On the first mountains stage of Tour of Austria, Jan Hirt confirmed great climbing skills by claiming second place. The Czech from CCC Sprandi Polkowice also climbed his way up to the GC lead.

"I got a lot of help from my teammates and they deserve a lot of credit. They were protecting me throughout the entire day and brought me to the final climb in a good position at the head of the group. Also, Branislau Samoilau's attack a few kilometers from the top, made things easier for us. We didn't have to pull and we could wait for others to react. After Samoilau got caught, I started to accelerate in the last 4 kilometers and I arrived at the summit with De La Parte. I tried to beat him in the two-man sprint, but he was faster in the finale," Jan Hirt explained.

"The successful Tour de Suisse gave me a lot of confidence and I started to believe that I can stay with the best climbers on the toughest ascents. Also the team has put more trust in me and selected me as the leader for Tour of Austria. Thanks to that I could save energy on the first stages and wait for the mountains. 

"We got the leader jersey and we will of course try to retain it all the way to the finish of the last stage. I believe that we have a strong team that is capable of achieving that. There is one more mountain stage ahead of us. I've never ridden that climb to Kitzbüheler Horn, but I've heard it's similar to Solden from Tour de Suisse, where I finished 7th. So it should suit me. I feel I'm in good form and I hope I can maintain it to the very end of the race."

Another two CCC Sprandi Polkowice finished in  the top 20 – Branislau Samoilau was 18th, and Sylwester Szmyd was 19th.