Lining up as the defending champion, Riccardo Zoidl has made his home race, the Tour of Austria, one of his big goals this season. However, the Trek rider got his race off to a disastrous start when he lost close to two minutes in the first stage.

The 66th Tour of Austria kicked off with a 182-kilometer stage on Sunday, which fittingly ended on Sonntagberg (Sunday Mountain). The steep uphill finish on the category two climb (2.8kms &11%) included pitches of 22% and resulted in an early cataloging of the general classification. 

It was difficult finish for the first day of the eight-day tour, leaving little room to ease into the tough race. Unfortunately, last year’s Tour of Austria overall winner Riccardo Zoidl did not have the legs to power him up the final ascent, and he faded to finish in 29th place, almost two minutes back.

A five-man breakaway escaped in the early part of the race, but was mostly controlled by Team Sky with help from Trek Factory Racing. The escapees were caught at kilometer 168, and from here on a fierce pace led into the Sonntagberg. Both Zoidl and Jungels went into the last climb in good position, but the end result was not what the team desired.

At the top Peter Kennaugh (Team Sky) was first over the line, followed by Oliver Zaugg (Tinkoff-Saxo) and Javier Moreno (Movistar).  Bob Jungels was highest placed for Trek Factory Racing in 19th place (+1’26”), with Zoidl coming across in 29th place (1’53”).

Director Adriano Baffi briefly summed up the day, a day that did not end with fortunate circumstances for Trek Factory Racing.

“It was good teamwork today, we helped control the race with Sky so that the breakaway of five riders was kept under control. Riccardo said he felt good and he started the last climb with confidence and in good position. Maybe he pushed too much, too soon, but in the end he did not finish well.

"The result for us was not what we expected. This is Bob’s first race in some time, so he had no pressure, he was to do what he could. Today was not the best day for us, but it is what it is. We will put this behind us and now look ahead to the other stages.”