Salomon 4 Trails

Caballero and Fischl are the Winners of the First Stage

News Release / 09.07.2015

Bad Reichenhall, July 8, 2015 – Heavy rainfalls, several falls and victories for the favorites – that is what characterized the first day of the SALOMON 4 TRAILS 2015. Miguel Ortega Caballero from Spain and the mountain running champion Tina Fischl from Germany were first to finish on the route from Berchtesgaden to Bad Reichenhall. However, this first victory should not be seen as a preliminary decision. On the following three stages the participants will face another 140 km and a vertical gain of 7,800 m - a real challenge for the runners not only in conditions as today, but also in the forecasted heat of those to come.

33 year-old Miguel Ortega Caballero, the world class trail runner from Spain, won the first of the four stages of the SALOMON 4 TRAILS in 2:12,59.7 hours. He crossed the finish line 2,49.5 minutes ahead of Daniel Jung from South Tyrol who was second to finish on the 25.1 kilometers long stage between Berchtesgaden and Bad Reichenhall. Dimitris Theodorakakos’ third place came rather as a surprise. Last year’s winner arrived at the saline in Bad Reichenhall 7,32.4 minutes after Caballero. In the women’s category one of the favorites, Tina Fischl from Germany, decided the first stage in her favor, crossing the finish line 2,57.4 minutes ahead of Helen Bonsor from Scottland and 9,07.4 minutes ahead of Zhana Vokueva from Russia who was also third to finish last year.

Due to heavy thunderstorms last night, the first stage had to be shortened from 30 to 25.1 kilometers for security reasons. Given the difficult weather conditions in Berchtesgaden, everyone involved backed this decision. At 8 a.m. this morning, 574 runners from 27 nations kicked off the first, technically demanding stage leading from Berchtesgaden to Bad Reichenhall. Heavy rainfalls and thunderstorms in combination with a vertical gain of 1442 meters made the challenges of this stage even bigger for the participants of the SALOMON 4 TRAILS 2015. The three stages to come, leading via Ruhpolding and Lofer to Maria Alm, will in fact be significantly longer than the first one, but therefore the weather is said to become a lot better, too.  

Will the winners of Bad Reichenhall also be the overall winners 2015? Maybe. The way in which Miguel Ortega Caballero from the Pyrenees weighing only about 60 kilograms won today was more than impressive, also for his competitors point of view. He easily stepped up the pace on the ascent to the 1539 meters high mountain Zehnkaser and thus acquired a decent lead at that point. “I was totally motivated, it was a perfect day” said Caballero who also celebrated his 33rd birthday on this first day of the event. As the winner of the GORE-TEX® TRANSALPINE-RUN 2011, the Spaniard was ranked among the favorites. This however was not the true for Daniel Jung (Naturns) who was to finish second. He is actually a mountain biking specialist, but today he also proved to be an excellent trail runner - on the ascent as well as on the descent. With a time deficit of only 2,49.5 minutes he is now the first of Caballero’s chasers.

“I was just worried that Theodorakakos could catch up on the flat finishing straight, but fortunately that did not happen” says Jung with a smile on his face. This inevitably brings us to the question: what happened to the man from Thessaloniki who had dominated all four stages of the SALOMON 4 TRAILS last year in such an impressive way? “I had nothing more to add. Now I just hope that I will be able to finish all four days. I am not so sure about that at the moment, to be honest” says the Greek world class runner appearing very disappointed and tired.

The women’s category promises to develop into a thrilling and tight race. Tina Fischl’s lead of only 2,57.4 minutes is not a comfortable one. Helen Bonsor from Scottland still has every chance to catch up with today’s winner. “The lead could and should have been bigger” says Fischl. She was again not satisfied with her own performance on the downhill part: “I lost a lot of time on the descent. It was simply too steep for me”. But we should also not lose sight of Zhanna Vokueva from Russia with a current time deficit of 9,07.4 minutes. She was third to finish last year, and she has proven more than once that she is always good for a surprise.

Overview of results:  

Master Men: 1. Stefan Holzner (Bad Reichenhall, 2:28,21.2 h), 2. Josef Vogt (Liechtenstein, 2:29.37.7 h), 3. Seppi Neuhauser (Kleinwalsertal, 2:32,20.2 h)

Master Women: 1. Lauren Jeska (GB-Machynlleth, 2:56,04.4 h), 2. Uta Jurkschat (Schmiedefeld, 3:13,49.2 h), 3. Eva Färberböck (Murnau, 3:23,09.1 h)

Senior Master Men: 1. Armin Bernard (Rosenheim, 2:37,25.6 h), 2. Hermann Daucher (A-Ternberg, 2:46,31.4 h), 3. Thomas Miksch (Kempten, 2:48,29.0 h)

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