Kessiakoff solos to victory

Fredrik Kessiakoff is the new "Horn König", or King of the Kitzbüheler Horn. The Astana rider won the second stage of the Tour of Austria, taking the mountaintop finish 1:14 ahead of Mauro Santambrogio (BMC), with Leopold König (NetApp) third at 1:19.

The new GC reflected the stage rankings, with Kessiakoff the new leader, followed by Santambrogio and König.

It was Kessiakoff's first win on the road.  The  31-year-old Swede had a successful mountain biking career before turning to the road only three years ago.  "It´s a dream,” he said. “At the beginning I didn´t feel so well but with the high speed to the Kitzbüheler Horn it got better. I attacked and didn't turn around until the finish."

The race started out as flat to rolling and stayed that way for the first 150km. A number of riders tried to get away, and groups formed and re-formed, until finally a group of nine was established. Yann Huguet (Skil-Shimano), Julien Fouchard and Nicolas Edet (Cofidis), Daryl Impey (NetApp), Diego Caccia (Farnese Vini-Neri Sottoli), Reto Hollenstein (Vorarlberg), Simon Clarke (Astana), Jan Ghyselinck (HTC-Highroad), and Manuele Boaro (Saxo Bank-SunGard) built up a lead of up to nearly four minutes.

But the kick of the day came at the end - the 1670m Kitzbüheler Horn - and the lead group fell apart as it started up. Behind them, the peloton splintered as well. Kessiakoff was the first to attack, and built up a good lead. Thomas Rohregger (Leopard Trek), König and GEOX's Denis Menchov and Carlos Sastre attacked out of the lead chase group.

But Kessiakoff's lead was enough, and he easily claimed the victory. Sastre was a strong fourth, and Rohregger took fifth place. Menchov finished over three minutes down.