Näf wins by one second ahead of Lejarreta, Absalon

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.

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.

Full Results

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Elite men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Ralph Naef (Swi)1:40:52
2Inaki Lejarreta Errasti (Spa)0:00:01
3Julien Absalon (Fra)0:00:02
4José Antonio Hermida Ramos (Spa)0:00:06
5Moritz Milatz (Ger)0:00:28
6Fabian Giger (Swi)0:00:42
7Rudi Van Houts (Ned)0:00:44
8Henk Jaap Moorlag (Ned)0:00:46
9Robert Mennen (Ger)0:01:05
10Karl Markt (Aut)0:01:06
11Karl Platt (Ger)0:01:24
12Alban Lakata (Aut)0:01:35
13Ruben Ruzafa Cueto (Spa)0:02:11
14Jochen Kass (Ger)0:02:17
15Bas Peters (Ned)0:02:21
16Emil Lindgren (Swe)0:02:24
17Torsten Marx (Ger)0:02:56
18Klaus Nielsen (Den)0:03:18
19Jimmy Tielens (Bel)0:03:40
20Thomas Litscher (Swi)0:04:19
21Jelmer Pietersma (Ned)0:04:24
22Sepp Freiburghaus (Swi)0:04:58
23Andreas Kugler (Swi)0:05:02
24Andras Parti (Hun)0:05:03
25Benjamin Wittrup Justesen (Den)0:05:07
26Sebastian Szraucner (Ger)0:05:10
27Tim Bohme (Ger)0:05:21
28Stefan Sahm (Ger)0:05:22
29Anders Ljungberg (Swe)0:05:55
30Nicola Rohrbach (Swi)0:06:34
31Christopher Maletz (Ger)0:06:44
32Marco Schätzing (Ger)0:06:53
33Bjorn Brems (Bel)Row 32 - Cell 2
34Matthias Pfrommer (Ger)0:06:55
35Pascal Meyer (Swi)0:07:21
36Guido Thaler (Aut)0:07:39
37Frank Beemer (Ned)0:07:44
38Heiko Gutmann (Ger)0:08:54
39Pascal Hossay (Bel)0:09:20
40Joris Massaer (Bel)0:09:51
41Balz Weber (Swi)0:09:58
42Steffen Greger (Ger)0:10:13
43Volker Ordowski (Ger)0:10:32
44Sebastian Bergmann (Ger)0:10:51
45Pierre Lebreton (Fra)0:11:22
46Sebastian Mordmuller (Ger)0:11:40
47Casper Saltoft (Den)0:11:43
48Rick Evers (Ned)0:13:33
49Christian Dörfler (Ger)0:13:52
50Wilko Rochow (Ger)0:16:48
51Uwe Hardter (Ger)Row 50 - Cell 2
52Robert Michaelis (Ger)Row 51 - Cell 2
53Michael Rieder (Ger)Row 52 - Cell 2
54Michael Hutter (Swi)Row 53 - Cell 2
55Gerrit Rosenkranz (Ger)Row 54 - Cell 2
56Vero Lüscher (Ger)Row 55 - Cell 2
57Lutz Babilon (Ger)Row 56 - Cell 2
58Marcell Gruener (Aut)Row 57 - Cell 2
59Thomas Pfrommer (Ger)Row 58 - Cell 2
60Severin Schweisguth (Ger)Row 59 - Cell 2
61Olaf Rochow (Ger)Row 60 - Cell 2
62Kai Kautz (Ger)Row 61 - Cell 2
63Benjamin Oesterle (Ger)Row 62 - Cell 2
64Rumen Voigt (Ger)Row 63 - Cell 2
65Markus Ziegler (Ger)Row 64 - Cell 2
66Daniel Aspacher (Ger)Row 65 - Cell 2
67Sascha Schwindling (Ger)Row 66 - Cell 2
68Markus Lang (Ger)Row 67 - Cell 2
69Janosch Bühler (Ger)Row 68 - Cell 2
70Kasper Busk (Den)Row 69 - Cell 2
71Sascha Nething (Ger)Row 70 - Cell 2
72Rene Wilbers (Ned)Row 71 - Cell 2
73Mathias Veit (Ger)Row 72 - Cell 2
74Stefan Schairer (Ger)Row 73 - Cell 2
75Sascha Burghardt (Ger)Row 74 - Cell 2
76Samuel Rosenkranz (Ger)Row 75 - Cell 2
77Jochen Coconcelli (Ger)Row 76 - Cell 2
78Christophe Schuldt (Ger)Row 77 - Cell 2
79Dene Van Rijn (Ned)Row 78 - Cell 2
80Markus Moeller (Ger)Row 79 - Cell 2
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Elite women
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Elisabeth Osl (Aut)1:28:05
2Blaza Klemencic (Slo)0:00:09
3Elisabeth Brandau (Ger)0:00:48
4Anja Gradl (Ger)0:02:31
5Hanna Klein (Ger)0:02:39
6Laura Turpijn (Ned)0:03:39
7Sabrina Enaux (Fra)0:04:00
8Adelheid Morath (Ger)0:05:05
9Monique Zeldenrust (Ned)0:05:51
10Sandra Santanyes Murillo (Spa)0:06:42
11Tatjana Dold (Ger)0:07:12
12Katrin Schwing (Ger)0:08:20
13Maaike Polspoel (Bel)0:08:44
14Silke Schmidt (Ger)0:09:22
15Karin Groen (Ned)0:10:04
16Barbara Kaltenhauser (Ger)0:10:19
17Alexa Hüni (Ger)0:10:36
18Tereza Hurikova (Cze)0:12:23
19Catherine Lohri (Swi)0:14:05
20Almut Grieb (Ger)0:15:21
21Sandra Bloomer (USA)Row 20 - Cell 2
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Under 23 men
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Markus Bauer (Ger)1:30:20
2Martin Fanger (Swi)Row 1 - Cell 2
3Jelmer Jubbega (Ned)0:00:46
4Tim Lemmers (Ned)0:01:21
5Andy Eyring (Ger)0:01:35
6Sebastien Carabin (Bel)0:01:46
7Erik Groen (Ned)0:01:57
8Marcel Fleschhut (Ger)0:02:08
9Marcus Schulte-Luenzum (Ger)0:02:58
10Giancarlo Sax (Swi)0:03:02
11Niels Wubben (Ned)0:03:14
12Ruben Scheire (Bel)0:03:19
13Mattias Wengelin (Swe)0:03:32
14Paul Van Der Ploeg (Aus)0:03:38
15Martin Gluth (Ger)Row 14 - Cell 2
16Laurent Mineur (Bel)0:03:51
17Olof Jonsson (Swe)0:04:06
18Irjan Luttenberg (Ned)0:04:43
19Fabian Strecker (Ger)0:04:49
20Manfred Reis (Ger)0:05:23
21Mattias Nilsson (Swe)0:06:17
22Dries Govaerts (Bel)0:06:37
23Maximilian Holz (Ger)Row 22 - Cell 2
24Marcus Nicolai (Ger)0:07:01
25Matthias Hoi (Aut)0:07:19
26Tom Ettlich (Ger)0:07:20
27Philipp Ziegler (Ger)Row 26 - Cell 2
28Timo Modosch (Ger)0:07:21
29Benjamin Buchi (Swi)0:07:53
30Simon Gegenheimer (Ger)0:08:04
31Ludwig Döhl (Ger)0:08:08
32Julian Schwendemann (Ger)0:08:21
33Christian Bickel (Swi)0:08:22
34Andreas Kleiber (Ger)0:08:27
35Rens De Bruin (Ned)0:08:32
36Jonas De Backer (Bel)0:08:41
37Marcel Braun (Ger)0:08:42
38Sascha Weber (Ger)Row 37 - Cell 2
39Titouan Perrin Ganier (Fra)0:09:03
40Daniel Eymann (Swi)0:09:11
41Anselm Wüllner (Ger)0:09:16
42Manuel Weissenbacher (Aut)0:09:28
43Johannes Közle (Ger)0:09:35
44Vincent Bakker (Ned)0:09:42
45Valentin Fiderer (Ger)0:09:44
46Rick Reimann (Swi)0:09:45
47David Simon (Ger)0:09:53
48Simon Stiebjahn (Ger)0:09:57
49Patrick Titus (Ger)0:09:59
50Philipp Maximilian Daum (Ger)0:10:31
51Bert Luca (Bel)0:10:36
52Robin Roelofs (Ned)0:10:51
53Lysander Kiesel (Ger)0:10:58
54Oliver Vonhausen (Ger)0:11:08
55Björn Herrmann (Ger)0:11:11
56Frank Demuth (Ger)0:11:17
57Andreas Muckenhirn (Ger)0:11:19
58Michael Wanski (Ger)0:11:23
59Adrian Sauer (Ger)0:11:24
60Steve Scheffel (Ger)0:11:39
61Alexander Huber (Ger)0:11:57
62Mario Waibel (Ger)0:12:32
63Lukas Schuon (Ger)0:12:41
64Timo Häfner (Ger)0:13:06
65Tommy Galle (Ger)0:13:24
66Tobias Trautmann (Ger)Row 65 - Cell 2
67Felix Günter (Ger)0:16:07
68Yannick Burkhardt (Ger)Row 67 - Cell 2
69Thomas Weschta (Ger)Row 68 - Cell 2
70Lukas Holtkamp (Ger)Row 69 - Cell 2
71Lukas Helminger (Aut)Row 70 - Cell 2
72Barry Hayes (Ger)Row 71 - Cell 2
73Tobias Reiser (Ger)Row 72 - Cell 2
74Marcel Pöter (Ger)Row 73 - Cell 2
75Lionel Vujasin (Bel)Row 74 - Cell 2
76Fabian Obrist (Swi)Row 75 - Cell 2
77Julian Kress (Ger)Row 76 - Cell 2
78Pierre Happel (Ger)Row 77 - Cell 2
79Vinzenz Bader (Ger)Row 78 - Cell 2
80Marius Christian (Ger)Row 79 - Cell 2
81Florian Grafmüller (Ger)Row 80 - Cell 2
82Florian Thaller (Ger)Row 81 - Cell 2
83Steffen Weisenseel (Ger)Row 82 - Cell 2
84Thomas Desonay (Bel)Row 83 - Cell 2
85Stefan Braun (Ger)Row 84 - Cell 2
86Dominik Ziegler (Ger)Row 85 - Cell 2
87Matthias Reichart (Ger)Row 86 - Cell 2
88Alexander Fischer (Ger)Row 87 - Cell 2
89Danny Neumann (Ger)Row 88 - Cell 2
90Benjamin Merkel (Ger)Row 89 - Cell 2
91Mirco Zürcher (Swi)Row 90 - Cell 2
92Carlo Maschek (Ger)Row 91 - Cell 2
93David Schiel (Ger)Row 92 - Cell 2
94Ahmed-Ridvan Reichling (Ger)Row 93 - Cell 2
95Jonathan Roth (Ger)Row 94 - Cell 2
96Jonas Weber (Ger)Row 95 - Cell 2
97Markus Chrost (Ger)Row 96 - Cell 2
98Patrick Müller (Ger)Row 97 - Cell 2
99Raphael Bauer (Ger)Row 98 - Cell 2
100Etienne Bouvy (Bel)Row 99 - Cell 2
101Jakob Breitwieser (Ger)Row 100 - Cell 2
102Christian Weiner (Ger)Row 101 - Cell 2
103Christian Lindner (Ger)Row 102 - Cell 2
104Andreas Peter (Ger)Row 103 - Cell 2
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Under 23 women
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Alexandra Engen (Swe)1:16:59
2Rozanne Slik (Ned)0:02:38
3Anne Terpstra (Ned)0:02:57
4Mona Eiberweiser (Ger)0:04:01
5Sarah Bosch (Ger)0:07:10
6Vanessa Mosch (Ger)0:07:12
7Jennifer Fischer (Fra)0:07:35
8Gesa Bruchmann (Ger)0:09:20
9Nadine Rieder (Ger)0:12:35
10Luisa Moser (Ger)0:19:55
11Aline Brüstle (Ger)0:21:47

 

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