13th GP Vorarlberg UCI 1.2: Cycling festival in Nenzing – Jaka Primozic wins – Team Vorarlberg with Jannis Peter in seventh place in the sprint!
Weakened Team Vorarlberg satisfied with seventh place Jannis Peter – But it was a cycling festival for the whole of Vorarlberg!
The GP Vorarlberg powered by Radhaus Rankweil, the third race of the Austrian Cycling League, was on the program today. The attractive route ensured high tension with a tough finale. The strong field of 152 professional cyclists from 20 nations at Austria’s biggest one-day race, with the UCI cat. 1.2, showed a very exciting race over 163.1 kilometers and 2,392 vertical meters.
The race, which started and finished in Nenzing, picked up speed early on, but the field did not allow any group to pull away in the early stages. A preliminary decision for the rest of the race was already made in the sixth of the long laps via Röns and Frastanz. A 52-strong group was able to break away, with only Jannis Peter, Lukas Rüegg and Alexander Konychev from Team Vorarlberg making it into the leading group, which otherwise included almost all the favorites. Colin Stüssi was suffering from the after-effects of bronchitis and was already a minute behind by the sixth finish, as was Lukas Meiler, who was suffering from the effects of a crash. Shortly afterwards, a six-man lead group with top riders such as Kristian Sbaragli (Corratec) and Hermann Pernsteiner (Felt-Felbermayr) broke away from the front, but the sextet was unable to gain more than 40 seconds.
The showdown followed with three short laps to Alpencamping Nenzing, and on the second lap another group led by Team Vorarlberg pro Peter caught up with the leaders. Despite a few attacks, there were still nine front runners including Peter. A final jump from Beschling to Nenzing had to decide. The Slovenian Jaka Primozic (Hrinkow) was one bike length ahead of last year’s winner Michael Boros (Elkov-Kasper). Martin Messner (WSA-Graz) was the best Austrian in third place. In the end, Peter finished in seventh place. “In a home race, you hope for at least a podium,” said the 23-year-old German at the finish, “there were only three of us left before the small laps. Then we made the best of it. Except for the last climb, I felt good on the mountain and was always able to keep up, but the last lap was tough. The sprint isn’t my favorite discipline, so it was okay.”
Great enthusiasm in the Walgau
An incredible number of spectators and over 120 invited guests – including slalom queen Katharina Liensberger and ÖSV junior hopeful Magdalena Egger, ice hockey player Patrick Spannring and Pioneers Vorarlberg Managing Director Christian Groß, AK President Bernhard Heinzle and many more – cheered on the professional cyclists.
Thomas Kofler OC manager and Jürgen Schatzmann ORGA manager: “Today was a great day of cycling in Walgau and for Vorarlberg. We provided the appropriate setting, a great live stream from K19, the live TV broadcast on ORF Sport plus. Above all, a casual program for the kids at the Käferle Cup and an exciting race for the pros. The many enthusiastic spectators along the route and in Nenzing were unbelievable. It was another great cycling festival today. Thanks to everyone who worked on this!”
Result: https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/gp-vorarlberg/2024/result
Homepage organizer: https://www.proevent-cycling.at/gp-vorarlberg/
Line-up Team Vorarlberg: Dominik Amann, Jannis Peter, Lukas Meiler, Colin Stüssi, Pirmin Benz, Alexander Konychev, Lukas Rüegg;
Next race: 73rd Fleche du Sud (LUX) 8 – 12.05.
Press Service Team Vorarlberg / GP Vorarlberg
Thomas Kofler / 0664 132 7396