Roca Defies Twisted Ankle/Germans Victorious

News Release / 05.09.2014

The leading Men's team successfully staved off the first earnest attack by their closest pursuers today. On Stage Six of the 10^th GORE-TEX® TRANSALPINE-RUN, a 37 km course from Campo Tures to San Vigilio with a single, seemingly endless climb, Team SALOMON GERMANY fended off their Spanish competitors of Team LA SPORTIVA – MULTIPOWER. Stephan Hugenschmidt and Mirco Berner faced the attack early on in the stage but reacted to it immediately by stepping up the pace and trying to put some distance between themselves and David Castan Lopez / Alfredo Gil. In the end, the two Germans arrived in San Vigilio after 3:33:29 hours on their legs - two minutes ahead of the Spaniards. Their overall lead on their closest pursuers, thereby, grew to comfortable 24 minutes. Third place in this stage went to the Italians Daniel Jung and Ivan Paulmichl (Team LATSCH-MOUNTAIN HEROES, 3:55:09 hours).

The fastest trail racer today was Johan Johansson of Sweden who covered today's course in 3:32:09 hours - always in sight of the official leaders but never within reach. Johansson races by himself and outside of the official ranking after his teammate André Jonsson had to withdraw from the race two days ago.

Tired probably describes best the condition of the 500 racers that remain in the official ranking at this point in the race. With seconds to go to the start most gaze off into the distance with sunken eyes. It's hard to imagine what their legs must feel like by now. The exuberance of the first days is gone, instead there is a lot of talk about inflammatory and overload syndromes - the buildup of lactic acid being the least of concerns at this point. By the time the runners reached Brunico these thoughts would have been history. Enough endorphines had kicked in for the climb to the summit of Plan de Corones at 2,265 m asl. And just in case that wasn't enough, a wasps' nest on the trail whipped up adrenaline levels for a good number of runners. One of them was co-founder and head sponsor of the race Jürgen Kurapkat (Team GORE-TEX GERMANY), another Stefan Zäh, who counted six stings by the end of the unexpected attack. “Probably every second runner got stung. I've never experienced anything like this in ten years of the GORE-TEX® TRANSALPINE-RUN”. If anything,the insect assault must not have slowed down Zäh in any appreciable way. He and his partner Anton Philipp (Team MAMMUT/PLAN B) stepped onto the podium today for the third-fastest time in the Master Men category.

Irrespective of injuries and fatigue that are starting to affect many runners, the speed of the leading teams is still incredibly high. The official winning time of 3:33:29 hours by Stephan Hugenschmidt and Mirco Berner was over 20 minutes faster than in 2012, the last time when the Eastern Course of the GORE-TEX® TRANSALPINE-RUN served as race course. Hugenschmidt explained this leap in performance with the exquisite competitors represented at this year's race. “It's simply insane. Every day is incredibly intense. Today it was the Spaniards who set a very high pace right off the start but we managed to hold against and then some.” The trail section that decided the outcome of the race was the day's only -albeit lengthy- climb of 1,200 m of vertical gain. Hugenschmidt admitted that “it was really tough, we had to pick up the pace repeatedly - the rhythm changed often on top of that.” Alfredo Gil and David Castan Lopez eventually had to accept defeat as they couldn't catch up to the Germans on the descent into San Vigilio. Lopez shared his thoughts on the current situation: “Our goal is still overall victory but it is becoming increasingly more difficult to reach this goal. The two Germans are very strong on the uphills”.  It wasn't just the Spanish vanguard who put the pressure on the leaders. Foremost it was Johansson – racing outside of the official ranking - who raised the tempo to a high pain level. The Swede pulled Hugenschmidt along – at least within sight - with Berner having little choice as to follow. In the end, Team SALOMON GERMANY mastered the trails like no other – with the notable exception of Johansson who still manages to show who's boss – all by himself. 

With 75 km to go to the ultimate finish in Sesto/Alta Pusteria, the overall leaders of each race categories all enjoy a decent lead over the competition. However, there were some notable changes in the order of teams that trail them. While the leading Women, Team GORE-TEX® ACTIVE (Annemarie Gross and Tamara Lunger), were back on track today and won with a time of 5:05:36 hours, there was some serious shuffling for second and third place. Kathrin Schichtl and Yvonne Lehnert (Team THR33KY TRAIL-SQUIRRELS, 5:09:46) managed to decide the scuffle in their favor staying ahead of Canadians Rene Unser and Carrie Karsgaard for whom it was the first time on the podium. Out of luck were Anne Gerlach and Carmen Otto (Team 1 SAUERLAND GORE-TEX) who were the overall second-ranked team among the Women until of late. The two Germans arrived in sixth position today due to Otto's knee injury.

In the Mixed category, Team BUFF (4:21:42) of Spain stayed at the helm of the posse. Emma Roca proved an immense capacity to suffer after she badly twisted her ankle but still finished the race in first place despite being in great pain. That forbearance was rewarded with victory as Team BUFF managed to stay 10 minutes ahead of the strong French couple Freslon-Bette of Team GARMIN ADVENTURE (4:32:51 hours). Third to arrive and always right on the heels of the French were Julia Böttger and Daniel Locher of Team WOLY SPORT-SALOMON (4:33:41 hours).

Among the Master Men French racers Pascal Giguet and David Pasquio (SCOTT GORE-TEX FOOTWEAR TEAM, 3:49:23 hours) again raised the bar by running the third fastest time today which translated into their sixth consecutive victory in their category. Also, the French team has advanced to third position in the overall ranking forcing the hitherto third-ranked Men's team off the podium.  Eugen Innerkofler and Ivano Molin (Team DOLOMITI SUPERBIKE, 4:01:12 hours) arguably ran a great race but stayed over the 4 hour mark – still good enough for second place in today's stage. Stefan Zäh and Anton Philipp (TEAM MAMMUT / PLAN-B, 4:04:12 hours) gave it all on the steep ascent of the Kronplatz ski slopes and were rewarded with third place – a befitting recognition for Zäh who has proven to be a fab runner and who is one of only three racers who has participated in each of the ten GORE-TEX® TRANSALPINE RUNs to date.

The leading Senior Master Men slowly seem to find some peace with the established ranking up front. Peter Paul Steinhauser and Michael Steger of Team AHRNTAL once again had no problem to stay ahead of the other Senior Masters and were first to arrive at the finish with a time of 4:08:59 hours. Team LATSCH SKINFIT BOZEN may not have given up the fight for a fresh set of leader shirts but with a delay of 6 minutes on the leaders were content with second place today. Rudi Schöpf admitted that “these boys [Team AHRNTAL] are simply too strong for us”. Alois Untersteiner and Franz Kröss of Team SEXTEN 2 (4:43:18 hours) came in third but didn't pose a real threat to the leaders on this sixth stage between Campo Tures and San Vigilio, Italy.

With exception of the Master Mixed leaders, Team NIEDERDORF, the other co-ed teams over age forty seem to trade positions near the top of the field. While Annelise Felderer and Markus Planötscher continued to lead the way for the rest and set the time for others to beat – today 4:51:48 hours – second and third place seemed undecided for the longest time. In the end, Monika Turra and Dominique Rocheteau of Team HIGH-LÄNDER (5:04:49 hours) came in second, whereas Encarni Perez Martinez and Francisco Perez Ramirez of the Spanish Team HOCKEY ALCALA - SIERRA SUR (5:10.52 hours) enjoyed the limelight for arriving in third place.  

Tomorrow's stage will lead the racers on what many consider to be the most beautiful course across the Sennes Plateau on famed Alta Via Dolomiti No. 1 to Lago di Braies, one of the most scenic alpine lakes in this part of the world. The finish will be in Villabassa / Niederdorf, Italy, after 41.8 km on the trail. The total vertical gain will be 1,950 m, the loss equal.  The weather should bring decent conditions for running with little sun in the forecast, mostly overcast skies and temperatures hovering around 10° C at an elevation of 2,000 meters.

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