Den Bakker wins after Keystone Cops finish in Austria

The third stage of the Tour of Austria ended in farce with the relegation of the first five riders across the line. Victory went to the wily Martin Den Bakker who saw a fatal error by his four breakaway companions and seized the opportunity.

Den Bakker was positioned last in the lead group of six when four of the riders followed a vehicle off the course. The four soon realised something was wrong as they found themselves among other traffic, but ploughed on regardless. Eventually they found a crowd barrier and realised they could get back on the course by crossing it. They climbed over and staged a very short sprint for the line.

Some time later, Den Bakker, having gone the long, official way to the finish, rolled across the line and raised his hands to claim the win ahead of Przemyslaw Niemec, who had followed him.