BIKE Transalp powered by Sigma
Huber/Stiebjahn With Stage Win in Bormio
Press Release / 17.07.2018
Urs Huber (SUI) and Simon Stiebjahn (GER) have celebrated their second stage win at the BIKE Transalp powered by Sigma 2018. Team Bulls 1, which had already clinched the opening stage of the mountain bike event for teams of two, needed 2:58.43,5 hours to master the 67.98 kilometres and 2,239 metres of climbing of the third stage which led from from Livigno to Bormio.
With a gap of 10.5 seconds Italians Tony Longo and Johnny Cattaneo of Wilier Force 7C 1 crossed the finish line, which had been placed just outside of Bormio, as second (2:58.54,0) duo therefore securing their first Transalp 2018 stage win. Rank three went to Markus Kaufmann (GER) and Jochen Kaess (GER) of Centurion Vaude (2:58.58,7) who therefore were able to defend a lead of 3.09 minutes in the general classification on today's winners with four more days to go until everyone makes it to the finish in Arco.
Team Bulls 1 brought home the win thanks to a strong performance in the descent from Torre di Fraele to Boscopiano. “We rode strong and pretty offensive today. In the last downhill, we were able to break away and secure the stage win. And we were also able to catch up a bit in the general classification. 15 seconds are better than nothing,” explained Urs Huber after rolling in to downtown of Bormio.
Before, the Swiss racer, his German teammate as well as Centurion Vaude had successfully distanced themselves from the rest of the pro teams in the steep climb to Carosello 3000, the first col to be conquered today, whilst also losing Jochen Kaess for quite a while.
The Transalp triple winner of 2013, 2014 and 2015, however, was able to bridge the gap again during the 10 kilometres long freeride fiesta down to Latteria di Livigno: “I took it easy and rode my own rhythm due to yesterday's exhausting stage. And as I know the terrain in Livigno very well that wasn't much of a problem,” the 36-year-old stated.
The two dominating pairs of this year's Transalp then worked well together in the climbs to Trela Pass and Bocchetta di Trela before Longo and Cattaneo, who had been temporarily 2:30 minutes behind, were able to catch up with the four cyclists in the lead and actually clinch rank two.
But the Italian duo also benefitted by the overall leader's choice to not take too much of a risk: “We rode in controlled manner and tried to save up some energy. We only lost 15 seconds, so everything is fine,” explained Kaess conclusively.
Category Leaders Avert Attacks
While the pursuers of the Yellow Jerseys chalked up another win in the men's category, the leaders of the other four rankings brought home some well-deserved wins.
In the masters event, Massimo De Bertolis (ITA) and leg-amputee Dax Jaikel (CRC) racing for Wilier Force 7C 3 clinched their second stage win (3:18.08,3) crossing the finish line 14,7 seconds ahead of Jan Halik (SVK) and Karel Hartl (CZE) of Norwit-CYKLOmax Slovakia (3:18.23,0).
In the grand masters classifier, Claudius Thommen (SUI) and Thomas Girardi (SUI) of Stoll Bikes were back to business again securing their second stage win (3:27.41,5) while Verena Krenslehner-Schmid (AUT) and Philip Handl (AUT) of Imst Tourismus triumphed for the third consecutive time (3:42.58,3) in the mixed class.
On the women's side of things, Janine Schneider (GER) and Stefanie Dohrn (GER) of Team Nauders Canyon/Cube also earned their third stage win (3:42.58,3).
Stage Preview: Bormio – Ponte di Legno
The fourth stage of the BIKE Transalp powered by Sigma 2018 leads via 57.66 kilometres and 2,618 metres of climbing from Bormio to Ponte di Legno.
The shortest stage offers a lot of challenges with Gavia Pass as well as the hardest technical test of the week – the single track to Sant' Appolonia – being the most notable ones.
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