Bauke Mollema defended his third place overall at the Lidl Tour of Austria on the final stage in Vienna, securing his first stage race podium finish in more than five years.
Stage 5, the final stage of the Lidl Tour of Austria, concluded with the expected bunch sprint against the picturesque backdrop between the Burgtheater and City Hall, right next to the Hofburg in the heart of Vienna.
Patrick Konrad and Héctor Álvarez sprinted to third and fourth place on the stage for Lidl-Trek, while the previous day’s stage winner Andrea Bagioli crossed the line in sixth after completing his lead-out duties. Mollema safely reached the finish with the peloton, without losing any time, to defend his third place in the general classification.
"It's super nice! I think it's the first time I finish on the podium in a stage race in more than five years – at my age that's not easy against all the young guys. I'm really happy with the week, it was nice racing here in Austria," said the 39-year-old Dutchman afterwards.
Mollema, whose last podium finish in the GC of a stage race dates back to the Tour des Alpes Maritimeset du Var in 2021, had already laid the foundation for his final podium result on Stage 2 with the demanding summit finish at Kaiser-Franz-Josefs-Höhe on the Großglockner, Austria’s highest mountain. There, he showcased the climbing abilities that once made him one of the sport’s top climbers, finishing alongside the strongest riders.
“On Großglockner, there more or less the GC was decided. I felt really good the last couple of weeks already, especially in Suisse and at the Nationals. I really tried to peak that month and to hold it also this week. I wanted to be at my best on Großglockner and I was able to follow the best riders there and move up to third in GC,” Mollema said. “The last few days were also not easy, but I was able to hold on to it.”
Lidl-Trek was one of the strongest teams in Austria, securing a stage win with Bagioli in Steyr on Saturday, as well as two third places with Álvarez and Konrad on stage 1 and 5 – next tot he fourth place of Mollema on stage 2 and his third place overall.
Most of the riders on the team will now enjoy a short break from racing before returning to competition at the end of July. The same goes for Mollema, who explained:
"The last two months have been quite hard, a lot of races, I went to altitude, heat training – I really tried to peak this month and I'm super happy, that even at my age I'm still competitive to do some results and reward myself with that. It's always nice to see that hard work pays off. But now I really feel that physically and mentally I need a small break. But probably I will be back in two weeks."
