The “Bad Dogs” Have Struck Back—A Historic Victory for Team Vorarlberg
The “Bad Dogs” Have Struck Back—A Historic Victory for Team Vorarlberg
The Bad Dog logo is prominently displayed on the helmets of the Team Vorarlberg pros and at the finals of the At the Cycling League Austria event in Königswiesen, Thomas Kofler’s team more than lived up to its name. Philipp Hofbauer took the overall victory, the team claimed first place in the team standings, and to top it all off, Colin Stüssi won the stage—the Vorarlbergers swept up every prize there was to be had.
“Today was a real back-and-forth battle,” said Race Director Paul Renger, summarizing the action in Upper Austria in a single sentence. ““Hrinkov tried everything, rode very aggressively, and right up until the end, it was anyone’s guess who would win the Cycling Bundesliga.” With each lap, the leading pack grew smaller, and the showdown turned into a pure elimination race. “One of our guys was in every breakaway group, and we kept everything under control. That was really good teamwork,” said Renger. This was also the case on the final climb, when Emanuel Zangerle brought his captain, Colin Stüssi, into the leading group. In the sprint, Stüssi showed his true class and won the race.
Philipp Hofbauer focused entirely on his final rival in the battle for the overall title, Riccardo Zoidl of Hrinkow Advarics. Hofbauer crossed the finish line in ninth place, right on his rival’s wheel, securing Team Vorarlberg’s first overall victory in the Rad-Bundesliga. since Josef Benetseder in 2010. In addition to Hofbauer, four other Team Vorarlberg riders finished in the top 10 of the overall standings: T Obias Nolde even managed to finish third and make it onto the podium; in addition, Emanuel Zangerle, Dominik Röber, and Colin Stüssi finished sixth, seventh, and ninth, respectively, giving them a total of eight points more than Hrinkow Advarics after eight races.
“We’ve achieved something historic,” team manager Thomas Kofler exclaimed. “For the first time in Team Vorarlberg’s 28-year history, we’ve won the double in the Cycling Bundesliga. Victory in both the individual and team classifications—that’s never happened before. An achievement like this is always a team effort, and I’m incredibly proud of the whole team,” said Kofler. “The best riders in the west have shaped national cycling this year and delivered across the board. I’m very grateful that we were able to pull this off.”
Team Vorarlberg will head directly from Upper Austria to Italy, where the Giro d’Abruzzo is scheduled to begin on Tuesday.
The cover photo by Reinhard Eisenbauer shows Team Vorarlberg, which today secured the double in the Cycling Bundesliga and also claimed the stage victory in Königswiesen with an impressive team performance. You can also download additional photos from Upper Austria.
All results: www.computerauswertung.at/veranstaltung.php?V_ID=260913&lang=de
Roster: Giacomo Ballabio, Pirmin Benz, Ignazio Cireddu, Philipp Hofbauer, Laurin Nenning, Dominik Röber, Emanuel Zangerle, Colin Stüssi, Tobias Nolde, Mathias Larch, Kilian Feurstein
