Posthuma time trials to victory in Laxenburg

Joost Posthuma of Rabobank won the time trial in the seventh stage of the Tour of Austria, which was overshadowed by a serious crash by race leader Riccardo Ricco (Ceramica Flaminia). HTC-Columbia's Patrick Gretsch was second, only 10 seconds down, with Artem Ovechkin (Katusha) third at 40 seconds.

Ricco held on to his yellow jersey, but it is unknown whether he will be able to start Sunday's final stage. While on the course, he crashed into a parked motorcycle. He was bleeding heavily from the nose when he crossed the finish line, and was taken to hospital with suspicion of a broken nose. He also had a deep cut under his left knee.

“When I took a look at the course before the start, I had to catch my breat first. Iknew that I had just one chance for a success – here in Podersdorf,” said Posthuma.

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