Bold solo ride pays off for Kaess at Bike Four Peaks

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Three-time German National Champion Jochen Kaess clinched the third stage of the Bike Four Peaks. The 32-year-old Centurion-Vaude racer won after a long solo ride in the 82km stage from Kirchberg to Kaprun. Finishing in a time of 3:33:15, Kaess missed moving into the top 3 of the GC by just two seconds.

Swiss race leader Christoph Sauser (Specialized) finished as the runner-up (3:36:58) with Alban Lakata (Topeak Ergon) coming in third (3:37:20). The Austrian racer also took over the lead in the best climber classification, having accumulated 61 points by now.

Prior to the start, no one in the star-studded field would have guessed that Kaess would be able to attack the top three on the day. Everyone underestimated him, but he was extra motivated after he had not only taken a wrong turn yesterday but also lost still more time due to a flat tire.

Kaess attacked in the first climb to Stangenjoch and managed to break away before some snow fields forced everyone to walk the last metres up to the Zweitausender. He then extended his lead during the 20km long bike path through the Pinzgau between feed zones one and two from two minutes to 5:20.

When Kaess arrived at the final climb atop Maiskogel, he was still holding a comfortable advantage on his pursuers, and everything was set for his first stage win.

"Yesterday, I was very frustrated. So I tried to reduce the deficit again," said Kaess. "That worked out fine. I was a little bit afraid of the flat section but managed to keep my own pace. I'm very pleased with the outcome."

"Jochen was riding super strong today," said overall leader Sauser. We worked well together in the chasing group, but my main focus was on the overall ranking. I prefered to take second and extend the lead on Alban (Lakata) than going all or nothing on the stage win."

Prior to tomorrow's final stage from Kaprun to Neukirchen am Grossvenediger, Sauser has a lead of 1:50 on his biggest rival for the title, Lakata.

"It's about controlling the race from the front," said Sauser of his tactic for the last leg.

Loevset takes third stage win

On the women's side, Borghild Loevset claimed her third consecutive stage win in 4:22:48. The Norwegian already has a lead of some 39 minutes over second ranked and today's runner-up Anja Gradl of Team Bulls.

However, the women's leader, who seemed to be very exhausted today, won't take it easy. "It was very tough. I lost my group on the first downhill and was all alone in the flat, which isn't my terrain at all. I hope that I can recover. If not, my lead has to be big enough," said Loevset.

Bettina Uhlig (Wheeler iXS) finished in third position (3:55:08) thus bettering her chances for a top-three result in the women's category.

Masters

Carsten Bresser was able to improve his lead in the masters 40+ classification over Andreas Strobel. The Craft-Rocky Mountain racer crossed the finish line after 3:47:30 and thus 2:20 earlier than his rival of Centurion-Vaude (3:49:47). Reini Woisetschlaeger reinforced his aspirations of third place in the overall ranking for the 40+ racers by coming in as third (3:55:08).

In the masters 50+ category, it's still Heinz Zoerweg rocking the show. The Austrian riding for Arboe Wienenergie Roehsler took his third consecutive stage win and leads the overall. Henrik Cohen (4:18:32) and Werner Hoepperger (4:28:32) rounded out the podium as second and third.

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