GORE-TEX® Transalpine-Run
Leaders Maintain their Positons
06.09.2009
The two athletes of 'Saab Salomon Outdoor Team' deserve their leader's jerseys for a second day in a row as a just reward for covering the shortest of this week's stages in only 02:39:54.2 hours. This sensational achievement becomes all the more palpable if one considers that the next two teams, not exactly known as slouches from previous races, wouldn't arrive for another ten minutes. Christian Stork and Matthias Dippacher of Team 'BLT Laufsport Saukel Hagloefs' (02:50:28.0 hours) claimed second place beating Thomas Geisenberger and Michael Veit ('Team Dr. Steinbauer', 02:52:06.4 hours) to the finish line on the last stretch after racing neck-and-neck race for much of second half of the stage.
Christian Stork, who admitted to suffering some on yesterday's first stage had found his form again. Yet, bad luck was with him today as the tough terrain along the 24,63 km stage ruined one of his brand-new running shoes. Still, Stork was cheery about today's podium-position performance pointing out "that it went a lot better today. This is my fourth time at the Transalpine-Run and the first stage has always been the worst for me".
Stork's, jinx may have been to the advantage of Matthias Dippacher. The always upbeat German and his teammate both took falls along the trail. "Somebody took a spill right ahead of us and so we followed his lead. Luckily we only suffered minor scrapes that aren't going to bother us much" were the words of national team member Dippacher. All in all, the day had been one of playing catch-up for 'Team BLT Laufsport Saukel Haglöfs'. The two athletes had started out in fifth position when leaving Lech but they steadily worked their way up. By the time they reached the south side of Valluga Ridge (2,750 m) they were able to play out their technical finesse and managed to pass 'Team Dr. Steinbauer' on the steep downhill.
<b>Brits in a class of their own</b>
Well ahead of any competition, Andrew Symonds and Tom Owens once again were able to focus on their running. With no team breathing down their necks, the duo nevertheless decided to rev it up a notch on the three uphill sections but, in the words of Symonds, "tried to stay relaxed. That's the key to success. You have to flow with the course".
His team chum Owens added: "We stayed focused on ourselves and just ran our race". As the 27-year-old managed to put some thigh problems behind him last night, the Saab Salomon Outdoor team should be good for a few more surprising performances this week. The two 'über-runners' show no signs of fatigue so far but assume that they "most certainly will look trashed after another few days of racing".
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