In the first of four stages of the 14th Alpentour Trophy, a Czech racer took the win. Kristian Hynek crossed the line almost four minutes ahead of Swiss racer Urs Huber. Two seconds behind Huber, World Champion Alban Lakata of Austria reached the finish. The elite women's field was dominated by favourite Sally Bigham.
Hynek settled into the leading position early on the 63 kilometres and 2800 metres of climbing in today's first stage.
"It was a hard stage onto the Hochwurzen. In a moment of inattention, I came off track and the chasing group almost caught up to me. However, I dug deep and could expand my lead again and kept it until the finish," said Hynek.
Huber, a two-time Crocodile Trophy winner, was able to overtake the Lakata right before the finish.
Lakata, who has also won the AlpenTour Trophy twice, was happy about the luck with the weather and satisfied with his performance. "After two recent crashes and a training break I am happy with my performance," said Lakata. "I didn't push it today, because there are three hard days ahead still. Kristian really deserves today's win, he raced really well."
In the elite women's field, British Champion and Vice-World Champion Sally Bigham grabbed the leader's jersey with a superior win. She claimed the title ahead of the Dutch rider Monique Zeldenrust and the Swiss racer Nadia Walker. "The conditions today were right down my alley. I love climbing and felt really strong," said the happy rider from Britain in the finishing area.
In the masters category the Dutch racing legend and first Olympic Cross Country Champion Bart Brentjens won with about 40 seconds on the Austrian Georg Koch. German rider Max Friedrich was third.
Local favorite Wolfgang Krenn did not start due to knee problems.
Full Results for stage 1 and GC after stage 1
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Elite men
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Kristian Hynek (Cze) Ceska sporitelna - Specialized MTB Team
3:13:04
2
Urs Huber (Swi) STÖCKLI Pro Team
0:03:55
3
Alban Lakata (Aut) Topeak Ergon Racing Team
0:03:57
4
Andreas Kugler (Swi) Multivan Merida Biking Team
0:04:24
5
Tomas Vokrouhlik (Cze) BMC-SAVO racing
0:05:38
6
Thomas Stoll (Swi) BiXS-iXS Pro Team
0:06:28
7
Alexey Medvedev (Rus) Team Elettroveneta - Corratec
0:07:08
8
Thomas Dietsch (Fra) Team Bulls
0:07:16
9
Lukas Buchli (Swi) Bixs-Ixs Pro Team
0:08:01
10
Hermann Pernsteiner (Aut) Team Rad.Sport.Szene
0:09:49
11
Soeren Nissen (Den) Team Elettroveneta - Corratec
0:10:21
12
Frans Claes (Bel) ECO MTB Team
0:12:33
13
Kevin Krieg (Swi) STÖCKLI Pro Team
0:14:00
14
Ilias Periklis (Gre) Team Protek
0:16:16
15
Simon Stiebjahn (Ger) Team Bulls
0:16:34
16
Hannes Metzler (Aut) RV DJ'S Bikeshop Simlon
0:17:34
17
Benjamin Sonntag (Ger) BikeHausDurango
0:17:35
18
Tim Wynants (Bel) Milka-Superior mountainbike racing Team
0:17:39
19
David Schöggl (Aut) Zweirad Janger Simplon 1
0:18:03
20
Bernhard Eisl (Aut) Rad-Angerer.At
0:21:10
21
Hannes Genze (Ger) Multivan Merida Biking Team
0:21:16
22
Frank Beemer (Ned) Storck mtb racingTeam
0:21:25
23
Tom Ettlich (Ger) FRM-racing.de
0:22:55
24
Hans Becking (Ned) Milka-Superior mountainbike racing Team
0:24:30
25
Cristobal Silva (Chi) Lapierre Chile
0:25:15
26
Ramon Sagues Portabella (Spa) Conor Saltoki Berrianz
0:26:22
27
Frank Schotman (Ned) MPL-Specialized
0:27:26
28
Manuel Pliem (Aut) Team Rad.Sport.Szene
0:28:37
29
Martin Horak (Cze) BMC-SAVO racing
0:32:35
30
Rick Reimann (Swi) Orbea Suisse Team
0:33:46
31
Hansueli Stauffer (Swi) Wheeler-iXS Swiss Team
0:37:08
32
Matej Lovse (Slo) Uni Team - Cult
0:43:21
33
Jeroen Boelen (Ned) Milka-Superior mountainbike racing Team
0:43:22
34
Nasadis Atha (Cyp) Cyprus National Team
0:44:57
35
Matthias Waldhart (Aut) Hai PowerBike Team Heiming
0:45:05
36
Martin Edelsbrunnger (Aut) Bikeclub Giant Stattegg/Bikestore
0:54:51
37
Jeroen van Eck (Ned) MPL Speclialized MTB Team
0:59:24
38
Micha Van den Eynde (Bel) Bike Inn Team
1:04:56
39
Andreas Fuchs (Aut) Team Protek
1:06:10
40
Thomas Edelsbrunnger (Aut) Bikeclub Giant Stattegg/Bikestore
1:12:25
41
Matthias Grick (Aut) Team Rad.Sport.Szene
1:12:27
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Elite women
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Sally Bigham (Ger) Topeak Ergon Racing Team
3:54:24
2
Monique Zeldenrust (Ned) Giant
0:32:45
3
Nadia Walker (Swi) Stöckli Swiss Team
0:33:24
4
Vera Andreeva (Rus) Team Protek
0:35:02
5
Lorenza Menapace (Ita) Team Carpentari
0:41:59
6
Merce Pacios Pujado (Spa) Conor Saltoki Berrianz
0:49:47
7
Christina Verhas (Aut) Trek Mountainbiker.at
0:52:10
8
Katrin Neumann (Ger) Mountain Heroes
0:55:08
9
Ann-Katrin Hellstern (Ger) Uni Team - Cult
1:04:45
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Elite master men
#
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Bart Brentjens (Ned) Milka-Superior mountainbike racing Team
With the new Colnago Y1Rs launching the comments are ablaze with negativity about its looks, but does this matter at all in a modern race bike you can’t afford anyway?