René Haselbacher won the sprint out of a 20-man group in the first stage of the Giro del Capo, held in Wellington over a distance of 106 kilometers. The Austrian beat Malcolm Lange and Burry Stander to take over the lead in the overall as well. He continued his good form from last week's Tour de Langkawi where he twice finished third and twice finished fifth. Today's winning move formed after 40 kilometers.
The Austrian was quite happy with his win in the opening stage of the four-day race. "Just like last week in Malaysia I was really motivated and I am very happy to have won," Haselbacher told radsportnews.com.
The Austrian, who is under contract with the Vorarlberg-Corratec team, is riding in a mixed squad during the Giro del Capo. His Vorarlberg-Corratec teammate Philipp Ludescher and South African David George, who once was on Lance Armstrong's US Postal team (1999-2000), are also part of the squad.
Ludescher had a terrible day, crashing out of the race. He injured his knee and was stitched up at the hospital.
Haselbacher, a former Gerolsteiner rider, spends a lot of time training in South Africa in the winter.