36 years outdated, however not a bit drained: Riccardo Zoidl celebrated a formidable victory on the queen stage of the Greece Tour on Friday.
The Felt-Felbermayr-Wels skilled gained the 158-kilometer part from Karditsa to Karpenisi, 34 seconds forward of his teammate Hermann Pernsteiner. The Italian Valerio Conti got here third, simply 1:22 minutes behind.
For the Goldwörther, this victory was a balm for his not too long ago tormented soul. “My final win was two years in the past. I am actually proud of the way it went,” he mentioned.
“}”>
Because of the dominant victory, Zoidl took the lead within the total standings, 46 seconds forward of Pernsteiner. As a result of profile of the 2 remaining levels, Zoidl’s probabilities of an total victory are good. To place it into perspective: the Tour of Greece has the identical worth (class 2.1) for the World Biking Affiliation UCI because the Tour of Austria.
The street to victory was not simple. The race began chaotically. “There was a crash initially of the stage the place some individuals had been badly affected,” mentioned Zoidl.
Among the many fall victims had been teammates who, in response to preliminary data, had been examined in hospital following the stage. Zoidl received off flippantly, however was offended concerning the incidents: “I used to be actually pissed off and thought to myself, I’ve to point out one thing right now.”
The victory was a worthy compensation. Particularly because the prospect of total victory is inspiring. “We now have an excellent beginning place for total victory,” mentioned Zoidl, who gained the general rating of the Ö-Tour in 2013, and Pernsteiner.
