Yesterday, the top athletes Karl Platt and Stefan Sahm underlined in
an impressive way, why “Team Bulls” is wearing the Yellow Leader Jersey.
Right at the first ascent of the fourth leg, which led from Frammersbach
to Bischofsheim a. d. Rhoen, both pros attacked and gave the rest of the
favourite teams no chance at all. After 83 kilometres and about 2,000
metres of elevation gain, both reached the stage finish in a time of
3:00:23. The bikers from “Rothaus-Cube” came in second (3:03:08) and are
now almost four minutes behind the leaders of the overall
classification. Frank Lehmann and Thomas Nicke from Saxony had left
third placed “Stevens Racing Team” (3:04:26) at the track up to the
‘Kreuzberg’ behind.
That “Team Bulls” would attack that early was clear in Thomas
Nicke’s mind before the start: “I knew that both would push it really
hard. We weren’t able to keep up with them at all.” His team mate from
“Rothaus Cube” Frank Lehmann added: “They pulled off without mercy.”
Stefan Sahm, who celebrated his second day victory together with Karl
Platt, explained why: “We entered the first hill with dash and
recognised that there was immediately a gap to the rest. Then, we put
the hammer down.” Platt affirmed: “So far, we contained ourselves. But
today we tried to find out in what kind of shape we and all others are.
In addition, we wanted to be more secure with our lead.”
A task which both fulfilled successfully in the Rhoen in pouring
rain: After the first half of the CRAFT BIKE TRANS GERMANY, Karl Platt
and Stefan Sahm were able to enlarge their overall lead on
“Rothaus-Cube” up to almost three minutes and 57 seconds.
“Sachsenteam von Welt” enlarges lead in the master category
Like the days before, Robert Novotny and Milan Spolc triumphed once
again. Today, both Czechs required 3:16:21 hours for the 83 kilometres.
Now they lead the ranking by about 40 minutes on “Scott Racing Team
Heilenmann”, which also came in second once more (3:30:07). Although
they get the status of the ‘eternal runner-up’, Robert Eder hasn’t lost
courage yet. “It’s better to place second than being third all the
time”, Eder grinningly said. “We haven’t got a single chance to get the
Czechs. Both race in another league. Ralf Opel and Andreas Schmidt of
team “Ktm/Ast-Bikes.De” finished the fourth stage of the CRAFT BIKE
TRANS GERMANY with 3:33:26.
“Fiat-Rotwild” also not to beat on day four in the women category
Once again, Kerstin Brachtendorf and Daniθle Troesch can celebrate
their fourth victory in a row like the leaders of the master and mixed
classification. The German-French duo crossed the finish line in 3:54:41
hours. “Team Cube Wls” biked on the second rank (3:56:57) ahead of
Sandra and Peggy Klose of team “Zwillingscraft” (4:04:26). Thus, Kerstin
Brachtendorf stated after the race: “The long ascent up to the Kreuzberg
was very nice and proved advantageous. Furthermore, the fantastic
atmosphere this morning motivated us to push the pedal as hard as
possible.” And the effort paid off: Both bikers increased their lead in
the ranking up to 26.5 minutes.
Alison Sydor and Carsten Bresser plough a lonely furrow
The German-Canadian duo “Rocky Mountain/Haywood” has secured its
fourth win, too. Today, the fastest mixed team came in right after the
top four of the master category (3:36:10). The former Bronze medallist
of the Marathon MTB-World Championships said: “We took it easy today
because we don’t have the pressure to hold the speed on a very high
level. We had a good group today and enjoyed our time on our bikes.” Two
teams who never made it on the podium before rounded out the podium:
“Zwillingscraft 2” (4:06:16) and the Polish-Swiss squad “Craft – Right
to Play” (4:14:18).
“Taunusgazellen 106” strikes back
Yesterday, “Team Sherpa” catched up to the leaders of the grand
master category due to their victory. But today, the bearers of the
Green Leader Jersey answered the best possible way: After 3:52:57 hours,
Wolfgang Hauck and Reinhard Doerr made it to Bischofsheim a. d. Rhoen
and now sit on a comfortable lead of ten minutes again. Today’s second
placed team is “Vo Dr Alb Ra” (3:55:23) which was exactly two minutes
faster than the third team on the podium “Die Finisher”.