Riccardo Zoidl (Trek) proved that he is ready for his upcoming defence of his Tour of Austria title when he won the Austrian road race championships for the second year in a row. In a highly selective race, he took an impressive solo win, beating Bernhard Eisel (Sky) and Matthias Brändle (IAM) into the minor positions.

One year ago Riccardo Zoidl had a marvellous summer when he won both the Austrian road race championships and the Tour of Austria as part of an incredible season. Today he kicked of what could be a similarly successful campaign when he defended his road race title.

On a hard 169km course from Kaltenbach to Igls, Zoidl emerged as the strongest as he took a convincing solo victory. Austrian veteran Bernhard Eisel had to settle for second after arriving alone at the finish while time trial champion Matthias Brändle completed the podium.

Zoidl will show off his jersey when he lines up for his title defence in the Tour of Austria next Sunday.

Result:

1. Riccardo Zoidl 4.14.04

2. Bernhard Eisel +1.29

3. Matthias Brändle +2.41

4. David Wöhrer +2.44

5. Clemens Fankhauser