TOUR OF AUSTRIA 1955 to 1958
In 1955 the first tour of a free Austria without zone borders took place.
And for the first time, the first stage did not lead to Graz, but to Linz on the B1. The still very defect-prone racing machines very often lead to bizarre situations. National rider Wukisevits loses his nerve after a wheel defect on the Gerlos and first throws his bike and then an unusable spare wheel into the depths. Armed with a stick, he then marched uphill until he finally got a suitable spare wheel. But with this outburst of anger he was in all the media.
1955, 1956 and 1957: The Swedes conquer the Tour and have three overall winners in a row with Nordvall, Ströhm and Göransson. The elite of the Austrians got bogged down in the fight between Junior and Puch, so that fruitful cooperation did not materialize. In 1957, a national team from the GDR took part in the tour for the first time. Stages over 200 kilometers were not uncommon in those years. In 1957, the Wels-Wattens stage with 245 kilometers and Graz-Vienna with 261 kilometers, half-stage destination in Eisenstadt, were on the program. In the course of this stage, there were more than 70 defects due to countless construction sites and a rider often stood on the side of the road changing tires every 200 meters. The Hohe Warte, the football stadium of Vienna, the oldest Viennese football club, was a unique final destination.
1958, The Tour of Austria celebrates its 10th birthday. The anniversary was marked by a number of innovations: The rest day after the Glockner was canceled at the request of the riders and an individual time trial took place for the first time: A route around Ried im Innkreis with a length of 33 kilometers. Franz Deutsch is doing his tenth tour. After an, what we call today's #metoo, affair in the hotel, a discreet exit is suggested. He should give up on the next stage with "stomach cramps". The Styrian won the stage, despite repeated requests from the race director from the accompanying car, to finally give up with "stomach cramps" and ultimately had to be disqualified. His transgression had thus become public. No honorable departure after ten tour starts. After the “Years of the Swedes”, another Austrian won with Richard Durlacher from Styria, who had previously won the Tour of England. With Kurt Schweiger and Stefan Mascha, two more Austrians landed on the podium. The reporters of these years: Edi Finger, Max Pfliger and Karl Pointner. Pointner, the typesetter apprentice from Döbling, watched the tour from the support car in 1958. From 1960 he wrote in the "Krone" and will accompany the tour for decades. He is probably one of the most excellent connoisseurs of the oldest Austrian cycling event.