Craft Bike TransAlp
Team Bulls Dominate the First Stage of the Transalp
Press Release / 17.07.2010
Karl Platt and Stefan Sahm have – just like in 2008 - won the first stage of the 2010 CRAFT BIKE TRANSALP powered by NISSAN. Team Bulls (2:52:24.9) was victorious in a finish sprint after having pedalled 83.76 kilometres with 2,105 metres of ascent from Füssen to Imst. The Germans relegated their mates Thomas Dietsch and Tim Böhme of Team Bulls 2 (2:52:25.9) to the runner-up position, with a tiny lead of only one second. The second ranked French-German duo had caught up again in the flat section after Nassereith and were finally able to pull away from third ranked Swiss title defenders Lukas Buchli and Thomas Stoll of BiXS iXS Pro Team (2:52:26.5).
But before the enthralling battle between the top-3 took place, everything had been set for a duel of the 2008 and 2009 title winners. After a long tit for tat until the climb up to Marienbergjoch, more and more teams had to give in to the pace which Buchli and Stoll had set, until only two duos were left.
The four pros raced downhill gaining a comfortable lead of about 20 seconds until the second food station at Nassereith when a clever manoeuvre by Platt/Sahm changed the balance of power of the leading group.
<b>Strong Debut of New Material</b>
“We took it easy in the flat section giving Thomas (Dietsch) and Tim (Böhme) the chance to catch up,â€? explained Stefan Sahm after the finish. The decisive sprint itself was started by Böhme but the young German didn’t put it all together to bring home victory with his team mate. Due to this, Platt and Sahm were the lucky ones rolling in first on brand-new 29-inch-bikes.
“This win is very important for our self-esteem as we didn’t really know where we would stand.� However, the new bikes also played a role. “The material is so good. The wheels have a phenomenal traction in the climbs�. And it was today’s sole climb which decided the race.
<b>Title Defenders Pleased</b>
However, the 2009 winners Lukas Buchli and Thomas Stoll were the strongest riders up to the 1,810 m high Marienbergjoch. Stoll was leading the whole climb and his Swiss countryman Buchli, who celebrates his 31st birthday today, also seemed to be in the mood to underline that both came to the Transalp to win the race.
The birthday boy was very pleased: “Third is absolutely fine for us. It is a good start and we are in a good shape. In a sprint for victory, anything can happen!�
<b>Surprising Result in the Masters Category</b>
Contrary to the expectations of most of the officials, partners and spectators it wasn’t the dominating master duo of the last four years who took stage one. Austria’s Ekkehard Dörschlag and Heinz Zörweg of Team KTM finally finished fourth, and it was Udo Bölts (GER) and Silvio Wieltschnig (AUT) who took over the lead in the category of those teams with a minimum age of 80 years. Team Rothaus-Cube mastered the stage in 3:01:57.4 hours.
Hans Grasegger and Georg Koch of the German-Austrian Team Scott/RS Janger came in second (3:04:50.7), and Marco Michelotti and Michele De Gasperi of Team Val di Sole were third (3:09:41.2).
Despite the commanding lead on this comparatively easy Transalp stage, Udo Bölts rejected all speculations about a possible change of power in the masters category: “This was the first day. I’m very exhausted and the others are strong as an ox.â€? He said.
<b>Favourites Dominate the Other 3 Categories</b>
On the ladies side, Danish sisters Kristine and Anna-Sofie Norgaard of Rothaus-Cube succeeded according to expectations (3:22:34.7). Natascha Binder and Bettina Dietzen (both GER) of Felt Ötztal X-Bionic/Cannondale Store came in second (3:35:33.1) thus relegating Mountain Heroes Katrin Neumann (GER) and Danièle Troesch (FRA) to third (3:37:50.9).
In the mixed class, Pia Sundstedt (FIN) and her German Craft-Rocky-Mountain team mate Daniel Gathof fulfilled all expectations by winning in 3:09:57.7 hours. Milena Landtwing (SUI) and Heiko Gutmann (GER) of Rothaus-Cube (3:15:44.2) as well as Ivanda Eiduka (LAT) and Allan Oras (EST) of Rietumu bank Delfin (3:18:56.4) rounded out the podium as second and third respectively.
On the side of the oldest participants, the senior master teams, Germany’s Ferdinand Ganser and Georg Niggle carried on where they stopped last year – with a triumph in a time of 3:22:08.9 hours.
Italy’s Johann Pallhuber and Hartman Stifter of Green Valley Team 100 (3:24:33.3) were second ahead of Swiss pairing Max Bertschinger and Thomas Rüegg of Thomax Bike (3:31:35.0). See All Event Posts
