Geniez wins alone in St. Johann/Alpendorf

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Alexandre Geniez dominated the fourth stage of the Tour of Austria, winning not only the stage but also the legendary Glocker climb. Johannes Fröhlinger contributed to Skil-Shimano's fortunes by finishing second, with third place going to Katusha's Alexandr Pliuschin.

The top three remained unchanged, with Fredrik Kessiakoff still leading Mauro Santambrogio (BMC) and Leopold König of Team NetApp.

“That was incredible, the race of my life, and the hardest 200 kilometers,” Geniez said. “This is by far my biggest success.”

A seven rider strong group got away early and built up a lead of more than three minutes. It fell apart however, on the day's big climb, the Großglockner, which peaked at the Hochtor (2504 m). Geniez was part of that group and stayed in the lead, going over the climb first.

From there, Geniez and a small group stayed ahead. On the day's final descent Thomas Rohregger (Leopard Sky) attacked out of the chase group. The Austrian was in fourth place overall and eager to repeat his 2008 overall victory. The Astana-led peloton, however, gave chase.

At the end, Geniez was alone, going solo for the final 28 km and taking the win.