It was a very close finish: In the final overall classification Patrick Schelling of Team Vorarlberg and fourth-ranked Delio Fernandez of Pro-Continental team Delko Marseille were separated by only two seconds. Had Fernandez managed to win only one time bonus in of the two intermediate sprints of the final stage of the 68th Tour of Austria (UCI 2.HC) over 179,8km (111.7mls) with 1,553m (5,095ft) of climbing, Schelling’s podium dream would have been in grave danger.

Right from the beginning there were a lot of attacks, the KOM line was almost directly behind the start. Yet, Team Vorarlberg was able to counter these attacks and to keep the Spaniard Fernandez under control – he was not part of a six-strong head group which had formed about half an hour into the race.

But his team Delko Marseille was all about positioning him for the intermediate sprint and at middle of the stage began to put pressure on the peloton. Yet, they were not able to catch the break-away group. Instead the increased tempo resulted in the peloton splitting up – Delko Marseille suddenly was riding in the group further behind while Team Vorarlberg stormed forward to get Schelling in front before the final climb at the Kahlenberg.

Team Vorarlberg knew: If Fernandez finished only third in the final stage of the race, the podium would be gone. So Patrick Schelling set his mark in the not too-steep parts of the climb which still was difficult though due to a mostly cobbled surface. He remained calm when his competitors, like eventual stage winner Frederik Backaert of Team Wanty-Groupe Gobert, attacked and always kept his eye on his direct rival for the podium, Fernandez.

It was a tight race up to the final sprint, in which Fernandez did not manage to be among the first three. ”Of course I was nervous, but I also knew I had it in my hand as long as Fernandez is not in front to win time bonuses”, a very happy third-overall Schelling said after the race. ”When he attacked 600m before the finish, luckily I could follow. It was pretty close – but I was lucky. Chapeau to my whole team!”

Overall winner of the seven-day Tour of Austria became Jan Hirt, (Czech Republic), of Team CCC Sprandi Polkowice in front of Guillaume Martin (France) Team Wanty-Groupe Gobert and Patrick Schelling (Switzerland) of Team Vorarlberg.