History was written at the shores of Lake Garda at 12:41 PM CET today. By finishing the final stage of the 2015 Craft BIKE Transalp powered by Sigma which led from Levico Terme to Riva del Garda (74.75 km and 2,555 m) in fifth position, Markus Kaufmann and Jochen Kaess brought home the first ever Transalp title three-peat. Both Centurion-Vaude racers pedalled the 611.27 km and 19,002 metres of climbing from Ruhpolding to Lake Garda in 25:50.54,7 hours.
3.14 minutes ahead of the yellow jerseys, Alban Lakata and Kristian Hynek of overall third ranked Topeak Ergon Racing 1 had triumphed in a dramatic finish sprint against Johnny Cattaneo and Damiano Ferraro of Selle San Marco Trek who had been in the lead for almost the whole stage but got caught close to the finish line (3:38.02,2).
Karl Platt and Urs Huber of Team Bulls 1 wrapped up the very fast stage which included a long climb up to Bocca Vaiona as third placed team (3:38.38,6) and therefore defended their runner-up position in the overall ranking (+ 5.57 min) ahead of Topeak Ergon (+ 7.36 min).
The team of reigning world champion Lakata had – just like break away Italians Cattaneo and Ferraro – tried to pile the pressure on the better ranked duos by upping the tempo in the first ascent to Campreghieri hoping to get an unexpected chance to climb in the overall top-2.
In the end, Topeak Ergon was able to bring home its second stage win but didn’t improved in the ranking as Team Bulls 1 and Centurion-Vaude 1 were able to fight off the attacks.
Craft BIKE Transalp powered by Sigma 2015, stage 7, Levico Terme – Riva del Garda, finish,
#6A Karl Platt (GER, Team BULLS)
#6B Urs Huber (SUI, Team BULLS)
#1A Markus Kaufmann (GER, CENTURION VAUDE)
#1B Jochen Kaess (GER, CENTURION VAUDE)
#3A Alban Lakata (AUT, Topeak Ergon Racing Team)
#3B Kristian Hynek (CZE, Topeak Ergon Racing Team)
“We are more than happy to have won the third consecutive title and therefore were able to write history. We had a perfect preparation, and this was key to success”, said Jochen Kaess.
His teammate Markus Kaufmann, who had dealt with some health issues over the course of the last days, added: “I didn’t sleep well the last nights and also got sick a bit. I had to cough a lot. I had some problems to breath in. That we still did race so well is a surprise to me and makes me proud. But I’m happy that it’s over now.”
While the most dominant mountain bikers of the seven-day stage race were cheered by the crowd for the title hat-trick, also second ranked racers of Team Bulls 1 were happy with the final result.
“It was some hard work. The pace was incredibly high right from the start. We came to our limit from time to time, and the gap got critical several times, too. We are stoked that, in the end, it worked out with the second rank”, explained Urs Huber.
The Swiss also added: “We are very pleased. Of course, it’s better to win but Jochen [Kaess] and Markus [Kaufmann] were super strong over the last week. The second rank is OK. We gave our best.”
Women’s title goes to Bigham and Kollmann
On the women’s side of things, Sally Bigham and Christina Kollmann of Topeak Ergon Racing underlined their outstanding strength with the seventh stage win in a row (4:52.02,0). The best female team of the 18th Transalp edition sat in the saddle for 32:01.09,0 hours to secure the title.
It was the first one for Kollmann and the fourth for Bigham (2012 and 2013 women category, 2014 mixed) who said: “It’s cool to have the fourth consecutive title win especially as this year’s course has been the most challenging so far.”
Nevertheless, the Brit also stated: “It’s disappointing that there aren’t more stronger women’s teams here. In the future, it would be cool if we could attract more women here and have a stronger and more competitive women’s field. That would be really cool.”
Favourites bring home the titles in other categories
Just like the wearers of the pink jerseys also grand masters winners Hansjuerg Gerber and Baerti Bucher of Bikeholiday.ch/BiXS remained unbeaten (4:26.38,4). In the end, both claimed their first title in 30:25.20,6 hours.
While Silke Schmidt and Sascha Schwindling of Team Herzlichst Zypern 1 locked in their first title in the mixed category (31:18.39,3) with their sixth stage win (4:29.37,1), today’s fourth masters duo Massimo de Bertolis and Andreas Laner of Wilier Force Squadra Corse 1 were able to keep hold to their 2014 title (29:10.29,8).
The stage win in the category for the teams with a combined age of 80+ was taken by over all third ranked Thorsten Damm and Michael Schuchard of Scott Radladen Gudensberg (4:13.47,7).
Full results are online.