HOCHFUGEN, Austria, Aug 30, 2008 (AFP) – Germany’s Linus Gerdemann of the Columbia team won the first stage of the Tour of Germany on Saturday from Kitzbuhel to Hochfugen.

Gerdemann lived up to his status as favourite on the most difficult stage of the race with two category one climbs at 1463m altitude.

He finished ahead of Swedish teammate Thomas Lovkvist and Slovenia’s Janez Brajkovic to overtake Australian Brett Lancaster, who won the 3.6km prologue on Friday, as the overall race leader.

Photo by: CorVos Pro