Bob Jungels won the fifth and final stage of the Tour of Austria. The Luxembourger was part of the early breakaway and took the stage with an impressive long solo effort. He crossed the line nearly two minutes ahead of the peloton. There was no battle for the overall win, allowing Isaac Del Toro to finish comfortably. The Mexican rider made a perfect return to racing after narrowly missing out on the Giro d’Italia overall win earlier this year.
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One, two, three, four. Yes indeed, today marks four wins in a row for UAE Team Emirates-XRG in Austria. Felix Grossschartner won the opening stage, and Isaac Del Toro followed up with three consecutive victories. On the queen stage to the Kühtai Pass, he also claimed the leader’s jersey. That meant UAE’s goal in the final hilly stage was simple: defend the overall lead.
The early breakaway was strong, just like in the queen stage. Sean Quinn (EF Education-EasyPost) and Bob Jungels (INEOS Grenadiers) were there, along with Christopher Juul-Jensen (Jayco-AlUla) and Luca Vergallito (Alpecin–Deceuninck). On the Furka pass, a climb of more than 20 kilometers, they built up a solid lead. UAE Team Emirates controlled things behind and didn’t see much danger in the break. Nor in the Italian Vergallito, who was four minutes behind in the GC.
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Jungels is flying, but what about the GC guys?
The break got a good gap, but it started to shrink in the final 50 kilometers. Jungels didn’t like that and attacked with 40 km to go. The Luxembourger dropped everyone. Only Vergallito was able to follow at a suitable distance. Jungels even extended his lead on the peloton, where EF Education-EasyPost also started to pull. But the former Liège-Bastogne-Liège winner was in top form.
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In the main group, things stayed calm. The bunch thinned out, but no one made a move for the leader’s jersey. The hardest part of the stage came early, and the final kilometers weren’t tough enough to encourage any late attacks. Vergallito was reeled in, but Jungels still had over two minutes. He took the stage with a powerful show of strength. Rui Costa (EF Education) finished second, ahead of Florian Vermeersch (UAE).
Bram van der Ploeg (35) is the proud founder of In de Leiderstrui, IDL Pro Cycling's parent site, launched in 2018. Finally, he could create stories about the sport he had followed since childhood. He is the editor-in-chief on paper, but prefers to be with his recorder next to a rider, a team bus, or in the mud at a cyclocross race. Every year, from February to the end of May, Bram follows the entire Italian cycling season, from the Trofeo Laigueglia to the Giro d'Italia, with the grand finale in October in Lombardy. During that time, he lives in Tuscany, where he has since come to call Italy his 'home'.
Bob Jungels 🇱🇺 a remporté en solitaire la dernière étape du #TourofAustria 🇦🇹 en lâchant ses 3 compagnons de fugue (Zoidl, Vergallito et Quinn) loin de l'arrivée. Isaac Del Toro 🇲🇽 a remporté le classement général final en finissant dans le peloton à 1'45"