John Cassar has won the Cliff Micallef Time Trial held on the sixth day of the Betfair LifeCycle Challenge, managing to cycle 18 kilometres up steep mountainsides in just over 58 minutes.

He was a full three minutes ahead of the next cyclist.

The third day in Austria saw the team head to Klagenfurt from Eibiswald, with the day starting off with a punishing 1.9 kilometre hill, followed by a blissful down ride, through stunning scenery through heavily-forested mountains, past lakes and pristine villages with postcard-perfect houses bedecked with flowers, and with the mountains of Slovenia in the distance across emerald green valleys.

This sounded on paper like a relatively easy day, with just 100 kilometres to complete – less than half the average ride – and only one checkpoint.

But the reality is that the cyclists had around 25 kilometres of uphill climbs, meaning that many of them were totally unaware of the beauty surrounding them, concentrating only on the gruelling effort required and the determination required to get through the pain barrier.

By the time they got to the accommodation, many of them were so exhausted they could only stumble down the stairs to the gym and they were almost all asleep within half an hour.

The clear skies held until they all got in, and then it poured cats and dogs but cleared again, although there is no guarantee that the weather will hold out tomorrow, when the cyclists must complete 165 kilometres across the border to Slovenia with a punishing ride of eight hills of five kilometres each.