A tough day at work for Team Vorarlberg: Philipp Hofbauer defends his jersey
It wasn’t just the heat and the challenging 188 kilometers from Lienz to St. Johann-Alpendorf that made the third stage of the Tour of Austria a real test for Team Vorarlberg.
Already on the climb up to Felbertauern, the climbing specialists from the WorldTour teams picked up the pace. An extremely strong, large breakaway group formed—with no riders from Vorarlberg. To keep Philipp Hofbauer on track in the overall standings, his teammates had to work hard to catch up.
And it paid off: Although Hofbauer dropped one spot, he retained the jersey for the best Austrian rider, which he has been wearing since yesterday’s stage on behalf of the overall leader, Gregor Mühlberger. He remains well in contention in 14th place in the overall standings—5:34 minutes behind Mühlberger.
Team Vorarlberg’s top pro today was Giacomo Ballabio, who finished 13th. The Italian impressively demonstrated in the main field’s uphill sprint that he would have been capable of a top finish had the race gone perfectly. There, he was right up there with the leaders and showed just how much potential he has. Tobias Nolde continues to perform strongly as well; he remains in contention, currently in fourth place in the overall mountains classification.
“It was a tough, grueling day of work for our guys today,” team manager Thomas Kofler and race director Paul Renger summed up at the finish line. “We put in a lot of effort and were the only Continental team to stand out in the chasing group. That rightly earned us a lot of praise and recognition from the WorldTour teams.”
Tomorrow, the race continues, starting and finishing in Steyr. Another 170 grueling kilometers with 2,325 meters of elevation gain await the riders.
Cover photo: The Team Vorarlberg riders in their yellow jerseys lead the chase—a typical scene from today’s stage of the Tour of Austria. The other photos show Emanuel Zangerle on the climb and Giacomo Ballabio, who finished 13th today.
Note
All stages of the Tour of Austria will be broadcast live on ORF 1 during the last two hours of each stage. K19 will handle the video production and stream all stages live.
Stage 3 Results
www.procyclingstats.com/race/tour-of-austria/2026/stage-3
Overall Standings
https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/tour-of-austria/2026/stage-3-gc
Mountain Classification
www.procyclingstats.com/race/tour-of-austria/2026/stage-3-kom
Press Service Team Vorarlberg
www.team-vorarlberg.at
office@proevent-cycling.at
*Please note: The images can be used free of charge for editorial reporting on Team Vorarlberg in print and online media. Please name the photographer.
Roster: Giacomo Ballabio, Kilian Feurstein, Philipp Hofbauer, Dominik Röber, Emanuel Zangerle, Colin Stüssi
