July 12, 2009 (Vienna, Austria) – Columbia-HTC’s Michael Albasini was crowned the overall winner in the Tour of Austria on Sunday, while teammate Andre Greipel added to the team’s celebrations by blasting to victory in the final stage.

Albasini moved into the lead thanks to his victory in the second day’s racing to the mountain top finish of Kitzbüheler Horn, then held the yellow jersey all the way to Sunday’s final stage from Podersdorf am Neusielder See to Vienna. Greipel was equally successful in the points competition, winning the green jersey outright thanks to his three stage victories.

“I’m very proud of this win because it’s the first stage race victory for Columbia-HTC this season, and it was a real team effort, too” Albasini said. “We only had six riders for a lot of the race, and that made it difficult to control at times, but we managed to do it. I’m very grateful to my teammates for all the hard work they did. Over the last two years I’ve worked hard to improve my climbing and that has helped me win here. It’s very encouraging.”

“Time trialling remains my biggest weak point, but I managed to get through the race’s time trial and then after that I could begin to think about celebrating overall. Now I’ll go on to do the Tour of Poland and the Tour of Spain, as part of my build-up for the World Championships.”

Greipel’s stage victory on Sunday was his 13th win of the 2009 season, just one fewer than his 2008 total of 14. “We only got back the last break of the day with a kilometre to go and there were some tram lines 200 metres from the finish, but I felt really good and sure of my chances. It wasn’t too hard a win. We’d done ten laps of the finishing circuit so I knew what I had to face, and I had a good lead-out as usual. My team did a great job. Now I’ll go on to the Tour of Saxony in Germany and try and get some more wins there.”

After Sunday’s double success, Columbia-HTC’s total of victories in 2009 has climbed to 56, the highest tally of wins for any professional team this season.

Results

1. Andre Greipel (Ger) Team Columbia-HTC 2:33:31
2. Graeme Brown (Aus) Rabobank
3. Bernardo Riccio (Ita) Ceramica Flaminia-Bossini Docce
4. Dario Cataldo (Ita) Quick Step
5. Denis Galimzyanov (Rus) Team Katusha
6. Werner Riebenbauer (Aut) RC ARBÖ Wels Gourmetfein
7. Rene Haselbacher (Aut) Vorarlberg-Corratec
8. Cristiano Fumagalli (Ita) Ceramica Flaminia-Bossini Docce
9. Luis Angel Mate Mardones (Spa) Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni-Androni Giocattoli
10. Jeremy Hunt (GBr) Cervelo TestTeam
11. Roy Sentjens (Bel) Silence-Lotto
12. Harald Starzengruber (Aut) ELK Haus
13. Ben Swift (GBr) Team Katusha
14. Gorik Gardeyn (Bel) Silence-Lotto
15. Marco Velo (Ita) Quick Step
16. Thomas Fothen (Ger) Team Milram
17. Emanuel Vona (Ita) ISD
18. Steffen Radochla (Ger) ELK Haus
19. Cristiano Benenati (Ita) ISD
20. Paolo Bailetti (Ita) Fuji-Servetto
21. Marcus Burghardt (Ger) Team Columbia-HTC
22. Petr Lechner (Cze) KTM-Junkers
23. Eloy Teruel Rovira (Spa) Contentpolis-Ampo
24. Pedro Jose Vera Alcaraz (Spa) Contentpolis-Ampo
25. Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quick Step
26. Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Silence-Lotto
27. Stefan Probst (Aut) KTM-Junkers
28. Pieter Weening (Ned) Rabobank
29. Ermanno Capelli (Ita) Fuji-Servetto
30. Huub Duyn (Ned) Garmin-Slipstream
31. Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) Fuji-Servetto
32. Oscar Garcia-Casarrubios (Spa) Contentpolis-Ampo
33. Ian Stannard (GBr) ISD
34. Luca Solari (Ita) Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni-Androni Giocattoli
35. Kevin Seeldrayers (Bel) Quick Step
36. Francesco Reda (Ita) Quick Step
37. Stefan Denifl (Aut) ELK Haus
38. Gianpaolo Caruso (Ita) Ceramica Flaminia-Bossini Docce
39. Alexander Serov (Rus) Team Katusha
40. Timothy Duggan (USA) Garmin-Slipstream
41. Thomas Vedel Kvist (Den) Quick Step
42. Fredrik Kessiakoff (Swe) Fuji-Servetto
43. Christian Kux (Ger) Team Milram
44. Bram Tankink (Ned) Rabobank
45. Ruben Reig Conejero (Spa) Contentpolis-Ampo
46. Martin Velits (Svk) Team Milram
47. Peter Pichler (Aut) RC ARBÖ Wels Gourmetfein
48. Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Vorarlberg-Corratec
49. Josef Kugler (Aut) KTM-Junkers
50. Mathew Hayman (Aus) Rabobank
51. Dominik Hrinkow (Aut) RC ARBÖ Wels Gourmetfein
52. Elias Schmaeh (Swi) Vorarlberg-Corratec
53. Bram De Groot (Ned) Rabobank
54. Jan Barta (Cze) KTM-Junkers
55. Xavier Florencio Cabre (Spa) Cervelo TestTeam
56. Matthias Brändle (Aut) ELK Haus
57. Ruslan Pidgornyy (Ukr) ISD
58. Thomas Peterson (USA) Garmin-Slipstream
59. Jan Valach (Svk) ELK Haus
60. Kai Reus (Ned) Rabobank
61. Stanislau Samoilav (Blr) Quick Step
62. Serguei Klimov (Rus) Team Katusha
63. Luca Mirenda G. (Ita) ISD
64. Rupert Probst (Aut) RC ARBÖ Wels Gourmetfein
65. Francesco Ginanni (Ita) Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni-Androni Giocattoli
66. Gert Dockx (Bel) Team Columbia-HTC
67. Michael Albasini (Swi) Team Columbia-HTC
68. Joaquin Novoa Menedez (Spa) Cervelo TestTeam
69. Guennady Mikhaylov (Rus) Team Katusha
70. Edward King (USA) Cervelo TestTeam
71. Wim Van Huffel (Bel) Vorarlberg-Corratec
72. David Schöggl (Aut) RC ARBÖ Wels Gourmetfein
73. Michael Pichler (Aut) RC ARBÖ Wels Gourmetfein
74. Davide Ricci Bitti (Ita) ISD
75. Leonardo Moser (Ita) Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni-Androni Giocattoli
76. Olivier Kaisen (Bel) Silence-Lotto
77. Rafael Serrano Fernandez (Spa) Contentpolis-Ampo
78. Benat Intxausti Elorriaga (Spa) Fuji-Servetto
79. Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Team Columbia-HTC
80. Stefan Rucker (Aut) ELK Haus
81. Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Fuji-Servetto
82. Laszlo Bodrogi (Fra) Team Katusha
83. Matthias Russ (Ger) Team Milram
84. Riccardo Zoidl (Aut) RC ARBÖ Wels Gourmetfein
85. Alessandro Bertolini (Ita) Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni-Androni Giocattoli
86. Filippo Simeoni (Ita) Ceramica Flaminia-Bossini Docce
87. Artur Gajek (Ger) Team Milram
88. Markus Eichler (Ger) Team Milram
89. Maxim Belkov (Rus) ISD
90. Markus Eibegger (Aut) ELK Haus
91. Leonardo Bertagnolli (Ita) Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni-Androni Giocattoli
92. Robert Gaszmayr (Aut) KTM-Junkers
93. Massimiliano Gentili (Ita) Ceramica Flaminia-Bossini Docce
94. Svein Tuft (Can) Garmin-Slipstream 0:28
95. Martin Riska (Svk) RC ARBÖ Wels Gourmetfein
96. Harald Morscher (Aut) Vorarlberg-Corratec 0:34
97. Jonas Ljungblad (Swe) Silence-Lotto 0:38
98. Morris Possoni (Ita) Team Columbia-HTC 0:43
99. Gabriel Rasch (Nor) Cervelo TestTeam
100. Philipp Ludescher (Aut) Vorarlberg-Corratec
101. Christoph Sokoll (Aut) Vorarlberg-Corratec
102. Koos Moerenhout (Ned) Rabobank 1:02
103. Sebastian Siedler (Ger) Vorarlberg-Corratec 1:09
104. Bart Dockx (Bel) Silence-Lotto 1:11
105. Dainius Kairelis (Ltu) Ceramica Flaminia-Bossini Docce 1:23
106. Luigi Sestilli (Ita) Ceramica Flaminia-Bossini Docce
107. Oscar Pujol Munoz (Spa) Cervelo TestTeam 1:28

Final GC

1. Michael Albasini (Swi) Team Columbia-HTC 28:14:05
2. Ruslan Pidgornyy (Ukr) ISD 1:12
3. Stanislau Samoilav (Blr) Quick Step 2:20
4. Kevin Seeldrayers (Bel) Quick Step 2:42
5. Francesco Reda (Ita) Quick Step 2:51
6. Pieter Weening (Ned) Rabobank 2:59
7. Gianpaolo Caruso (Ita) Ceramica Flaminia-Bossini Docce 3:05
8. Stefan Denifl (Aut) ELK Haus 3:37
9. Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Silence-Lotto 5:30
10. Thomas Peterson (USA) Garmin-Slipstream 5:36
11. Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) Fuji-Servetto 6:34
12. Bram Tankink (Ned) Rabobank 6:43
13. Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quick Step 7:47
14. Matthias Brändle (Aut) ELK Haus 7:51
15. Timothy Duggan (USA) Garmin-Slipstream
16. Jan Barta (Cze) KTM-Junkers 9:48
17. Svein Tuft (Can) Garmin-Slipstream 0:11:29
18. Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Vorarlberg-Corratec 0:12:29
19. Serguei Klimov (Rus) Team Katusha 0:12:59
20. Dario Cataldo (Ita) Quick Step 0:13:24
21. Fredrik Kessiakoff (Swe) Fuji-Servetto 0:15:06
22. Leonardo Bertagnolli (Ita) Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni-Androni Giocattoli 0:17:04
23. Maxim Belkov (Rus) ISD 0:21:47
24. Wim Van Huffel (Bel) Vorarlberg-Corratec 0:23:09
25. Matthias Russ (Ger) Team Milram 0:23:31
26. Massimiliano Gentili (Ita) Ceramica Flaminia-Bossini Docce 0:23:33
27. Elias Schmaeh (Swi) Vorarlberg-Corratec 0:24:36
28. Martin Velits (Svk) Team Milram 0:25:41
29. Luis Angel Mate Mardones (Spa) Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni-Androni Giocattoli 0:26:30
30. Mathew Hayman (Aus) Rabobank 0:26:49
31. Olivier Kaisen (Bel) Silence-Lotto 0:27:26
32. Marcus Burghardt (Ger) Team Columbia-HTC 0:28:17
33. Kai Reus (Ned) Rabobank 0:28:49
34. Andre Greipel (Ger) Team Columbia-HTC 0:28:50
35. Emanuel Vona (Ita) ISD 0:29:04
36. Guennady Mikhaylov (Rus) Team Katusha 0:29:07
37. Oscar Garcia-Casarrubios (Spa) Contentpolis-Ampo 0:29:37
38. Morris Possoni (Ita) Team Columbia-HTC 0:30:38
39. Harald Starzengruber (Aut) ELK Haus 0:30:48
40. Cristiano Fumagalli (Ita) Ceramica Flaminia-Bossini Docce 0:30:49
41. Marco Velo (Ita) Quick Step 0:30:53
42. Markus Eibegger (Aut) ELK Haus 0:30:54
43. Benat Intxausti Elorriaga (Spa) Fuji-Servetto 0:31:10
44. Bram De Groot (Ned) Rabobank 0:31:25
45. Thomas Fothen (Ger) Team Milram 0:32:02
46. Ian Stannard (GBr) ISD
47. Dominik Hrinkow (Aut) RC ARBÖ Wels Gourmetfein 0:32:07
48. Koos Moerenhout (Ned) Rabobank 0:33:12
49. Ermanno Capelli (Ita) Fuji-Servetto 0:33:37
50. Jan Valach (Svk) ELK Haus 0:34:11
51. Gabriel Rasch (Nor) Cervelo TestTeam 0:34:18
52. Gert Dockx (Bel) Team Columbia-HTC 0:34:37
53. Alessandro Bertolini (Ita) Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni-Androni Giocattoli 0:35:03
54. Stefan Rucker (Aut) ELK Haus 0:35:12
55. Huub Duyn (Ned) Garmin-Slipstream 0:35:13
56. Riccardo Zoidl (Aut) RC ARBÖ Wels Gourmetfein 0:36:14
57. Jonas Ljungblad (Swe) Silence-Lotto 0:36:41
58. Xavier Florencio Cabre (Spa) Cervelo TestTeam 0:37:16
59. Werner Riebenbauer (Aut) RC ARBÖ Wels Gourmetfein 0:37:56
60. Michael Pichler (Aut) RC ARBÖ Wels Gourmetfein 0:37:57
61. Sebastian Siedler (Ger) Vorarlberg-Corratec 0:38:43
62. Oscar Pujol Munoz (Spa) Cervelo TestTeam 0:38:58
63. Luca Mirenda G. (Ita) ISD 0:39:09
64. Roy Sentjens (Bel) Silence-Lotto 0:39:19
65. Davide Ricci Bitti (Ita) ISD 0:39:38
66. Thomas Vedel Kvist (Den) Quick Step 0:39:44
67. Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Fuji-Servetto 0:40:08
68. Ruben Reig Conejero (Spa) Contentpolis-Ampo 0:40:20
69. Luigi Sestilli (Ita) Ceramica Flaminia-Bossini Docce 0:41:04
70. Alexander Serov (Rus) Team Katusha 0:41:54
71. Ben Swift (GBr) Team Katusha 0:42:08
72. Josef Kugler (Aut) KTM-Junkers 0:42:41
73. Markus Eichler (Ger) Team Milram 0:44:18
74. Edward King (USA) Cervelo TestTeam 0:44:42
75. Philipp Ludescher (Aut) Vorarlberg-Corratec 0:45:09
76. Dainius Kairelis (Ltu) Ceramica Flaminia-Bossini Docce 0:45:19
77. Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Team Columbia-HTC 0:45:33
78. Paolo Bailetti (Ita) Fuji-Servetto 0:45:47
79. David Schöggl (Aut) RC ARBÖ Wels Gourmetfein 0:46:32
80. Jeremy Hunt (GBr) Cervelo TestTeam 0:46:35
81. Martin Riska (Svk) RC ARBÖ Wels Gourmetfein 0:46:49
82. Bart Dockx (Bel) Silence-Lotto 0:47:23
83. Christian Kux (Ger) Team Milram 0:48:27
84. Leonardo Moser (Ita) Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni-Androni Giocattoli 0:49:14
85. Christoph Sokoll (Aut) Vorarlberg-Corratec 0:49:26
86. Laszlo Bodrogi (Fra) Team Katusha 0:49:45
87. Rafael Serrano Fernandez (Spa) Contentpolis-Ampo 0:49:50
88. Denis Galimzyanov (Rus) Team Katusha 0:50:13
89. Cristiano Benenati (Ita) ISD 0:51:47
90. Gorik Gardeyn (Bel) Silence-Lotto 0:52:35
91. Peter Pichler (Aut) RC ARBÖ Wels Gourmetfein 0:52:36
92. Harald Morscher (Aut) Vorarlberg-Corratec 0:53:09
93. Joaquin Novoa Menedez (Spa) Cervelo TestTeam 0:53:37
94. Rene Haselbacher (Aut) Vorarlberg-Corratec 0:54:15
95. Artur Gajek (Ger) Team Milram 0:54:48
96. Stefan Probst (Aut) KTM-Junkers 0:55:01
97. Eloy Teruel Rovira (Spa) Contentpolis-Ampo 0:55:23
98. Graeme Brown (Aus) Rabobank 0:55:24
99. Rupert Probst (Aut) RC ARBÖ Wels Gourmetfein 0:57:09
100. Steffen Radochla (Ger) ELK Haus 0:57:20
101. Filippo Simeoni (Ita) Ceramica Flaminia-Bossini Docce 0:57:59
102. Luca Solari (Ita) Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni-Androni Giocattoli 1:00:47
103. Francesco Ginanni (Ita) Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni-Androni Giocattoli 1:01:26
104. Pedro Jose Vera Alcaraz (Spa) Contentpolis-Ampo 1:08:18
105. Petr Lechner (Cze) KTM-Junkers 1:08:49
106. Bernardo Riccio (Ita) Ceramica Flaminia-Bossini Docce 1:10:54
107. Robert Gaszmayr (Aut) KTM-Junkers 1:26:24