Tour of Austria

Stage 2: Landeck to  Kitzbüheler Horn, 173.9km/108mi

By Cathy Mehl

Italian rider Riccardo Ricco (Ceramica Flamina) took his fourth win of the season when he charged up the Kitzbüheler Horn to take the victory in the second stage of the Tour of Austria on Monday.  Ricco also grabbed the leader’s jersey from also taking over the leader's jersey from Andre Greipel (HTC-Columbia).   He beat  Carmio Oro NGC teammates Emanuele Sella and Sergio Pardilla by 53 seconds.

Best in the stage for Team RadioShack was Tiago Machado, who found decent climbing legs to claim fifth place.  He holds the same slot on the classification, with teammates Ben Hermanns and Ivan Rovny following in the top 20. 

The break of the day went to Michael Schär (BMC), Giampaolo Cheula (Footon-Servetto) and Edoardo Giraradi (Ceramica Flaminia).  Despite plenty of rain and wind on course, the trio stayed away until the final climb of the Kitzbüheler Horn.  Quick-Step chased and the field was all together at the start of the climb but as soon as the pitch went up, riders were dropped as Ricco led the charge up the climb.  The controversial rider never looked back and seized control of the race by almost one minute.

Racing continues on Tuesday with the peloton rolling135km from  Kitzbühel to  Lienz.  

Top Ten Results

1  RICCO, Riccardo FLM Ceramica Fl 04.24.22

2  SELLA, Emanuele CMO Carmiooro N  00.53

3  PARDILLA, Sergio CMO Carmiooro N  00.53

4  POSSONI, Morris SKY Professiona  01.43

5 MACHADO, Tiago RSH Team Radios  02.11

6 AUGUSTYN, John Lee SKY Professiona  02.15

7 GUSEV, Vladimir KAT Team Katush  02.37

8 DENIFL, Stefan CTT Cervelo Tes  02.53

9  NOÉ, Andrea FLM Ceramica Fl  03.08

10 OVECHKIN, Artem KAT Team Katush  03.13

Team RadioShack Results

15  HERMANNS, Ben   03.27

20  ROVNY, Ivan   04.08

22  BUSCHE, Matthew 04.11

37  IMPEY, Daryl   05.55

48  RUBIERA, Jose Luis   07.08

57  IRIZAR ARANBURU, Markel  08.32

67  BEPPU, Fumiyuki   09.31

General Classification after Stage 2

1  RICCO, Riccardo FLM Ceramica Fl 08.02.50

2  SELLA, Emanuele CMO Carmiooro N  00.00.57

3  PARDILLA, Sergio CMO Carmiooro N 00.00.59

4  POSSONI, Morris SKY Professiona  00.01.53

5  MACHADO, Tiago RSH Team Radios  00.02.21

6 AUGUSTYN, John Lee SKY Professiona   00.02.25

7  GUSEV, Vladimir KAT Team Katush  00.02.47

8 DENIFL, Stefan CTT Cervelo Tes  00.03.03

9 CANNONE, Donato FLM Ceramica Fl  00.03.17

10  NOÉ, Andrea FLM Ceramica Fl  00.03.18

Team RadioShack on General Classification

15 HERMANNS, Ben  00.03.37

20 ROVNY, Ivan  00.04.18

22  BUSCHE, Matthew  00.04.21

35  IMPEY, Daryl 00.06.05

48  RUBIERA, Jose Luis  00.07.18

57  IRIZAR ARANBURU, Markel  00.08.42

66 BEPPU, Fumiyuki  00.09.41