Florian Vogel leads Moritz Milatz on the first lap of the men's race at the Bundesliga round in Albstadt. (Image credit: Armin Küstenbrück)
A new mountain bike stage race will premier in Germany near the end of the 2010 season. The three-day Trans Zollernalb will run through the western part of the Swabian Alb, a mountain range in Germany, from September 17 to 19. The race, covering 200km and featuring 4,500m of elevation change is categorized by the UCI as an C2 and will be promoted by Skyder Sportpromotion and sponsored by Sparkasse Zollernalb.
The course will travel through the area of Landkreis Zollernalb, which already hosts events like the LBS Bike-Marathon and the Gonso Albstadt Classic. The latter is an HC-categorized cross country race.
"We can benefit from the reputation of Albstadt as a mountain bike destination. And we are counting on the innumerable sportive riders, who for a three-day event don't need to take as much vacation as for an event like the seven-day TransAlp challenge," said Stephan Salscheider, CEO of Skyder Sportpromotion.
Stage 1 will run on a Friday over 80km south of Stuttgart from Haigerloch-Bad Imnau to Balingen. The second day will take riders on to Albstadt over 75km, and the final day wraps competition up in Hechingen near the famous castle Hohenzollern.
Licensed and unlicensed racers are invited to compete. Registration is limited to 500 for the race's first edition.
Sparkasse Trans Zollernalb 2010 September 17: Stage 1 - Haigerloch-Bad Imnau - Balingen, 50km, 900m elevation September 18: Stage 2 - Balingen - Albstadt, 75km, 1800m elevation September 19: Stage 3 - Albstadt - Hechingen, 80km, 1700m elevation
Sue George is an editor at Cyclingnews. She coordinates all of the site's mountain bike race coverage and assists with the road, 'cross and track coverage.
