Ben O'Connor (Dimension Data) was able to attack early and hold on during the punchy final climb to the finish line to beat out Riccardo Zoidl (Felbermayr-Simplon-WELS) on Stage 5 of the 2017 Tour of Austria.
Soon after the peloton's departure from the Austrian mountain town of Kitzbuhel, a five-man group broke away from the pack and attacked in the early kilometers of the stage.
The breakaway group, made up of Ben O'Connor, Riccardo Zoidl, Tom Jelte-Slagter (Cannondale-Drapac), Pieter Weening (Roompot-Nederlanse Loterij), and Anthony Perez (Cofidis), summited the Iselberg climb with a 3 minute lead on the peloton, which struggled to stay together in pounding rain.
The winner of Stage 4 and current 3rd place rider in the general classification, Miguel Lopez (Astana) chose to make an attack on the Iselberg climb, with overall leader Stefan Denifl (Aqua Blue Sport) following Lopez's move up Iselberg.
On the grueling climb to the summit of Hochtor, Riccardo Zoidl and Pieter Weening battled to the top for the mountains classification points. Zoidl put in a major surge 150 meters from the summit, but Weening was able to hold of Zoidl to the summit and capture the victory on the summit of Hochtor.
With 10 kilometers remaining in the stage, only Riccardo Zoidl and Ben O'Connor remained in the lead group, as the two riders kept a 1:20 gap on the peloton.
Pieter Weening continued his break from the peloton as well, holding onto a 30 second cushion in front of the main pack of 15 riders while riding 50 seconds behind the lead duo.
The last 3 kilometers of Stage 5 required a final climb for the riders up Geisterberg.
On the final summit of the stage at Geisterberg, Ben O'Connor proved to be the stronger rider in the end and was able to pull away from Riccardo Zoidl, crossing the line 11 seconds ahead of his competitor.
Pieter Weening kept his lead from the chase pack, finishing approximately 1:30 behind the lead group.
The remaining peloton of 12 riders were able to cross the line 10-30 seconds behind Weening.
General classification leader Stefan Denifl was able to finish in the pack 2 minutes behind O'Connor, and in 10th place for the stage. For his efforts, Denifl will remain in the yellow leaders jersey for the start of Stage 6, the final stage of this year's Tour of Austria. The Austrian rider will keep his lead ahead of Delio Fernandez (Delko Marseille Provence), who sits 37 seconds behind Denifl, and Miguel Lopez, who is 59 seconds back of the lead.
Elia Viviani (Team Sky) will once again lead the point classification after Stage 5, and looks to be in good position to take the points classification after the final stage in Wels.
Stephan Rabitsch (Felbermayr-Simplon-WELS) will keep his lead in the mountains classification, but will be looking over his shoulder, as Pieter Weening's big day on Hochtor during Stage 5 put him in 2nd place in the mountains classification and only 2 points back of Rabitsch.
Assisted by Ben O'Connor's strong day in the saddle, Team Dimension Data will reclaim the lead in the team classification with a 5:42 overall time advantage on second place Gazprom-RusVelo going into the final stage.
Stage 6, which covers 204 kilometers from the Austrian mountain town of St. Johann Alpendorf to the city of Wels, will mark the final stage of the 2017 Tour of Austria.
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