GORE-TEX® Transalpine-Run
Symonds and Owen Claim Fifth Stage Victory
10.09.2009
Thomas Geisenberger and Michael Veit of the German 'Team Dr. Steinbauer' (03:15:41.0 hours) claimed second place without a threat in sight. In contrast seconds decided third place as the Italians Michael Fischer and Roland Osele of 'Telmekom Team Südtirol' (03:21:01.4 hours) beat Bruno Jost and Urs Jenzer ('Team Pedal-Fast Switzerland 1', 03:31:04.3 hours) by a hair to the finish line.
With each stage the Swiss have continuously improved their ranking but missed the podium by the closest margin imaginable today (2.9 sec).
Bruno Jost expressed his disappointment: "We were able to catch up nicely but then they noticed us and cleverly managed to keep ahead. It's too bad because today was meant to be our stage as for once we were able to run it all." Indeed, today's stage required a single, consistent but benign climb up Schlinigpass (2.261 m) before dropping gently into the Upper Val Venosta.
The dominant teams were well ahead of the main field by the time they reached the highest point of the stage and maintained high running speeds right into Mals. Tom Owens commented on today's experience: "We're delighted to have arrived in first place again. It was a long stage that was quite taxing. It's good to have had an uphill race yesterday, almost a rest day. It's the descents in particular that are hard on the legs and there are two more days to go'.
<b>Mixed-Team racer Gaby Steigmeier Withdraws</b>
With two-thirds of the race behind them and only 65 kilometers to go, Gaby Steigmeier (SUI) and Seppi Neuhauser (AUT) of 'Team Salomon' were in second place in the overall Mixed team ranking and had a podium position within sight. The team withdrew unexpectedly at the first food stop early this morning on account of Steigmeier's aggravating asthma. Seppi Neuhauser continued the stage on his own but was obviously saddened: "She had serious problems breathing and we needed to seek medical attention."
Due to this prominent withdrawal, Iona Robertson and Casey Morgan of 'Team TPC Freight Management' (03:35:23.2 hours) and siblings Annemarie and Ulrich Gross of 'Telmekom Team Südtirol' (03:42:33.8 hours) moved up in the overall ranking to second and third place, respectively.
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