Glorieux/Michels celebrate career's first TOUR Transalp win | Nothegger/Obwaller clinch stage at final participation

Press Release / 02.07.2017

Frederic Glorieux and Bob Michels have claimed victory at the 15th TOUR Transalp. Team Prostyle-Grinta!, which had missed the title two years ago by the tiny mere of 7.2 seconds, mastered the total distance of 867.24 kilometres and 18,233 metres of climbing from Sonthofen to Lake Garda in a time of 18:33.34,5.

After the two Belgian cyclists had paved the road to victory with their third stage win yesterday, a second place (+0,5sec) on the seventh and final stage from Pieve di Ledro to Arco behind of successful Austrians Mathias Nothegger and Hans Peter Obwaller (3:10.06,9) was enough to lock in the win.

Team www.nom-training.com therefore not only clinched their second stage but also celebrated another dominating participation in the masters category two years after they had won the category for the male teams with a combined age of 80+ for the last time.

It was the icing on the cake for the experienced duo which announced that they won't come back to the world's biggest road bike stage race for the Average Joe to defend their title together: "We have giving it all we had over the past four years; we had wonderful moments but also a lot of bad luck, too. We always worked perfectly together in a team," said both.

Together with Glorieux and Michels, the two Austrians had put their mark on the seven-day race through the Alps as "Fantastic Four". As a result, the foursome also took the mandatory champagne shower together. "That's what makes this race so special. It's about camaraderie and friendship, not about rivalry. Unlike one-day events, you meet every day, talk about personal stuff such as family and kids. That's what makes the TOUR Transalp different. Everyone is here sharing the same message. It's all about cycling, the mountains, the nature and the shared experience," said Glorieux.

But despite all easing, one could feel the ambition in the air on the final and scenic-wise very attractive finale leg from Pieve di Ledro to Arco. "I was very nervous today. Over the whole course of the stage I was thinking what still could go wrong like a crash or flat. But now it's time to leave those negative thoughts behind as the title is in the books," explained Michels, who made it over the main ridge of the Alps without any technical problem – unlike his competitors Thomas Gschnitzer and Daniel Pechtl from Team Imst Tourismus 2.

Due to a crash and several technical defects, the Italian-Austrian pairing lost more than 16 minutes on today's fastest racers but were able to keep hold to their second rank in the men standings (19:03.40,4) which were rounded out by Belgian athletes Tim De Vos and Daan Vermeulen of il Volpe & Vermeulen #GFTbe as third (19:16.27,3).

The third ranked team of the day was Team corratec 1 with Stefan Oettl (GER) and Bart Bury (BEL) who concluded the TOUR Transalp as second best duo of the masters classifier (18:49.40,4) behind of Nothegger and Obwaller (18:40.25,8) and ahead of Team Easton with Carsten Bresser and Udo Boelts from Germany (20:06.18,1).

Grottoli finally with women title

Italy's Letizia Grottoli and Marcellina Dossi experienced a perfect Transalp week as Team montura garda trentino clinched all five stages of the 15th race edition which actually took place celebrating the overall win in the women category in a total time of 22:49.17,5.

As a result, the home stretch became a very emotional one for Grottoli who comes from Arco: "It was a tough week due to the weather but the final day did recompense for the stresses and strains. We were able to fulfil a lifelong dream," the 39-year-old said after finishing as second the past two years.

Kirsten Engsig and Marlena Andersen from Denmark who rode as Team Xtraordinaer took the runner-up position (25:15.44,0) with Hannover-Maedels Katja Lemke and Anne Loechel from Germany finishing in third (25:44.33,4).

Over in the mixed event, engaged couple from Austria Daniela Pintarelli and Andreas Traxl of Team MooserWirt – traxlradsport.at were able to defend their2 016 title in 19:52.37,2 – undefeated. "It was a perfect week for us. Daniela was riding a fantastic race. She is growing with the challenges and has been a perfect motivator as I'm actually a sissy when we have to cycle in the rain," stated Traxl with a smile.

Last year's women winner Janine Meyer of LeXXi SmartSuits powered by Tune wrapped up things in the mixed category together with her husband Michael as second (20:13.40,2) while Dutch athletes Yvonne Van Hattum and Jasper Carpaij of Dubai Dutchies took third (20:34.45,4).

In the grand masters category Germans Bernd Hornetz and Erwin Hickl of Team corratec 3 triumphed in a time of 19:32.06,7 bringing home their title with an advantage of more than 32 minutes over Italians Andreas Kofler and Stefano Pilo of Team Texmarket (20:04.30,3). "This title is sensational knowing that Erwin turns 60 this month. That's impressive as the competitors were very strong. It was a fantastic week for us," said Hornetz after their arrival in Arco.

The overall ranking in the category for the male teams with a combined age of 100+ went to Frenchmen Michel Roux and Stephane Cheylan of Scott vélo101 Risoul (20:14.07,2).

21-year-old German Luca Heckmueller was crowned best U23 racer.

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