Team Vorarlberg Lying in Wait in the Sauerland
Team Vorarlberg Lying in Wait
“This course suits us,” Paul Renger had said ahead of Day 2 of the Sauerland Tour. And his riders from Team Vorarlberg made sure that their race director could look back on the second stage with overall satisfaction.
On the hilly 135-kilometer route from Brilon to Siedlinghausen, the action really heated up today only in the final stretch. And it was Giacomo Ballabio, in particular, who rode very aggressively and was ultimately rewarded with a ninth-place finish—exactly one minute behind stage winner Max Bock of Red Bull–Bora-hansgrohe. His teammate Paul Fietzke, finishing second, not onlysecured a German one-two but also took the lead in the general classification. In the same group as Ballabio, Emanuel Zangerle and Philipp Hofbauer crossed the finish line in eleventh and sixteenth place, respectively.
Things didn’t go quite as planned for captain Colin Stüssi, who complained of heavy legs. Dominik Röber had some bad luck. He suffered damage to his rear wheel in the final stretch and, with the wind and high speeds, was unable to catch up with the lead group.
In the overall standings, Philipp Hofbauer, the top Team Vorarlberg pro, moved up to 14th place. He trails by just 1:21 minutes, which gives the climbing specialist a good starting position for tomorrow. The 122-kilometer course, which starts and finishes in Wenholthausen, includes 3,000 meters of elevation gain. Ballabio (22nd, 1:54 behind) and Zangerle (24th, 2:02 behind) are also still very much in the running for the top spots.
On the tour through South Westphalia, numerous climbs and spectacular descents await the strong field through Sunday. Red Bull–Bora-Hansgrohe boasts the most prestigious name among the participating teams. The team led by Remco Evenepol and Florian Lipowitz is represented in the Sauerland by a young squad; it has won the first two stages and, as mentioned, dominates the overall standings. Team Lidl-Trek, known for stars like Mads Pedersen and Jonathan Milan, is also participating with its junior squad (“Future Racing”). The situation is similar with the “Development Team” from Picnic PostNL in the Netherlands and the U23 squad of the Tudor Cycling Team.
As previously reported in a newspaper interview, tour organizer Jörg Scherf was very pleased with the “representation from Austria” and considers Team Vorarlberg to be “really strong.”
Mario Stiehl’s photos capture moments from Team Vorarlberg during yesterday’s prologue.
Result: www.procyclingstats.com/race/sauerlandrundfahrt/2026/stage-2
Live stream on YouTube and www.sauerlandrundfahrt.de
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
