Tour of Austria #6: Johann van Zyl wins 5th stage solo

An incredible ride by Johann van Zyl during the 5th Tour of Austria stage saw the young South African pick up his first ever professional win, crossing the line alone and just a handful of seconds ahead of a fast charging peloton.

After an initial break of 6 riders were caught with around 60km to go, 3 new riders jumped clear including Johann. Our South African was joined by Grischa Janorschke (Vorarlberg) and Lukas Pöstlberger (Tirol). The trio combined well to establish a maximum of 3 minutes advantage over the peloton. The peloton soon realised the danger of the escape and began the chase.

The urgency in the main field saw a large crash take place, involving multiple riders. The organisers took the decision to bring the race to a halt. It was only momentarily though and the race was restarted with 20km to go, the break were allowed to start with the same advantage they had before the neutralisation.

With 7km to go, the break was holding on to a 1’40” lead while the peloton were in full hunting mode down the road. Johann then went on the make-or-break attack with 4km to go, leaving his fellow escapees behind. While the peloton had Johann within sight, the South African kept his head down and put that time trialing ability he has been working on to the test.

With a short and sharp rise to the line over the final few 100 meters, Johann would push through the burn to take his first ever professional win. Arriving just 5 seconds before David Tanner (IAM Cycling) brought the peloton home, with Rick Zabel (BMC Racing) in 3rd. Natnael Berhane held on to his 4th place on GC overall.