Salomon 4 Trails

Berner joins Dimitrios on top of the podium at the end of Stage Three

Press Release / 12.07.2014

Mirco Berner (GER) clearly is not only quick on his feet but also seems to learn on the go! The 20-year -old trail talent celebrated a joint victory with Dimitrios Theodorakakos (GRE) on the third stage of the 2014 SALOMON 4 TRAILS after catching up to the overall leader on the difficult, technical downhill from Glanderspitz Peak (2,512 m). This seems all the more surprising since the young German - by his own account - considers his lack of experience on technical descents to be his biggest handicap. Dimitrios Theodorakakos seemed impressed by this show of talent and generously afforded Berner an opportunity to cross the finish line in unison after 3:07:33 hours on the 31.1 km long course. The order of the leaders in the overall ranking was not affected as Theodorakakos (SALOMON) still managed to expand his lead over second-ranking team colleague Iker Karrera (SPAIN) to 9:44 minutes. Third-ranking Berner, despite his tremendous performance today, is still kept at bay by the Greek with a lead of over 19 minutes. 

Nuria Picas (BUFF PRO Team) once again impressed among the Women as she braved the inclement weather like no other. Her lead grew to 21:34 minutes over Tina Fischl (SZIOLS/ASICS Frontrunner) who ranks second with little threat to this position. Reason being the withdrawal of  local hero Katharina Zisper of Tyrol, Austria, who had already proved her mettle during the last couple of stages but succumbed to stomach cramps today. Russian Zhanna Vokueva (Team SALOMON) was quick to fill the gap on the podium.

By the books at least, Stage Three was going to be easiest of the four days of trail-running.  Yet the weather foiled that assessment for a good number of the remaining 361 participants. With a vertical gain of just 1,828 m a lot of racers had hoped for a bit of a rest day but the downpour of rain made the technical downhill from Glanderspitz Peak quite tricky for most. And for some participants it called into question a decision on whether to continue at all. 

Nuria Picas, the fastest woman, shared that “it was incredibly cold and windy at the summit and really tough as a result”. Still, the 37-year-old Spanish trail prodigy managed to show no overt weakness while on the trail and managed to increase her lead quite comfortably. Tina Fischl tried to stay with Picas for as long as possible. We ran with one another until Kilometer 17 when I donned my rain jacket and fell behind. 

But I wouldn't have been able to hold her back much longer anyhow”. The German was very content with running to second place given that this is her first multi-stage race. 

The day had a woeful ending for Katharina Zipser of Innsbruck, the local hero with a very real chance for a podium position until midday today. Just below the summit of Glanderspitz Peak the Austrian had to give up her on account of gastric problems. 

In comparison, the stage proved less of an upset for most of the leading Men of the different age categories. True to form, Dimitrios Theodorakakos took over the lead right from the start in Imst and, without missing a beat, worked on putting more distance between himself and his competitors. While Iker Karrera proved hard to drop, Mirco Berner seemed to hang back in a small group with  two other racers. This may have been the right strategy for this day as it avoided challenging the two pros ahead too early in the stage. Yet, Berner finally mounted a first attack just below the day's only summit managing to pass Karrera close to the apex. Buoyed by success, he got cracking on the long downhill and eventually caught up with leader Theodorakakos. Berner glowed that two kilometers before the finish he “asked whether the two could run to the finish line neck-to-neck, to which Theodorakakos consented. It is simply amazing to enjoy the privilege of arriving together with a world-class athlete”. It didn't matter at that point that Theodorakakos obviously had shifted into lower gear to save some energy after the exertions of the last stages. His gesture certainly provided Berner with his best experience yet in his young running career. The Greek on the other hand already seemed to have his mind on the ultimate stage from Landeck, Austria, to Samnaun, Switzerland. “I'm thinking about those tough 45 km up to Samnaun. In this weather it is most important to stay healthy and simply to finish [in one piece]”.

While the outcome of the race among the Men seems a foregone conclusion at this point, racers in at least one other age category are fighting hard to determine the respective winner. Iwan Schwarz of Switzerland may feel the most comfortable in his leader shirt as he is leading Beat Lohner and Anton Frommelt (both of Liechtenstein) by roughly 29 and 42 minutes, respectively.  German Armin Bernard of the Senior Master Men, in contrast, is feeling less secure after today's stage on which he lost 14 minutes to his closest pursuer, Beat Bieri of Switzerland. Bernard's overall lead on his Swiss opponent ahead of the last stage has wasted away to under 5 minutes, which opens up the field for speculation as to whether the latter his headed for home run.    

The ultimate stage of the SALOMON 4 TRAILS from Landeck, Austria, to Samnaun, Switzerland, is not only the decisive one but also the toughest of the four days of alpine trail-running. Not only does the distance of 45.5 km intimidate but also a positive vertical gain of 2.844 m may be cause for a loss of sleep for anyone who's suffering from fatigue by now. While the endless climb up to  Fisser Saddle (1.645 m pos. vert.) by itself would make for a good day's work, the Ochsenscharte with an elevation of 2.844 m thirty kilometers into the race should add insult to injury for many. From there it should be mostly downhill across green alpine meadows – if only it wasn't for a thin layer of fresh snow that fell over the past couple of days.

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