Rabobank's Nick Nuyens took victory in today's 150.3 kilometer fifth stage of the Tour of Austria ahead of Giovanni Visconti (Tecnofilm-Betonexpressz 2000). The pair finished 4 seconds ahead of Katusha's Egor Silin, with the rest of the field trickling into the finish in Deutschlandsberg. Nuyens made his move in the closing moments of the stage on the Burg Deutschlandsberg to beat Visconti, with Ceramica Flaminia's Riccardo Riccò able to maintain his overall lead.
"We had everything under control, there were no dangerous riders for the overall ranking in the front group," Riccò said afterwards.
The day centered around a 12-man break that got away after 50 kilometers of racing. They were swept up in the final kilometers of the undulating stage after securing all of the mountain points on offer, where the Dutchman took over to win the day.
"It was a dream stage, especially the final," Nuyens said after the stage. "The rise at the end reminded me of the Flemish mountains [Ardennes] which pleased me."
Tomorrow's sixth stage will take the peloton 231.8 kilometers from Deutschlandsberg to Laxenburg over three categorized climbs. After taking in two minor climbs in the first 60 kilometers, the peloton will then face the category two Wechsel, but they will have more the 100 kilometers of flat to regroup before the finish.