Press Release: Reigning Australian time trial champion, Jack Bobridge, has posted an emphatic win in the stage five time trial of the U23 International Thuringen Tour in Germany.
The 19 year old South Australia mastered the wet, slippery 29.2km course from Oberhof to Wende to stop the clock at 26min20sec.
2008 World Championship silver medallist, Germany’s Patrick Gretsch (Thuringer Energie Team), was 45 seconds off the pace of Bobridge for second place with Austrian Matthias Brandl third at 49 seconds.
The stage result has propelled Bobridge to third overall, 1min24sec off the time of current Tour leader Stefan Denifl (AUT) with Dutch rider Steven Kruijswijk (Rabobank) two seconds off the lead in second place.
Bobridge has also raced into the lead in both the points classification and the best young rider rankings. He has 69 points, 19 points clear of second ranked Andreas Stauff (team Kuota – Indeland) and in the battle for the white jersey is 56 seconds ahead of Brandl.
Three of Bobridge’s Team AIS team mates also finished in the top twenty on stage five with Rohan Dennis seventh at 1min06sec, Leigh Howard 15th at 1min27sec and Travis Meyer 18th at 1min34sec.
Howard, who won the first stage, is sitting four points off the lead in the sprinters classification.
The penultimate stage of the seven stage tour will take the riders on a testing 133.8km course out and back from Neuhaus. The route includes two category one climbs in the last 40 kilometres of the stage.
Saturday’s final stage over a 141.5km course out and back from Hildburghausen also features two category one climbs but they come early in the stage giving teams an opportunity to chase down any breaks that escape on the climbs.
Website: Cycling Australia
