On the third stage of the Lidl Tour of Austria, American rider Neilson Powless celebrated a stage victory in his very first appearance in Austria. Overall leader Gregor Mühlberger experienced a few anxious moments between East Tyrol and Salzburg, but in the end he and his teammates kept everything firmly under control.
The third stage of the Lidl Tour of Austria covered 189.5 kilometres and 2,315 metres of elevation gain, connecting Lienz in East Tyrol with St. Johann/Alpendorf in Salzburg, which hosted a stage finish for the 16th time. After an opening circuit around Lienz featuring an intermediate sprint, the route headed over the Felbertauern Pass towards Salzburg. The battle for the stage victory was expected to be decided on the infamous final climb—the 2.6 kilometer ascent to Alpendorf near St. Johann with gradients reaching a punishing 14.8%.
The pace was exceptionally high right from the opening kilometres in East Tyrol signalling a high-speed stage. On the climb over the Felbertauern Pass a group of 22 riders broke away – several high-profile names, including Giro d’Italia winner Tao Geoghegan Hart and his Lidl–Trek teammate Héctor Álvarez, UAE Team Emirates-XRG riders Jan Christen, Portuguese national champion António Morgado and Igor Arrieta, Neilson Powless of EF Education–EasyPost, Austrian national champion Michael Gogl (Alpecin–Deceuninck), Patrick Gamper (Team Jayco AlUla), former Tour of Austria winner Riccardo Zoidl (Hrinkow Advarics), as well as Austrian National Team rider Sebastian Putz and Thomas Tichler (WSA KTM Graz). After 100 kilometres, the breakaway had an advantage of around three minutes. However, the Austrian National Team, working for overall leader Gregor Mühlberger, never allowed the race to get out of hand and remained in full control throughout.
At the Buchberg mountain classification, around 50 kilometres from the finish, the leading group split apart. Neilson Powless and Igor Arrieta emerged from the break and extended their lead to more than four minutes. Arrieta, who won a Giro d’Italia stage earlier this year, started the day only 5:51 behind Mühlberger in general classification! Meanwhile, the Austrian National Team, Team Vorarlberg and later Lidl–Trek took control of the pace in the peloton. Over the final 20 kilometres the stage victory increasingly looked set to become a duel between the two leaders. Also the time gap gradually came down allowing the National Team to breathe a little easier.
Powless and Arrieta reached the final climb to St. Johann/Alpendorf together where the American proved strongest in a thrilling uphill sprint to claim the stage victory. Igor Arrieta finished second, while his UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammate Jan Christen secured third place, 27 seconds behind. Michael Gogl was the best Austrian finisher in seventh place. “It is truly a dream to race here in Austria. The stages are beautiful and the scenery is absolutely fantastic. I think I’ll come back here with my family very soon,” said Powless after the finish. Speaking about the decisive finale, he added: “I was very careful in the final not to go beyond my limits too early. It’s a great victory for me.” The 29-year-old won the overall classification of the Étoile de Bessèges in 2023 and claimed victory at Dwars door Vlaanderen last year.
Mühlberger shrugged off the tense moments during the stage caused by Arrieta’s virtual challenge for the overall lead. “I told my teammates that the riders behind me had to defend their podium positions. Nevertheless, we had to keep everything under control. I’m happy with the outcome. Now we all need to recover well.” Friday’s fourth stage around Steyr will almost be a home race for Mühlberger. “I’ll definitely be waving to lots of friends and familiar faces tomorrow—and they’ll also get to watch me suffer on the race course!” Mühlberger also continues to lead both the Škoda Points Classification and the Mautner Markhof Mountains Classification. Andrew August (Netcompany INEOS) will once again wear the DAN Küchen Best Young Rider jersey, while Philipp Hofbauer (Team Vorarlberg) will continue in the Gebrüder Weiss Best Austrian Rider jersey.
The fourth stage of the Lidl Tour of Austria takes place tomorrow and covers 170.5 kilometres with 2,325 metres of climbing through Upper Austria.The stage starts at 1:00 p.m. from Steyr’s main square. Following the Škoda intermediate sprint in Micheldorf, the route heads into the new 360° Alpenland region before passing through Kirchdorf and Hinterstoder and returning to Steyr. The riders are expected to cross the finish line for the first time at approximately 4:20 p.m., before tackling the decisive final lap featuring the famous—and infamous—Porscheberg climb, where Hrinkow Advarics and Schwingshandl Intralogistics will host a dedicated fan zone. The stage winner is expected to be crowned shortly before 5:00 p.m.
Live coverage begins at 2:00 p.m. All broadcast times are available at: https://tourofaustria.com/live
