Jeantex Bike Transalp 2009
Buchli/Stoll Take Second Stage Win to Extend Lead
News Release / 29.07.2009
Due to their second stage win at the 2009 JEANTEX BIKE TRANSALP powered by NISSAN, Switzerland's Lukas Buchli and Thomas Stoll have impressively underlined their ambition to bring home the Transalp crown.The bearers of the Yellow Jerseys from BiXS iXS Pro Team mastered the 74.63 kilometres and 3,007 metres of elevation gain from Kaltern to Andalo in 3:31:05.2 hours. Hannes Genze and Andreas Kugler (SUI) came in second (3:32:14.7). The Multivan Merida Biking Team thus still remains the only serious contender in the battle for the title, having summed up a deficit of 3:04 minutes before tomorrow's final stage to Riva del Garda. Carsten Bresser and Volker Ordowski from Rocky Mountain celebrated their week's first podium result in third place (3:36:56.0).
The final climb of today's stage up to Andalo (the 2009 Transalp's only real summit finish) was decisive for the victory and the extension of the lead in the race for the title. Right at the beginning of the ascent, the 2008 Swiss Champion and the 2006 European Champion broke off and rode away, gaining a lead throughout the last 800 metres of climbing of more than one minute on Genze/Kugler.
It was a planned attack, which Lukas Buchli had announced the evening before. "It's a very good feeling that we were able to achieve what we had in mind for today. That's amazing." However, the 30-year-old who is raising the Transalp for the first time also knows that it's not over yet. "A defect can always show up. So, it's the most important thing to choose the right equipment for tomorrow. But we hope that we will be able to bring home the lead and celebrate in Riva del Garda."
<b>Compliments from Competitors</b>
Despite the bitter defeat Multivan Merida Biking Team member Andreas Kugler showed some class giving out praise for the winners. The 2005 European Championships runner-up stated: "At the moment, both are simply the best in the climbs.
In addition, they had some very good support along the flat parts of the course on this very hot day. I think this was the decisive factor."
However, the 29-year-old doesn't think that it's over and done with: "We will see what happens tomorrow. But if you have a technical problem you can lose a lot of time. A lot of things can happen."
<b>Team KTM with Another Stage Win</b>
Ekkehard Doerschlag and Heinz Zoerweg have also dominated the seventh day. The title winners in the Master category of 2006, 2007 and 2008 secured their fifth stage win in 3:46:59.7 hours. Shortly behind of the bearers of the Blue Jerseys from Team KTM Italy's Silvano Janes and Stephan Unterthurner from Petrovilla Bergner Bau RTTR followed in second place (3:48:20.6).
About 50 seconds later, Walter Platzgummer (ITA) and Johann Grasegger from Scott-Adidas followed in a time of 3:49:09.9 hours.See All Event Posts
