Chris Froome was Team Sky's highest-ranked rider on the penultimate stage of the Tour of Austria, finishing the individual time trial in 14th position.

The 25 year old - who finished fourth on stage five - gave it his all on the pan-flat 26.9km circuit in Podersdorf and clocked a time of 32 minutes and 13 seconds which was 1min 26sec adrift of stage winner Joost Posthuma (Rabobank).

HTC-Columbia's Patrick Gretsch ended the day 11 seconds behind Posthuma in second place, with Artem Ovechkin (Katusha) a further 30 seconds behind in third.

Riccardo Riccò retained his overall lead despite finishing 2min 54sec down in 61st position but was injured after colliding with a motorbike halfway through the stage. The Flaminia rider battled on bravely to complete his ride but was taken straight to hospital with a suspected broken nose and it remains to be seen whether he will be able to recover in time for Sunday's final stage in Vienna.

If the Italian is unable to make the start line, Sergio Pardilla will wear the yellow jersey after leapfrogging Carmiooro team-mate Emanuele Sella into second place with his time of 32min 31sec.

Ian Stannard was the next highest Team Sky rider in 16th position, and Morris Possoni all-but assured a top 10 finish after coming home in 67th.

Hunt positive

When we caught up with sports director Dan Hunt after the stage, he felt there were a number of positives to take from the team's performance and is expecting them to be challenging for top honours again when the race reaches its conclusion.

He said: "It's fantastic that Morris has kept his place in the top 10 and we're all really pleased for him. He's not a natural time trialler and this certainly wasn't a course which suited him, or John-Lee Augustyn for that matter.

"They both committed 100% to their rides though and Morris achieved his goal. John-Lee deserves a mention as well though because he has shown real progression since the Critérium du Dauphiné and has really stepped up a level in the past week. That's definitely encouraging going into his next races.

"As for Froomy, he was really pleased with his position. He gave it a good go and rode a technically good ride. He's not on top form yet after his recent injury but this shows him where he is at.

"I don't think the GC will change too much tomorrow and for us it will be all about taking on the HTC-Columbia train again in a sprint finish.

"We're expecting a lot of people to come out and watch in the capital and hopefully we'll be able to set things up for Swifty."