least 19th, and very, very likely 2nd in the U25 standings.
Abal had a great first section, trailing by just 4" in Illmitz! And how did he do on the return?
Well, as most riders before him, he lost some spots. He takes provisional 7th place on the stage, losing 15" on Golovash. And thereby of course is the new provisional GC leader!
We're getting closer and closer to the definite decision of the race. Guldhammer is 7th in the GC, trailing the trio on 4th to 6th by only 14". He posts the 11th intermediate time, 12" behind - let's see if that's enough to challenge at least Latour - the two others should be out of reach for him.
Wow! Cattaneo is not just slightly out of reach - he's having a stellar ride so far! He lowers the best time by 7 seconds - which is the same time gap as we now have between 2nd and 10th! The best time now stands at 12'48" - let's see if the next starter can challenge that!
Eastman is indeed having a great ride as well - and he posts the 2nd time! However, he's already 6" down - can he turn this around on the second part? Given their level today, at least the stronger of them should have a sure GC podium awaiting!
But first, we have Areruya securing his win in the U25 standings. Although he only gets the 12th time among the youngsters today - in total, that's 51st place with a 1'38" deficit - he easily wins this competition, almost two minutes ahead of Min.
In the GC, however, he isn't able to fend off Abal and loses one spot to the Spaniard.
Colombian ITT champion Uran however doesn't just want to defend his spot - he wants to gain some! With his 3rd place at the time check (which obviously is 5th by now), he had a great first section - and a decent second one. He slots into 5th place, 11" off the still leading time posted by Golovash a long time ago.
Of course, that's the virtual GC lead for him - now he has to wait and see if and how many spots he can gain...
Martin was 26" ahead pre-stage, had lost half of his advantage on Uran by the split time - and now?
He loses a total of 30" on the Colombian, which means he drops behind him by just 4". Which is provisional 19th place of the day, 41" down - surely a good time trial for him, but a bummer that he loses a spot by so little.
Latour was the highest ranked of that trio - but he'll surely be the lowest by the end of the day. The Frenchman isn't known to be a good time trialist - but a 34" deficit by this point is still too much. Only 31st place for him - meaning he has already dropped behind Guldhammer, and obviously Cattaneo and Eastman.
Denifl isn't much better on paper - and he's in fact even worse! He loses one second more, taking 33rd place - meaning he has by far lost his podium spot already now! Let's hope he doesn't completely break down and at least can salvage a Top 10 in his home race!
Wellens then has a much bigger advantage on Cattaneo and Eastman - more than a minute. So far, it's looking like he could hold onto his 2nd GC place, losing 27" by the time check. That's 21st place - a solid ride by him.
Intxausti had the Top 10 as his personal goal - one that he really could achieve! With his current 10th place, losing 20", he definitely had a good day and takes over the virtual GC lead from Uran by 18"!
The first rider he was aiming to overtake is Henao Montoya - and he does! The Colombian loses 59" on the day, and drops even behind his compatriot Uran - by 3 seconds! Which is still one second ahead of Martin - it's a really close call for those spots between 10 and 15 - or even slightly higher?
Next at the finish line is Penasa, who started the day with exactly the same time as Henao Montoya. He had a slightly slower intermediate time, though - could he gain back those 4"?
On the contrary, he lost four more seconds (39th, + 1'07") - which sees him drop behind Intxausti, Uran, Henao Montoya and Martin to virtual 5th place. This means that Intxausti will definitely finish the race inside the GC Top 10!
The last rider at the time check is race leader Pluchkin, who obviously continues his domintation by posting... wait... something must be wrong with our computers! But no, Radio Tour communicates the same time - the Moldovan is only 11th after section 1, 14" behind Cattaneo!
While his lead obviously isn't endangered by any means, this surely isn't how he imagined ending the race! Can he at least get into the Top 10, he who won this same stage a year ago?
Now that all the riders have been clocked in Illmitz, let's take a look at the final Top 20 at that point - and at the current positions in the GC battle!
Informationszentrum
1.
Cattaneo
12'48"
11.
Pluchkin
+ 14"
2.
Eastman
+ 6"
12.
De Bod
+ 14"
3.
Robert
+ 7"
13.
Dees
+ 17"
4.
Goldstein
+ 9"
14.
Guldhammer
+ 19"
5.
Uran
+ 10"
15.
Nerz
+ 19"
6.
Verona
+ 11"
16.
Konig
+ 19"
7.
Abal
+ 11"
17.
Hussein
+ 21"
8.
Golovash
+ 12"
18.
Martin
+ 23"
9.
Intxausti
+ 12"
19.
Faiers
+ 24"
10.
De la Cruz
+ 13"
20.
Schomber
+ 25"
Virtual GC at Informationszentrum
1.
Pluchkin
27h38'37"
-
11.
Henao Montoya
+ 2'48"
-
2.
Wellens
+ 53"
-
12.
Penasa
+ 2'52"
2
3.
Cattaneo
+ 1'45"
3
13.
Martin
+ 2'59"
-
4.
Eastman
+ 1'51"
1
14.
Uran
+ 3'12"
-
5.
Denifl
+ 2'05"
2
15.
Areruya
+ 3'54"
-
6.
Guldhammer
+ 2'17"
1
16.
Abal
+ 4'14"
-
7.
Latour
+ 2'19"
3
17.
De la Cruz
+ 5'21"
2
8.
Nerz
+ 2'30"
1
18.
Min
+ 5'34"
1
9.
Carthy
+ 2'42"
1
19.
Konig
+ 5'44"
2
10.
Intxausti
+ 2'47"
2
20.
Pomoshnikov
+ 5'49"
2
We see a lot of movement inside the Top 10 - as could be expected, with three riders on s.t. before the stage, thereof the worst time trialist ranked on top ( Latour). And the scenario all Austrians were afraid of indeed seems to materialize - it is highly unlikely that Denifl can claim back his podium spot on the last few kilometers. But who knows?
Nerz was on track to improve on last year's 7th place until his off-day on stage 5 - and now he tries to at least salvage a Top 10 spot. The intermediate time looked good - and so does his finish time. Although his second section was worse than the first one as well, he finishes 16th, 33" down - and takes the virtual GC lead from Intxausti!
Carthy on the other hand is suffering much more, and had already lost one spot at the time check. He can afford a final time of 30'55" to match Uran's overall time - whom he has to beat to retain his Top 10 place!
30'52" ... 30'53" ... 30'54" ... 30'55" ... 3'56" ... he finally stops the clock at 31'01" - and as it's so close in that region of the virtual GC standings, he drops all the way down to 6th - 6" behind Uran, 3" behind Henao Montoya, and 2" behind Martin! Nerz and Intxausti obviously are ahead, too. A really bad final day for the Brit!
Half way through the race, Guldhammer was doing much better, having already gained a spot in the virtual GC by then. He was exactly on par with Nerz in Illmitz, defending his 13" lead - and now?
Well, he again posts the same time as the German, meaning he will at least defend his 7th GC place, and takes over the virtual lead by these 13"! 6 riders remaining - and next is the high-flyer of the first section...
Here he already is - Cattaneo is flying towards the line! Has he lost some time on his way back due to the lack of wind support?
Not at all - he has extended his lead by 10", and posts a stellar new best time of 29'27"! Which means that the Italian now leads the virtual GC by more than a minute ahead of Guldhammer - and the only one who might prevent him from winning the stage - and from a likely GC podium - is already within sight!
And here's Eastman, who trailed Cattaneo by 6" at the split time! The clock is ticking down for him... 29'23" ... 29'24" ... 29'25" ... 29'26" ... 29'27" ... 29'28" - but he still has 150m to go! Finally, the US-American posts the 3rd time of the day - matching Golovash's time, but being some fractions behind! So the new order is Cattaneo - Golovash - Eastman!
And while this is a great performance, it might not be enough for a GC podium - let's see how the remaining riders do!
Latour didn't have a good intermediate time, so he surely won't be in the fight for a GC podium this year. As he gets the 39th time of the day, 1'17" behind Cattaneo, he can't gain back the spots he had already lost by the intermediate time.
On the contrary - he has the exact same overall time as Nerz! But here he's truly lucky, as the officials award him 4th place instead of the German, so he "only" loses these 3 spots.
Only 3 riders left - now it's all about the podium fight!
First comes local hero Denifl! He had an almost perfect start into the race, taking 2nd place on the opening day - but finally lost some time on that hilly stage 5. And today, he never was up to the task of defending his podium spot, unfortunately.
He posts the provisional 41st time, 1'19" off the (winning?) pace. Which makes him drop behind Cattaneo and Eastman, obviously - but also behind Guldhammer, by a mere second! It looks like he'll finally take 6th - surely not what the home crowd was hoping for after his brilliant start!
Wellens was well on track for defending his 2nd GC place half-way through the race. He was 1'19" ahead of Cattaneo pre-stage - how much does he lose today?
Well, it's a lot - more than a minute, actually! The Belgian takes provisonal 28th place, with a deficit of 1'02" - meaning he fends off the flying Italian by 17 seconds! Well done!
At the split time, it looked like Pluchkin didn't have the best of days today - was he able to turn things around on the closing kilometers?
The answer is No - on the contrary! He even loses one more spot and finishes outside the Top 10 of the day, taking only 12th place! What was this?
Well, in a few hours time he surely won't care anymore, as by crossing the finish line he sealed his third GC win in a row - so he's no longer the only rider having won twice, but three times! Hat-trick!
However, the line honors belong to someone else today - and rightfully so, as Mattia Cattaneo just rode at least one level above the rest! He made it clear right from the start that he was the boss, and never left any doubt about today's stage winner. Congratulations to MOL for their second stage win!
Oleksandr Golovash was one of the rather early starters, and he fully made use of the great conditions that pushed him towards the finish line. Although he lost 18", this still was enough for 2nd place.
The same time was posted again almost at the end of the race, by Ryan Eastman. However, he's ranked behind and has to be content with 3rd place.
Let's take a look at today's full Top 20:
Podersdorf am See
1.
Cattaneo
29'27"
11.
Hussein
+ 35"
2.
Golovash
+ 18"
12.
Pluchkin
+ 37"
3.
Eastman
+ 18"
13.
De la Cruz
+ 38"
4.
Robert
+ 19"
14.
Intxausti
+ 38"
5.
Goldstein
+ 23"
15.
Jallays
+ 47"
6.
Dees
+ 28"
16.
Bille
+ 47"
7.
Uran
+ 29"
17.
Pokälä
+ 47"
8.
Verona
+ 31"
18.
Konig
+ 49"
9.
De Bod
+ 31"
19.
Faiers
+ 51"
10.
Abal
+ 33"
20.
Nerz
+ 51"
So the gap between 1st and 2nd is the same as between 2nd and 11th - which only shows how Cattaneo was simply superior today!
It obviously was by far not the best time trial Aleksandr Pluchkin has ever delivered - but it was easily enough to secure his 3rd GC win in a row! Congratulations for an amazing win streak - 3 GC wins in as many years, along with 7 stage wins - the legend is rocking Austria!
Tim Wellens was just as consistent as the Moldovan throughout the race - in the end he, he just came short of winning by 1'05". Which is equivalent to two stage win's bonus seconds, and a 25" loss in today's time trial. The Belgian likely got the optimum out of his skillset - great job!
This can be said as well of Mattia Cattaneo, who was today's outstanding rider, winning the stage by a great margin - and had the race been some kilometers longer, he might even have moved up to 2nd. Still, a GC podium along with a stage win should be an acceptable result for him!
And now, let's look at the final Top 20, and how many spots they gained/lost today:
Final GC
1.
Pluchkin
27h55'39"
-
11.
Henao Montoya
+ 3'11"
-
2.
Wellens
+ 1'05"
-
12.
Martin
+ 3'12"
1
3.
Cattaneo
+ 1'22"
3
13.
Carthy
+ 3'14"
5
4.
Eastman
+ 1'40"
1
14.
Penasa
+ 3'19"
4
5.
Guldhammer
+ 2'26"
2
15.
Abal
+ 4'13"
1
6.
Denifl
+ 2'27"
3
16.
Areruya
+ 4'37"
1
7.
Latour
+ 2'39"
3
17.
De la Cruz
+ 5'23"
2
8.
Nerz
+ 2'39"
1
18.
Konig
+ 5'51"
3
9.
Intxausti
+ 2'50"
3
19.
Min
+ 6'30"
2
10.
Uran
+ 3'08"
4
20.
Pomoshnikov
+ 6'46"
2
But Aleksandr Pluchkin wouldn't be Aleksandr Pluchkin if he was content with just the GC win and two stages - he actually makes it three points jerseys in a row, too! Unnecessary to say that he's the only rider in this race's history having accomplished that - no-one else even won it more than once...
His 71 points were easily enough to outscore the MOL duo of Roman Maksimov and Mattia Cattaneo by 26 points. It's surely a nice points haul for the Hungarian outfit, too!
We already knew before this stage that Ruben Fernandez would go home with the KoM jersey. He collected enough points to take it over from runner-up Florian Scheit on stage 4, and then sealed it one day later.
Jarlinson Pantano Gomez scored all his points on day 4 - which was enough for 3rd place, three points behind stage 2 winner Scheit.
Joseph Areruya was the outright favorite for the U25 jersey - and he delivered. He always was a tad stronger than Kyeng Ho Min when there were time differences, finally totalling a 1'53" advantage on the Korean.
3rd place goes to Orluis Aular, who leaves behind pre-stage 3rd Schleck by more than 2 minutes in the end - in fact, even Dulanjana went past the Ugandan.
With two Africans, two Asians and a South American in the Top 5, the future doesn't look too bright for Europe, it seems...
They had a 4'16" lead before the stage, and as Kraftwerk Man Machine only lost 43 seconds of it, they are the clear winners of the team standings! Their team depth was outstanding on several stages - but the main difference was created on stage 2, which they won from the breakaway with Scheit.
DK - SVA Zalgiris were definitely having an amazing race, too, leaving Austria with two riders in the GC Top 10! Still, they weren't able to make up for that stage 2 deficit, finishing the team standings in 2nd place.
Thanks to an amazing performance from Cattaneo today, MOL were able to cut their deficit on 2nd place in half - but they still end up 3rd. Nonetheless, it's a few additional points for them.
We then have both Desigual and Fablok - Chocolate Jacques with a deficit of 5'52" - the best three finishes per team of each stage therefore have to be taken as a tie-breaker! This one rules in favor of... Fablok, by 564 : 945.
And that's all, friends! We have seven days of great racing behind us - with a worthy winner in Pluchkin, who once again left no real chance to the others. Let's see if he can get a fourth win next year, or if the youth finally strikes back! Goodbye!
Int. Österreich-Rundfahrt 
