Milatz wins Bundesliga final round

Image 1 of 4

Moritz Milatz (BMC) seems to be unbeatable at Bad Salzdetfurth. For the fourth time in a row, he won the Bundesliga race in northern Germany. On Sunday, he defeated Fabian Giger (Rabobank Giant) and Manuel Fumic (Cannondale). In the women's race, Irina Kalentieva (Topeak Ergon) beat Gunn-Rita Dahle-Flesjå (Multivan Merida) and Blaza Klemencic.

The men's competition was like a race within a race because Fumic, Milatz and Fontana were fighting for the Bundesliga overall as well the day's top honors.

The race proved very tight. On lap five of seven, Fumic's Cannondale teammate Fontana lost contact to Milatz, Fumic and Giger, who wasn't factoring in the overall. So Fumic had to keep third position to secure the title.

When the trio went into the last lap, Multivan Merida biker Rudy van Houts was chasing hard at only 14 seconds. Giger went in front and accelerated. Fumic lost the wheel as van Houts came closer.

"I was not in a top shape because of my injuries from a crash at last Bundesliga race in Heubach. But I wanted to fight for my first ever Bundesliga overall, and I knew if I could reach the top of the course before Rudy, then I could keep it," said Fumic.

He did just that, finishing in third, 14 seconds ahead of van Houts.

At the front of the race, Milatz attacked Giger not too far from the top and went down the downhill fast. He gained several seconds and passed the finish line six seconds in front of Giger. For Milatz it was his fourth consecutive victory in Bad Salzdetfurth.

"I felt very good from the beginning, and I knew I could go for the victory. Bad Salzdetfurth, that's my race, even if I don't know why," said Milatz.

Giger was okay with second place. "Bad Salzdetfurth is my favourite race, and I wanted to go a good one here. When we entered the last lap, my goal was not to end up fourth. Now I'm second, that's okay," he said.

After winning the Bundesliga classification three times, Milatz was second while Fontana was third.

Hard fight between "two old ladies"

The women's race was a battle between "two hopeful old ladies" according to Gunn-Rita Dahle-Flesjå. First Dahle-Flesjå took the lead, but a chase group kept her close. In the third of five laps, the chase group blew up. Irina Kalentieva was the strongest of the pursuers and started to close the gap to Dahle-Flesjå.

Just before the last lap, the Kalentieva passed the 38-year-old Norwegian. "It was a hard fight, but I felt good. Irina took some seconds in the uphill, some in the downhill and so she won. But I enjoyed the race on a fun course in a great atmosphere," said European Champion Dahle Flesjaa.

Kalentieva was happy about her win. "I wanted to win here. The first two laps, I had no good legs, but then I felt pretty good," said the 34-year-old.

Blaza Klemencic (Felt Ötztal X-Bionic) had a fight with Annika Langvad for the third spot on the podium. In the last lap, she was able to pass the marathon world champion. "After I was sick at the race in Heubach, today I felt again very good. I'm happy to be on the podium," said Klemencic.

Langvad didn't worry about losing fourth place. "It is a gift to have this race at the end of my season. Since I broke two ribs in the beginning of August, I had to patient. Now I felt good and I won the Bundesliga overall," Langvad said.

It was the first time Langvad won the overall Bundesliga title. Alexandra Engen (Rothaus Poison-Bikes) took second place in front of Lisi Osl (Ghost Factory Racing.

Bad luck for Spitz

Sabine Spitz had some bad luck during the weekend. While training for the sprint eliminator on Saturday, she crashed due to a mechanical and fell on her left ellbow. One day later in the hospital, she found out something was broken, thus ending her season.

The U23 race was won by world champion Thomas Litscher (Felt Ötztal X-Bionic). He did the espoirs race because he wanted to wear his rainbow jersey, and he reigned in a long solo ride.

Results