Paez becomes first Colombian to win Alpentour Trophy overall

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Leonardo Paez of Colombia secured himself his first overall Alpentour Trophy win ahead of his Italian teammate Tony Longo in stage 4. Austrian Hermann Pernsteiner who got his first podium placing was third on the day after Lukas Buchli, the day's stage winner and Belgian rider Kevin Van Hoovels, who was second. In the elite women's classification, Ukrainian rider Yana Belomoina dominated the day's race and took the overall title.

The 32-year-old Buchli attacked in the first quarter of the tough 1000m elevation climb onto the Hauser Kaibling mountain and was able to hold his one-minute gap until the finish.

"I didn't think I would be able to break away, but the others weren't able to chase me down. After my second, fourth and ninth placings of the last three days I can't believe that I was able to win against such a high-profile field of riders today," said a happy Buchli, who was second overall behind Alban Lakata from Austria at the Alpentour Trophy in 2008 and 2009.

Fifty-four seconds behind Buchli, the chase group of five riders reached the finish including van Hoovels, Pernsteiner, Longo and Paulissen.

"This was a great preparation for the upcoming world championships in two weeks for me. The event was well organised, and I really enjoyed the race tracks with so many off-road trails and gravel roads. And the weather was kind to us also - we had four awesome days here in Schladming," said Paulissen.

A broad grin appeared on the 23-year old Pernsteiner's face right across the finish line. Finally he was able to claim a podium position. "Today the conditions were again ideal for me and finally I got my podium position. After these hard four days I’m now well prepared for the Austrian marathon championships next Saturday. I’m hoping for a medal."

In the overall classification Paez triumphed with a gap of 1:03 to his Bianchi teammate Longo, who won the mountains classification on the second day. Overall third place went to Paulissen ahead of Pernsteiner. S

"The overall win is a dream that has come true for me. The depth of field was insane at the Alpentour Trophy this year, there were so many top bikers at the start. I’d say that I’m now ready for the marathon Worlds in two weeks - I want to score a medal there!" said Paez.

Women

She raced with anger smouldering inside her and it paid off. The Ukrainian rider Yana Belomoina out-performed the women's field on all four days at the Alpentour Trophy, apart from yesterday's incident, which dampened her dominance and cost her the leader's jersey.

"Unfortunately I lost my way and 15 valuable minutes yesterday. Overall, I dropped into fourth position. That really pissed me off and motivated me today to race hard. I’m content now and really happy about my overall win," said the European Champion and World Cup winner.

With an outstanding performance in the last stage, during which she finished 9:33 ahead of the Swiss rider Milena Landtwing, Belomoina won the Alpentour Trophy with a 7:18 gap ahead of her rival. Third was the Belgian National Champion Githa Michiels at 9:54.

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