Näf wins by one second ahead of Lejarreta, Absalon

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Ralph Näf repeated his 2009 victory at the 24th edition of Bundesliga - Internationale Frühjahrsklassiker in Münsingen. The Swiss Multivan-Merida rider took the win in first round of German Bundesliga by beating Orbea racers Inaki Lejaretta and Julien Absalon. Austrian Lisi Osl (Central Pro) won the women's crown ahead of Blaza Klemencic and Elisabeth Brandau.

This year's edition was the most exciting in the history of the race. Several thousand spectators came out to watch the women's race, which was not decided until the final of six laps.

With a brave effort, Brandau assumed the lead in the first lap. She got a small gap but was caught by Osl and Klemencic during the third lap.

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By then, World Champion Irina Kalentieva had already abandoned the race. The Russian had a small crash in which her handlebar impacted her stomach. "I tried to continue but I got heavy cramps in my belly," she said with a pained expression on her face.

That left Brandau, Klemencic and Osl as the lead trio to fight for the win. On lap five, a suffering Brandau lost contact with the other two. Then with a few kilometers to go, Osl attacked and dropped Klemencic. So the defending World Cup overall winner rode to her first victory at Münsingen victory, nine seconds ahead of Klemencic.

"Elisabeth had a lot of power, but in the technical parts, we would close on her. I'm happy to get the win here also because it was the first time on my new bike," said Osl.

"It is my best result ever at Bundesliga," said the Felt-Ötztal-X-Bionic rider Klemencic.

"I knew that I had the power, and the technical skills are coming by racing. More and more I've been having fun at the cross country races," said Brandau.

Five contest the men's race on the final lap

"It was a question of the mind," said Ralp Näf after jumping off his bike upon winning the race by just one second ahead of Inaki Lejaretta and two seconds ahead of Julien Absalon.

On a very fast track in the German middle mountains, the Swabian Alb, Näf took the solo lead from the start, with about a 10-second advantage. Then Lejaretta jumped on Näf's wheel and the two extended their joint lead up to 30 seconds.

Absalon attacked out of a four-man chase group and closed on the two leaders within half of a lap. Moritz Milatz and Jose Antonio Hermida soon followed although the later had some trouble with his chain.

With two laps to go, there were five men in contention for the win. They stayed together for a lap, then Milatz accelerated in a flat, technical section. Absalon followed and so did Lejaretta. A small gap opened to Hermida and Näf but this was not the end of the game for Näf.

Hermida and Näf pulled them back and then attack after attack followed. Last year's winner Näf knew the key to winning the race. "I know how to ride this race, and I went in front at the right moment. Then they weren't able to pass me again."

"I like the race here and in my home country (Switzerland), there is nowhere near this kind of crowd cheering like this. Thank you Münsingen", Näf said, before noting that Lejaretta was riding strong, perhaps even stronger than himself.

Absalon was not too disappointed. "It's difficult to make the difference on this fast course. But that's good for the spectators, and the show. I think it was good preparation for the World Cup opener."

Näf also won the Centurion sprint race on Saturday, as he did in 2009, and therefore is the unofficial champion of Münsingen. Alexandra Engen won the women's sprint competition.

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