Tour of Malopolska: Colin Stüssi of Team Vorarlberg in a class of his own—a perfect team performance
Tour of Malopolska: Colin Stüssi of Team Vorarlberg in a class of his own—a perfect team performance
Stage and overall victory for the outstanding Colin Stüssi; points jersey goes to Giacomo Ballabio, victory in the team classification—Team Vorarlberg sweeps up every prize there is to win at the Tour of Malopolska.
On today’s final stage from Rabka-Zdroj to Przehyba, covering 153 kilometers, a group of six riders quickly formed that posed no threat to the overall standings; Tobias Nolde of Team Vorarlberg joined them 17 kilometers before the finish. However, Paul Renger’s team had focused all their attention on the ten-kilometer-long final climb. “Conserve as much energy as possible and then focus entirely on the final climb”—this was the strategy race director Paul Renger had given his riders.
And they carried out their athletic director’s instructions to a T. Thirty-five athletes advanced to the finals, including five from Team Vorarlberg, which held a two-point lead of Giacomo Ballabio and Colin Stüssi went into the final day. Three kilometers from the finish, the race was decided: Stüssi launched an unstoppable attack. No one could keep up with the Swiss rider, who built a 21-second lead over the Austrian veteran Riccardo Zoidl. Philipp Hofbauer finished a brilliant fourth, 25 seconds behind. Giacomo Ballabio, who, like the entire team, had a brilliant Tour, lost 1:24 minutes, finishing tenth on the day and eighth overall.
The celebrated winner of the Tour of Malopolska was Colin Stüssi, who secured the title defense for the Vorarlberg team (last year’s winner Alexander Konychev) and finished 44 seconds ahead of the Czech rider Alberto Monti and 47 seconds ahead of Zoidl. Philipp Hofbauer (-0:58) also finished a strong fourth in the overall standings. In the team classification, Team Vorarlberg clearly prevailed over ATT Investments and Hrinkow Advarics. Ballabio finished first in the points classification ahead of Stüssi—success across the board for Team Vorarlberg. Colin Stüssi was understandably happy at the award ceremony: “The day went exactly as we had imagined. We worked well as a team, and on the final climb, my teammates put me in the perfect position. Everyone did a great job, which allowed me to attack at the end and do my thing. It couldn’t have gone better,” said the affable Swiss rider.
Result: www.procyclingstats.com/race/tour-of-malopolska/2026/stage-3/result/result
*Cover photo: Colin Stüssi at the awards ceremony alongside Alberto Monti and Riccardo Zoidl. The other two photos show Team Vorarlberg as the winners of the team competition (from left: Giacomo Ballabio, Philipp Hofbauer, Emanuel Zangerle, Tobias Nolde, Dominik Röber, and Colin Stüssi) and Giacomo Ballabio , who secured the points jersey.
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.
By the way: Lesser Poland (known as Małopolska in the local language) is located in southern Poland and is one of the country’s most popular tourist destinations. The region borders Slovakia to the south. The capital of Lesser Poland is Kraków.
Roster: Giacomo Ballabio, Philipp Hofbauer, Dominik Röber, Emanuel Zangerle, Colin Stüssi, Tobias Nolde
