'I got left out' - How one contractless pro is fighting to get back to the WorldTour

Giro d'Italia stage winner Lukas Pöstlberger might be without a team, but he's determined to get back to the top

Lukas Pöstlberger at the Tour of the Alps
(Image credit: Getty Images)

If you've followed cycling over the last few years, you'll almost certainly know the name Lukas Pöstlberger. He's a Giro d’Italia stage winner, a two-time Austrian road champion, and he wore the yellow jersey at the Critérium du Dauphiné for four days in 2021. Now, aged 32, he finds himself in a tight spot.

Without a team, Pöstlberger is racing the Tour of the Alps this week for his national squad. It's just his second road race of the season, his first this year at pro level, and the stakes are high. A good performance, he feels, will help him get back into the pro ranks, a tier from which he fell at the end of last year. 

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