The final stage of the Tour of Austria ran its course today with Moreno Moser (Cannondale-Garmin) winning the final bunch sprint. David Tanner (IAM Cycling) was 2nd and Clement Venturini (Cofidis) finished in 3rd.
The two category 1 climbs on route today created an attacking platform and the riders obliged with constant attacks all stage. An initial early break was caught after a number of attacks came from the peloton on the 1st big climb. Natnael Berhane was among the attackers and for a brief while, Natnael was part of a 6 rider group that had distanced the peloton. On the descent though, the entire race was brought back together.
More attacks then followed just before the final big climb and this time 5 riders got a gap of around a minute. On the climb though, the weaker riders were dropped while the attacks kept coming from the peloton, which then saw some riders bridge to the lead group. Eventually, over the top 3 riders: Tom Jelte Slagter (Cannondale-Garmin), Igor Silin (Katusha) and Linus Gerdemann (Cult-Energy) remained out front.
60 odd riders made up the peloton over the climb and they would have a 1’45” gap to chase down over the final 20km. The catch was made at 3km to go and the 60 rider bunch sprint followed. Natnael Berhane was the first MTN-Qhubeka p/b Samsung rider across the line in 17th place. By finishing safely in the main group, Natnael would end the Tour of Austria in 5th place overall. Victor De la Parte (Vorarlberg) would win the tour overall.
Natnael Berhane – Rider
