Grabsch best against the clock

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Bert Grabsch of HTC-Highroad won the penultimate stage time trial at the Tour of Austria, covering the 30.1km around Podersdorf am Neusiedler See in a time of 34:36. Second place went to Jesse Sergent (RadioShack), with Grabsch's HTC-Highroad teammate Patrick Gretsch rounding out the top-three.

It was Grabsch's second win of the year, following his victory in the German national time trial championship, and he set a new speed record for the time trial, 52.17 km/h.  “I could have gone faster, but these high temperatures are definitely not my favourite conditions,” the 36-year-old said.  “They cost me about 15 percent of my performance.  But I wanted to win this stage and I have, so I am very satisfied.”

Fredrik Kessiakoff (Astana) put in a strong showing to claim fifth place on the day and maintain his overall lead. There were changes below him in the GC, though. Mauro Santambrogio (BMC) dropped from second to sixth place while Leopold König (Team NetApp) moved up to second, with Carlos Sastre (Geox-TMC) now in third.

Kessiakoff was looking forward to the overall win on Sunday.  "The yellow jersey has inspired me. If you are in good shape you can be fast everywhere, in the mountains, in the time trial. I just have to survive the stage tomorrow. I am looking forward to Vienna where my grandfather was born."

Thomas Rohregger of Leopard Trek, who won the overall title in 2008, had hoped to move up on to the podium, but was unsuccessful. He not only lost more than two minutes to the leader, he was also given a 30 second penalty for riding without a transponder.