Tour of Austria 2008

Overall rating
1.	Thomas Rohrgger (ELK)	26:54:28 h
2.	Vladimir Gusev (AST)	+ 0:39 min
3.	Ruslan Pidhornyj (LPR)	+ 1:05 min
4th	Chris Anker Sørensen (CSC)	+ 2:02 min
5.	Giampaolo Caruso (FLM)	+ 2:47 min
6th	Davide Rebellin (GST)	+ 4:09 min
7th	Janez Brajkovič (AST)	+ 4:23 min
8th.	Walter Pedraza (TCS)	+ 5:31 min
9.	Jure Golčer (LPR)	+ 5:42 min
10.	Thomas Frei (AST)	+ 5:59 min
Sprint scoring
1.	André Greipel (COL)	38 P.
2.	René Haselbacher (AST)	34 P.
3.	Ruslan Pidhornyj (LPR)	33 P.
4th	Thomas Rohrgger (ELK)	33 P.
5.	Edvald Boasson Hagen (COL)	32 p.
Mountain scoring
1.	Giampaolo Caruso (FLM)	57 P.
2.	Ruslan Pidhornyj (LPR)	34 P.
3.	Thomas Rohrgger (ELK)	27 P.
4th	Gerrit Glomser (VBG)	23 p.
5.	Michael Barry (COL)	18 p.
Team ranking
1.	Astana	80:51:30 h
2.	Ceramica Flaminia Bossini Docce	+ 10:24 min
3.	LPR Brakes-Ballan	+ 11:28 min
4th	Tinkoff Credit Systems	+ 12:56 min
5.	Elk House-Simplon	+ 15:44 min

Austria cycling tour 2008

Overall winner of the Tour of Austria 2008 was the Austrian Thomas Rohrgger

The 60th Tour of Austria is a cycling race that started on July 6th, 2008 in Klausen and ended on July 13th in Vienna with the finish line on Rathausplatz . The 1,080.1 km long stage race is part of the UCI Europe Tour 2008 and was classified in the highest category 2. HC .

The Austrian Thomas Rohrgger from the Elk-Haus-Simplon team, second overall last year, won the race.

Stage overview

	date	course	km	Stage winner	Yellow jersey wearer
prolog	July 6th	Klausen ( EZF )	001.5	none 1)	Steffen Radochla (ELK)
1st stage	7th of July	Klausen - Toblach	171.2	Paolo Bettini (QST)	Paolo Bettini (QST)
2nd stage	8th of July	Toblach - Kitzbüheler Horn	169.6	Chris Anker Sørensen (CSC)	Chris Anker Sørensen (CSC)
3rd stage	July 9	Kitzbühel - Prägraten	183.7	Ruslan Pidhornyj (LPR)	Thomas Rohrgger (ELK)
4th stage	10th of July	Lienz - Wolfsberg	214.8	André Greipel (COL)	Thomas Rohrgger (ELK)
5th stage	July 11th	Wiener Neustadt - Bad Vöslau	184.4	René Haselbacher (AST)	Thomas Rohrgger (ELK)
6th stage	July 12	Podersdorf ( EZF )	026.2	Bert Grabsch (COL)	Thomas Rohrgger (ELK)
7th stage	July 13th	Podersdorf - Vienna	128.7	Tom Boonen (QSI)	Thomas Rohrgger (ELK)

¹⁾ Prologue canceled due to bad weather.

Teams

Among the 18 participating teams with eight drivers each were nine UCI ProTeams , including the Astana team , which was not invited to the Tour de France , which was taking place at the same time due to doping offenses .

team	Abbreviation	License	starter
Quick Step Innergetic	QST	ProTour	Paolo Bettini, Alexander Efimkin, Tom Boonen, Dimytro Grabovskyy, Kevin Seeldraeyers, Andrea Tonti, Davide Vagano and Maarten Wynants
Astana	AST	ProTour	Janez Brajkovic, Thomas Frei, Vladimir Gusev, Renè Haselbacher, Benoît Joachim, Julien Mazet, Steve Morabito and Michael Schär
Rabobank	RAB	ProTour	Marc de Maar, Robert Gesink, Pedro Horillo-Munoz, Tom Leezer, Gerben Löwik, Bauke Mollema, Grischa Niermann and William Walker
Silence lotto	SIL	ProTour	Bert Roesems, Matthew Lloyd, Oliver Kaisen, Bart Dockx, Pieter Jacobs, Geert Steurs, Jurgen van den Broeck and Wim van Huffel
CSC Saxo Bank	CSC	ProTour	Michael Blaudzun, Lasse Bøchman, Alexander Kolobnev, Gustav Larsson, Bradley McGee, Jason McCartney, Chris Anker Sørensen and Jurgen van Goolen
Gerolsteiner	GST	ProTour	Oscar Gatto, Tim Klinger, Volker Ordowski, Davide Rebellin, Matthias Russ, Stephan Schreck, Tom Stamsnijder and Peter Wrolich
Columbia	COL	ProTour	Michael Barry, Edvald Boasson-Hagen, Bert Grabsch, André Greipel, Greg Henderson, Craig Lewis, Servais Knaven and Frantisek Rabon
Lampre	LAM	ProTour	Emanuele Bindi, Paolo Bossoni, Paolo Fornaciari, Roberto Longo, David Loosly, Lubos Pelanek, Mauro Santambrogio and Danilo Napolitano
Milram	MRM	ProTour	Luca Barla, Andriy Grivko, Matej Jurco, Christian Kux, Artur Gajek, Dominik Roels, Sebastian Schwager and Martin Celits
LPR Brakes-Ballan	LPR	Professional Continental Team	Giairo Ermeti, Luca Celli, Roberto Ferrari, Jure Golcer, Sergio Marinangeli, Ruslan Pidgornyy, Cristiano Salerno and Paolo Savoldelli
Tinkoff Credit Systems	TCS	Professional Continental Team	Pavel Brutt, Nikita Eskov, Ilya Chernetskiy, Alex Gottfried, Walter Pedrazo, Alexander Serov, Ricardo Serrano and Yauhen Sobal
CSF Group Navigare	CSF	Professional Continental Team	Guillermo Ruben Bongiorno, Federico Canutti, Mauro Finetto, Marco Frapporti, Julio Alberto Perez-Cuapio, Andrea Pagoto, Mauro Abel Richeze and Francesco Tomei
Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni	SDA	Professional Continental Team	Santo Anza, Francesco Ginanni, Alessandro Bertolini, Danilo Hondo, Leonardo Moser, Daniele Nardello, Nazareno Rossi and Roberto Traficante
Ceramica Flaminia Bossini Docce	FLM	Professional Continental Team	Gianpaolo Caruso, Vladimir Duma, Leonardo Girodani, Dainius Kairelis, Mikhaylo Khalilov, Tomasz Marczynski, Luigi Sestili and Filippo Simeoni
Elk House-Simplon	ELK	Professional Continental Team	Markus Eibergger, Wolfgang Murer, Clemens Fankhauser, Steffen Radochla, Thomas Rohrgger, Stefan Rucker, Gerhard Trampusch and Jan Valach
Volksbank	VBG	Professional Continental Team	Josef Benetseder, René Weissinger, Gerrit Glomser, Cameron Wurf, Harald Morscher, André Korff, Christoph Sokoll and Florian Stalder
ARBÖ-KTM-Junkers	KTM	Continental team	Jan Barta, Michael Knopf, Josef Kugler, Petr Lechner, Stefan Pöll, Rupert Probst, Stefan Probst and Stefan Stadler
ARBÖ Wels gourmet fine	WHEEL	Continental team	Christian Isak, Christof Kerschbaum, Michael Pichler, Hans-Peter Obwaller, Werner Riebenbauer, Martin Riska, Martin Schöffmann and Matthias Schröger

The two Upper Austrian Continental teams were able to qualify for the tour through their positions in the Tchibo Top Bike League .

Stages

prolog

Intermediate result after the prologue
Overall rating
1.	Steffen Radochla (ELK)	00:00:00 h
Sprint scoring
1.	Gustav Erik Larsson (CSC)	0 p.
Mountain scoring
1.	[[Roberto Ferrari (cyclist) |]] (LPR)	0 p.

The 60th Tour of Austria began on July 6, 2008 with a 1.5 km individual time trial with start and finish in Klausen . The length of the prologue was originally set at 3.3 km, but was shortened due to an approaching storm.

After about half of the drivers had started, the onset of rain made the conditions difficult. Nine participants had not yet taken to the track when the race was interrupted and finally canceled due to the deteriorating weather. The race management decided to rate all drivers with the same time. Steffen Radochla , who was leading at the time of the interruption and who had started the race in fifth, received the yellow jersey of the overall leader.

First stage

Result of the first stage
1.	Paolo Bettini (QST)	4:22:14 h
2.	Gerrit Glomser (VBG)	equal time
3.	Davide Rebellin (GST)	equal time
4th	Giampaolo Caruso (FLM)	equal time
5.	Alexander Kolobnew (CSC)	equal time
Intermediate result after the first stage
Overall rating
1.	Paolo Bettini (QST)	4:22:04 h
2.	Gerrit Glomser (VBG)	+ 0:04 min
3.	Davide Rebellin (GST)	+ 0:06 min
Sprint scoring
1.	Paolo Bettini (QST)	15 p.
2.	Gerrit Glomser (VBG)	12 p.
3.	Davide Rebellin (GST)	10 p.
Mountain scoring
1.	Giampaolo Caruso (FLM)	12 p.
2.	Dominik Roels (MRM)	8 p.
3.	Ruslan Pidhornyj (LPR)	8 p.

The first stage was on Italian soil from Klausen to Toblach . The first crossing of the finish line at race kilometer 71.8 followed climbs over the Kreuzbergpass and to the Misurina lake , where a first category mountain classification was completed. After 171.2 km, the participants reached their destination in the Puster Valley .

After numerous attempts to break away were unsuccessful, Dominik Roels managed to break away from the field after the first sprint classification. His maximum lead was almost 13 minutes, but he was overtaken again before the last mountain classification. A group of 23 drivers with many favorites for overall victory reached the goal together. The Austrian Gerrit Glomser gave away the stage win. While he believed himself to be the winner a few meters from the finish and held up his hands in jubilation, he was caught by the reigning world champion Paolo Bettini . Bettini became the first leader in the overall ranking.

The Austrian Gerrit Glomser gave away the stage win

Second stage

Result of the second stage
1.	Chris Anker Sørensen (CSC)	4:19:00 h
2.	Thomas Rohrgger (ELK)	+ 0:12 min
3.	Ruslan Pidhornyj (LPR)	+ 0:27 min
4th	Vladimir Gusev (AST)	+ 0:29 min
5.	Giampaolo Caruso (FLM)	+ 1:29 min
Intermediate result after the second stage
Overall rating
1.	Chris Anker Sørensen (CSC)	8:41:04 h
2.	Thomas Rohrgger (ELK)	+ 0:16 min
3.	Ruslan Pidhornyj (LPR)	+ 0:33 min
Sprint scoring
1.	Ruslan Pidhornyj (LPR)	16 p.
2.	Chris Anker Sørensen (CSC)	15 p.
3.	Paolo Bettini (QST)	15 p.
Mountain scoring
1.	Giampaolo Caruso (FLM)	22 p.
2.	Michael Barry (COL)	18 p.
3.	Chris Anker Sørensen (CSC)	17 p.

After starting in Toblach, the participants left Italy after 12 km. In Austria they had to cross the Felber Tauern , a mountain of the first category. Over the Thurn Pass , they reached the 7.7 km long and on average 11.9% steep final ascent to the Kitzbüheler Horn , where after a total of 169.6 km at the finish a mountain rating of the Hors Catégorie was taken.

The Dane Chris Anker Sørensen turned out to be the best climber on the Kitzbüheler Horn and took the overall lead with the stage win

At race kilometer 40, Dmytro Grabovskyy and Michael Barry broke away from the field and started the first climb with a lead of over nine minutes. 50 km from the finish, the duo was 13:40 minutes ahead of their pursuers, who then increased their pace and reduced their gap to seven minutes at the foot of the Kitzbüheler Horn. Barry was initially able to break away from Grabovskyy, but his lead over an increasingly smaller group of pursuers decreased steadily over the course of the 19 turns to the goal. Paolo Bettini, who wore the yellow jersey, had meanwhile dropped out of this group of pursuers, in which Thomas Rohrgger increased the pace. He was followed by Chris Anker Sørensen , the leader of the mountain classification Giampaolo Caruso and the Ukrainian champion Ruslan Pidhornyj ; Hrabowskyj had meanwhile been caught, and Barry's lead three kilometers from the finish line had dropped to less than a minute. Sørensen and Rohrgger, who had won the stage on the Kitzbüheler Horn in 2007, separated from Caruso and Pidhornyj, an attack by Sørensen could not follow either. After catching up with Barry, the Dane reached the goal alone. With his victory he took over the yellow jersey of the overall leader from Bettini, who finished the stage 7:43 minutes behind the winner.

Third stage

Result of the third stage
1.	Ruslan Pidhornyj (LPR)	4:59:52 h
2.	Robert Gesink (RAB)	+ 0:03 min
3.	Thomas Rohrgger (ELK)	+ 0:03 min
4th	Walter Pedraza (TCS)	+ 0:05 min
5.	Vladimir Gusev (AST)	+ 0:05 min
Intermediate result after the third stage
Overall rating
1.	Thomas Rohrgger (ELK)	13:41:10 h
2.	Ruslan Pidhornyj (LPR)	+ 0:07 min
3.	Chris Anker Sørensen (CSC)	+ 0:25 min
Sprint scoring
1.	Ruslan Pidhornyj (LPR)	33 P.
2.	Vladimir Gusev (AST)	24 p.
3.	Thomas Rohrgger (ELK)	23 p.
Mountain scoring
1.	Giampaolo Caruso (FLM)	47 P.
2.	Ruslan Pidhornyj (LPR)	34 P.
3.	Thomas Rohrgger (ELK)	27 P.

The third stage began in Kitzbühel and ended after 183.7 km in Prägraten am Großvenediger . On the Grossglockner High Alpine Road , a mountain classification of the Hors Catégorie was first reached on the Fuscher Törl and shortly afterwards the highest point of the tour with 2508 m.

At the beginning of the race, a three-man leading group had formed, to which two other drivers were able to catch up a short time later and which had a maximum lead of 5:30 minutes. In the 18 km long ascent to the Grossglockner , four of the outliers fell back and were overtaken by the drivers of a chasing group, from which the two Austrians Gerrit Glomser and Markus Eibegger were able to break away . While Glomser was able to put the last remaining breakaway Craig Lewis before the mountain classification, Eibegger had to let go again. From the chasing group, which the wearer of the yellow jersey Chris Anker Sørensen could not follow, attacked the overall runner-up Thomas Rohrgger and caught up with Glomser. The two of them reached the Fuscher Törl together, in the sprint Glomser secured the title of Glockner King as the third Austrian in a row. A group with Ruslan Pidhornyj , Wladimir Gussew and Giampaolo Caruso followed at a short distance ; Sørensen reached the summit 2:10 minutes behind Glomser.

Glomser also secured the mountain classification at the Hochtor . In the following descent, some drivers caught up to the front again, a 13-man leading group formed, which was able to extend its lead over a larger group of pursuers around Sørensen and Davide Rebellin to a maximum of four minutes. After the second sprint classification of the day, there were numerous attacks from the group of leaders, but they were unsuccessful. Meanwhile, the gap between the pursuers narrowed again.

Nobody could follow an attack by Pidhornyj shortly before the last mountain classification of the day in Virgen . Pidhornyj, who finished second in 2006 and fifth in the previous year , drove the last few kilometers alone in the lead and won the stage. Rohrgger took over the yellow jersey thanks to his third place.

Fourth stage

Result of the fourth stage
1.	André Greipel (COL)	5:33:51 h
2.	René Haselbacher (AST)	equal time
3.	Danilo Hondo (SDA)	equal time
4th	Werner Riebenbauer (RAD)	equal time
5.	Edvald Boasson Hagen (COL)	equal time
Intermediate result after the fourth stage
Overall rating
1.	Thomas Rohrgger (ELK)	19:14:59 h
2.	Ruslan Pidhornyj (LPR)	+ 0:09 min
3.	Chris Anker Sørensen (CSC)	+ 0:27 min
Sprint scoring
1.	Ruslan Pidhornyj (LPR)	33 P.
2.	Thomas Rohrgger (ELK)	25 p.
3.	Vladimir Gusev (AST)	24 p.
Mountain scoring
1.	Giampaolo Caruso (FLM)	57 P.
2.	Ruslan Pidhornyj (LPR)	34 P.
3.	Thomas Rohrgger (ELK)	27 P.

The longest stage of the Tour of Austria 2008 began in Lienz and ended after 214.8 km in Wolfsberg .

After about 35 km Tom Stamsnijder pulled away from the field, followed shortly after by Olivier Kaisen . The duo was able to quickly expand their lead, it was a maximum of 12:10 minutes. In the second half of the stage, the field tightened its pace, six kilometers from the finish line the outliers were set. The decision to win the stage was made in the mass sprint won by André Greipel .

Thomas Rohrgger was able to increase his lead in the overall standings by two seconds thanks to two time bonuses in intermediate sprints.

The winner of the fourth stage was André Greipel from Germany

Fifth stage

Result of the fifth stage
1.	René Haselbacher (AST)	4:22:35 h
2.	Emanuele Bindi (LAM)	equal time
3.	André Greipel (COL)	+ 2:33 min
4th	Edvald Boasson Hagen (COL)	equal time
5.	Danilo Napolitano (LAM)	equal time
Intermediate result after the fifth stage
Overall rating
1.	Thomas Rohrgger (ELK)	23:40:10 h
2.	Ruslan Pidhornyj (LPR)	+ 0:13 min
3.	Chris Anker Sørensen (CSC)	+ 0:31 min
Sprint scoring
1.	René Haselbacher (AST)	34 P.
2.	André Greipel (COL)	33 P.
3.	Ruslan Pidhornyj (LPR)	33 P.
Mountain scoring
1.	Giampaolo Caruso (FLM)	57 P.
2.	Ruslan Pidhornyj (LPR)	34 P.
3.	Thomas Rohrgger (ELK)	27 P.

The fifth stage, starting in Wiener Neustadt , led over comparatively flat terrain to Bad Vöslau . It had a length of 184.4 km.

Austria cycling tour 2008 near Schwarzau am Steinfeld

After the remaining 131 participants had covered about 40 km, René Haselbacher and Emanuele Bindi started a successful breakaway attempt. They were able to extend their lead to up to 11 minutes and reached the home straight together. The Austrian Haselbacher won the sprint for the stage win, which means that he also took the lead in the sprint classification.

The main peloton reached the finish line about two and a half minutes behind and split up into several groups. Because the leader Rohrgger was in a stage that ended before Pidhornyj and Sørensen, he was able to extend his lead in the overall standings by four seconds.

Stage winner René Haselbacher

Sixth stage

Result of the sixth stage
1.	Bert Grabsch (COL)	0:30:30 h
2.	Edvald Boasson Hagen (COL)	+ 0:43 min
3.	Michael Blaudzun (CSC)	+ 0:46 min
4th	Thomas Rohrgger (ELK)	+ 0:55 min
5.	Jason McCartney (CSC)	+ 1:01 min
Intermediate result after the sixth stage
Overall rating
1.	Thomas Rohrgger (ELK)	24:11:35 h
2.	Vladimir Gusev (AST)	+ 0:40 min
3.	Ruslan Pidhornyj (LPR)	+ 1:05 min
Sprint scoring
1.	René Haselbacher (AST)	34 P.
2.	André Greipel (COL)	33 P.
3.	Ruslan Pidhornyj (LPR)	33 P.
Mountain scoring
1.	Giampaolo Caruso (FLM)	57 P.
2.	Ruslan Pidhornyj (LPR)	34 P.
3.	Thomas Rohrgger (ELK)	27 P.

The second individual time trial begins and ends in Podersdorf am See . The flat course is 26.2 km long.

Bert Grabsch , the reigning German time trial champion, won the day with over 40 seconds ahead of the second stage.

Thomas Rohrgger, who lost the yellow jersey at the time trial last year, was able to extend his lead in the overall standings thanks to a fourth place. Pidhornyj, second in Podersdorf in 2007, crossed the finish line almost a minute behind Rohrgger and fell back to third place in the overall standings; stage seventh Vladimir Gusev improved to second place.

Bert Grabsch, the winner of the individual time trial

Seventh stage

Result of the seventh stage
1.	Tom Boonen (QST)	2:42:50 h
2.	[[Roberto Ferrari (cyclist) |]] (LPR)	equal time
3.	René Weissinger (VBG)	equal time
4th	Danilo Napolitano (LAM)	equal time
5.	Geert Steurs (SIL)	equal time
Final score
Overall rating
1.	Thomas Rohrgger (ELK)	26:54:28 h
2.	Vladimir Gusev (AST)	+ 0:39 min
3.	Ruslan Pidhornyj (LPR)	+ 1:05 min
Sprint scoring
1.	André Greipel (COL)	38 P.
2.	René Haselbacher (AST)	34 P.
3.	Ruslan Pidhornyj (LPR)	33 P.
Mountain scoring
1.	Giampaolo Caruso (FLM)	57 P.
2.	Ruslan Pidhornyj (LPR)	34 P.
3.	Thomas Rohrgger (ELK)	27 P.

After the start in Podersdorf, the remaining participants will reach the Austrian capital. There the finish line at the Vienna City Hall is crossed nine times on a 6.2 km long circuit before the stage ends after 128.7 km with the tenth finish.

The start of the race was marked by numerous attempts to break away, but no driver was able to break away from the field significantly. It was only after 50 km that the Austrian Michael Knopf managed to gain a bigger lead; he was leading by a maximum of 1:30 minutes. After the second sprint classification, the main field caught up with him again. The decision to win the stage was made in the mass sprint, which ex-world champion Tom Boonen won. Thomas Rohrgger crossed the finish line at the same time as the winner and won the Tour of Austria for the first time. André Greipel finished second and ninth in an intermediate sprint, which enabled him to secure enough points to win the sprint classification. Giampaolo Caruso led the mountain classification since the second stage and won the classification by a clear margin.

Ex-world champion Tom Boonen, winner of the last stage

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ucieuropetour.com: UCI racing calendar , accessed on June 18, 2008
2. ^ Oesterreich-rundfahrt.at: page no longer available , search in web archives: list of participants , accessed on June 18, 2008
3. ↑ rad-net.de: Astana invited to the Tour of Austria - start with Paolo Bettini in South Tyrol , accessed on June 18, 2008
4. ↑ sportpress.at: Two local teams qualified for the Ö-Tour RC ARBÖ Wels Gourmetfein and ARBÖ KTM Junkers Braunau made it through the Tchibo Top.Rad.Liga. ( Memento from September 15, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Kleine Zeitung from June 4, 2008
5. ↑ mikro-funk-timing.de: Prologue ratings , accessed on July 7, 2008
6. ↑ sportpress.at: Prologue of the Tour of Austria in Klausen falls victim to storms , accessed on July 7, 2008
7. ↑ mikro-funk-timing.de: Ratings of the 1st stage , accessed on July 7, 2008
8. ↑ oesterreich-rundfahrt.at: Page no longer available , search in web archives: March table of the 1st stage (PDF), accessed on June 20, 2008
9. ↑ mikro-funk-timing.de: Ratings of the 2nd stage , accessed on July 8, 2008
10. ^ Oesterreich-rundfahrt.at: Page no longer available , search in web archives: March table of the 2nd stage (PDF), accessed on June 20, 2008
11. ↑ mikro-funk-timing.de: Ratings of the 3rd stage , accessed on July 9, 2008
12. ↑ oesterreich-rundfahrt.at: page no longer available , search in web archives: March table of the 3rd stage (PDF), accessed on June 20, 2008
13. ↑ mikro-funk-timing.de: ratings of the 4th stage , accessed on July 10, 2008
14. ↑ oesterreich-rundfahrt.at: page no longer available , search in web archives: March table of the 4th stage (PDF), accessed on June 20, 2008
15. ↑ mikro-funk-timing.de: ratings of the 5th stage , accessed on July 12, 2008
16. ^ Oesterreich-rundfahrt.at: Page no longer available , search in web archives: March table of the 5th stage (PDF), accessed on June 20, 2008
17. ↑ mikro-funk-timing.de: ratings of the 6th stage , accessed on July 13, 2008
18. ^ Oesterreich-rundfahrt.at: Page no longer available , search in web archives: March table of the 6th stage (PDF), accessed on June 20, 2008
19. ↑ mikro-funk-timing.de: ratings of the 7th stage , accessed on July 13, 2008
20. ^ Oesterreich-rundfahrt.at: Page no longer available , search in web archives: March table of the 7th stage (PDF), accessed on June 20, 2008