July 8, 2005 – We’ve just received word that Michael Barry (Discovery) has won today’s fifth stage of the Tour of Austria. Here’s a quick report from Barry:

The stage was shortened today due to snow on the tops of the mountains so the race was fast and flat as a result. From the gun a group of 20 got away and our Discovery team was forced to chase from behind which was good as it opened me up a bit. The speeds were consistently over 50 km/h as we raced to pull the group back. Soon after they were caught I found myself in a break with one other rider and we simply rode all out to the finish. I was motivated to move up in the overall classification but also to race for the stage victory. It came down to a sprint between the two of us and I came around him and put my head down sprinting until I crossed the finish line.

Tomorrow and Sunday we have two pretty straight forward stages but the weather forecast is lousy again, so this could be a major factor in deciding the final outcome of the race.

Results:

Stage 5:

1. Michael Barry (Can) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 1.04.19
2. Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Credit Agricole 0.02
3. Jochen Summer (Aut) Elk Haus-Simplon 0.16
4. Sergio Marinangeli (Ita) Naturino-Sapore di Mare
5. Fabio Borghesi (Ita) Miche
6. Giuseppe Palumbo (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Adria Mobil
7. Jeremy Hunt (GBr) Mrbookmaker.com-Sports Tech
8. Tom Vannoppen (Bel) Mrbookmaker.com-Sports Tech
9. James Vanlandschoot (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago
10. Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra) Credit Agricole