Team Vorarlberg: Busy Days in the Sauerland
Team Vorarlberg: Busy Days in the Sauerland
There wasn’t much tactical maneuvering today on the third day of the Sauerland Tour. After just a few kilometers, the first breakaway group formed, including Tobias Nolde of Team Vorarlberg. On a selective 12.2-kilometer circuit Starting and finishing in Wenholthausen, Group Bbuilt up a lead of two and a half minutes.
Before the final two of a total of ten laps began, the peloton had swallowed up the lead group. An intense elimination race ensued, dominated by the local heroes from REMBE | rad-net. Miguel Heidemann, the best climber from the recently concluded Tour of Germany, and his teammate Johannes Adamietz broke away. At times, the duo was a minute ahead of the chasing group—which included Giacomo Ballabio, Colin Stüssi, and Dominik Röber—and, with a commanding performance, held onto a 28-second lead to the finish.
Ballabio stayed with the leading group of pursuers until the very end and finished in 14th place as the top Team Vorarlberg pro. Colin Stüssi, who finished 24th, lost just over two minutes to stage winner Heidemann, while Emanuel Zangerle, Philipp Hofbauer, and Dominik Röber finished just over three minutes behind.
“The field is extremely strong, featuring very talented young riders from the World Tour teams and the young Germans. That’s why our plan didn’t quite work out today. Overall, on a course with 3,000 meters of elevation gain, we had hoped to showcase our climbing strengths even better. As a result, we were denied a top spot, and Philipp Hofbauer also failed to break into the top 10 in the general classification,” said Race Director Paul Renger, summarizing the day from Team Vorarlberg’s perspective.
There will be another chance tomorrow starting at 9:30 a.m. during the final. Then it’s off to the Kahlen Asten. On the way there, the riders will face, among other challenges, the notorious Hirschberger A wall with a slope of up to 34% must be climbed.
The most promising Team Vorarlberg rider is now Giacomo Ballabio, who moved up to 17th place in the overall standings, 2:03 minutes behind the leader. The top four spots are occupied by three rookies from the world-class Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe team and a young rider from the Picnic PostNL Development Team.
Result: www.procyclingstats.com/race/sauerlandrundfahrt/2026/stage-3
Live stream on YouTube and www.sauerlandrundfahrt.de
Mario Stiehl’s photos give a glimpse into the intense days that the Vorarlberg team still has ahead of them in the Sauerland through tomorrow .
Press Service Team Vorarlberg
www.team-vorarlberg.at
office@proevent-cycling.at
Roster: Giacomo Ballabio, Pirmin Benz, Philipp Hofbauer, Tobias Nolde, Dominik Röber, Emanuel Zangerle, Colin Stüssi
