Georg Preidler raced to victory at the Austrian National Time Trial Championships, taking his first professional victory of his career.

Preidler came to the Austrian Nationals with a lot of confidence after being selected for his first Tour de France participation and a strong spring season behind him.

He raced around the 25km time trial in a time of 32’06”, hitting an average speed of 49km/h.

After his time trial, a happy Preidler said: “This is unbelievable for me, I can’t believe I won and beat the guys who normally are in front of me. I had good legs and was able to push hard. In the first part my power meter showed good numbers, and I thought if I can continue like this I will have a fast time. In the second part I could even accelerate, which turned out to be enough for the win.

“We have worked hard with the team’s trainers towards this part of the season. I felt good in the Tour de Suisse, where I finished with a good time trial last weekend. Now I repeat that at the Nationals and I am going to the Tour de France with this excellent form.

“It’s like a dream for me to start the Tour de France next week and really unbelievable to do that in the national colors. I always dreamed of that and if people would have told me that three years ago I would do so, I would have laughed, so I am really happy.”