Photo finish brings third
winner within the first three days of the CRAFT BIKE TRANS GERMANY /
“Team Bulls” still top in the ranking
First but not the winner – Stefan Sahm of “Team Bulls” was the first
today to cross the finish line on the third leg of the CRAFT BIKE TRANS
GERMANY, which run from Erbach im Odenwald to Frammersbach. But another
team took home the victory: It was team “Rothaus-Cube” which secured the
top spot of the podium after 103 kilometres and an elevation gain of
more than 2250 metres (3:44:49) due to the fact that both came in ahead
of the other Bulls rider Karl Platt who was beaten by only one tenth of
a second. The German-Austrian “Team Fiat-Rotwild” was another three
seconds behind.
Frank Lehmann and Thomas Nicke are the third duo which was able
to celebrate a day victory at the first mountain bike stage race across
Germany . Therefore, both bikers from Saxony were all smiles. “It’s a
very nice feeling to win a leg” said Lehmann after the sprint into the
finish. Especially after such an exhausting stage: “It was a very tough
day due to the weather. The stage profile didn’t seem to be so hard but
there where so many little hills which demanded everything. In addition,
we really pushed the pedal.”
A special award for all participants, who were all over covered with
mud, was the impressive support and atmosphere made by the loud
habitants of Frammersbach when every rider finished the race.
On the women’s side, the top team of the last days is on a winning
streak. Team “Fiat-Rotwild” was able to grab the third first rank.
Kerstin Brachtendorf and Daniθle Troesch secured the victory with a time
of 4:32:16 hours ahead of Danish “Cube Wls” (4:35:27) and team
“Zwillingscraft” (4:49:40).
In the mixed category Carsten Bresser and Alison Sydor of “Rocky
Mountain/Haywood” underlined their dominance with the third triumph in
the row (4:07:31). Both now have a lead of more than two and a half
hours in the mixed classification. A much closer decision is the fight
for the second spot in the ranking. Today’s second placed team “Magura
on board” (5:08:31) was able to shorten their lag to “Bobteam.info”
(5:10:10) down to five seconds.
In the master category, “Sachsenteam von Welt” seems to be the team
to beat after the third triumph within three days. The Czech riders
needed 3:59:23 hours for the third leg of the CRAFT BIKE TRANS GERMANY.
Norbert Novotny and Milan Spolc sit on a comfortable lead of 25 minutes
in the battle for the Champions ring. A situation which should last
until the end if it would be up to Novotny: “It was a good race although
it was tough because of the weather. If we don’t have any problems I
hope we can make it to Oberwiesenthal as first.” “Scott Racing Team
Heilenmann” was again the second fastest duo with 4:14:21 hours ahead of
Dutch “van Otten Marathon Team” (4:22:16).
The fight for the Green Jersey in the grand master category is
getting more interesting again due to the victory of “Team Sherpa” today
(4:39:45). Rainer Augstein and Ferdl Thiel were able to diminish the
lead of “Taunusgazellen 106” from about 16 minutes down to less than two
minutes. “Vo Dr Alb Ra” came in second today with a time of 4:44:29
followed by yesterday’s winners “Die Finisher” (4:49:34).
Preview on stage 4 from Frammersbach to Bischofsheim
The second shortest section of the CRAFT BIKE TRANS GERMANY with
82.89 kilometres and an elevation gain of more than 2,000 metres seems
to be less demanding compared to other stages – but don’t be misguided
with that. After the last extensions of the “Eselsweg” the peloton heads
for the highest elevation of the day after cutting cross the
wild-romantic Schondra Valley: After passing the “Wuerzburg Haus” and
crossing the “Guckapass” the bikers are pedalling up to the second
highest mountain of the stage race – the “Kreuzberg”. Its crest is
marked with three prominent crosses and provides all participants with
fantastic panorama views into the Rhoen and to the “Wasserkuppe”.
