In his first race back from injury, Leopold König is sitting in third overall after a great ride in the queen stage. The Czech got safely through the third stage and is now ready to defend his position in the time trial after a day when the team's young sprinter Michael Schwarzmann finished 11th.

 

After 234 kilometers, the third stage of the 35th Bayern Rundfahrt (Tour of Bavaria) ended with a solo victory in Neusäss. Thanks to a late attack, Daryl Impey (Orica – GreenEdge) of South Africa, who rode for Team NetApp in the 2011 season, triumphed as the day’s winner. His fellow countryman Reinardt Janse van Rensburg (Giant Shimano) won the bunch sprint ahead of Alexander Porsev (Katusha). Michael Schwarzmann sprinted to an eleven-place finish. There were no changes in the general classification. Heading into tomorrow’s decisive time-trial, Leopold König is still in third place with an eight-second deficit.

 

“Over the last 40 kilometers we were involved in the pursuit to catch the breakaway riders and ensure a sprint finish. Unfortunately, Sam wasn’t feeling very well after yesterday’s difficult stage. We had to come up with a new plan during the stage and decided to focus on Michael. He was in a very good position 900 meters before the finish line, but then had to let up a bit. In light of these circumstances, we can be satisfied with eleventh place,” Enrico Poitschke said after the stage.

 

Today’s stage was dominated by a breakaway quartet. After several attempts, Jens Voigt (Trek), the experienced German pro, attacked at the 14-kilometer mark. It took another 30 kilometers for three other riders to join Voigt. After yesterday’s pinnacle stage, the field allowed the four riders to have their way and build up more than a seven-minute lead. Halfway into the race, the sprinter teams picked up the pace in the peloton. Before crossing the finish line for the first time, Voigt launched an attack against his fellow contenders and went into the final lap all by himself. The peloton was able to catch up to the other escapees, but Voigt was only caught three kilometers before the finish line. The later winner of the day took advantage of this opportunity to mount a counter attack and was rewarded with the stage victory.

 

The penultimate stage will be held on Saturday as a 25.5 kilometer individual time trial on a circular course that starts and ends in Wassertrüdingen. The slightly undulating course poses few technical challenges, so the time trial specialists, first and foremost former world champion Fabian Cancellara (Trek), will have their chance. Since the top ten in the general classification are all within one minute of taking the lead, the outcome of the tour is still wide open.

 

“We will be having a very close look at the course bright and early tomorrow morning. While we are hoping for Leo get a good result in the general classification, Jan [Barta] will be competing for the win of the day. Both of these goals not only require good legs and perfect technical execution in the time trial, but also a bit of luck,” Poitschke said, looking ahead to tomorrow’s fourth stage.