Passed over for the Tour de France and then told by RadioShack team manager Johan Bruyneel that he wouldn’t be riding any WorldTour races for the remainder of the season, Jakob Fuglsang has sent a message to the Belgian by winning the Tour of Austria today.
The Danish rider finished safely in the peloton on the final stage of the 2.HC-ranked race, thus preserving his overnight lead of one minute 24 seconds over Steve Morabito (BMC Racing Team). Robert Vrecer (Team Vorarlberg) took third, one minute 52 seconds back.
Fuglsang seized the jersey when he soloed to victory on the fourth stage, riding strongly on the Grossglockner climb. It means he goes away with strong memories of his time in the race.
“We had a great week riding the way we did. When you ride together as a team, you have fun even though you suffer,” he said. “Upon arriving in Vienna and securing the overall, we can all be happy and proud with this win and the way we managed to defend the jersey and win the overall.”
Today’s 122.8 kilometre stage to Vienna was won in a bunch gallop by Daniele Colli, the Italian Team Type 1 rider who returned to the sport after suffering from a tumour in his left leg. He beat Alexey Tsatevich (Katusha), Blaz Jarc (Team NetApp) and the rest of the peloton to the line, netting an emotional victory.
Having taken many high placings since his return, winning turns a page and will hopefully be followed by other triumphs.
As for Fuglsang, the race is his second stage race victory in a month after he came out best in the Tour of Luxembourg in June. He missed the Giro d’Italia due to injury but those two winning performances have confirmed that he has moved to a new level this season. He’s a more complete rider after becoming leaner and while he wasn’t selected for the Tour due to RadioShack Nissan politics, will surely be on the wishlists of several teams now.
“It’s another victory in a national tour, which always demands different skills. You need to be strong in the climbs, good on the TT and have a great team to consolidate the effort you put in,” he said. “It’s been a good challenge this week and I’m proud of the way I won.
“It’s particularly nice that I didn’t win by merely following, but also by taking a stage win. That’s always nicer. Since I took the jersey, the team worked really hard and made it easy for me. I did what I had to do in the TT and the team helped me with everything else.”
Morabito’s result is his best since taking second overall in the Jayco Herald Sun Tour in 2007. “I'm really happy with this race and my level of racing,” he said. “I was there in the climbs, I was there in the time trial and I was there today so I was really happy with the team and the work they did. It was a week-long effort to get the podium.
“Though it was a disappointment to not be part of the Tour de France team, it was a chance to do my own race. That's the positive side. I got a good feeling during the week and hope I can do it again.”