Milatz earns German marathon title

Elisabeth Brandau (Central Haibike) and Moritz Milatz (BMC) raced to victory in the 2011 German marathon national championships in St. Ingbert on Sunday."After all the disappointing results in recent weeks, I did not expect this," said Brandau.

Racers battled in difficult, muddy conditions after repeated recent rain showers.

Shortly before the end of the first of two 50-kilometer laps, Brandau got a gap on her competitors.

"I'm just rode my rhythm and did not want to attack," she said. "I was already away a few times earlier in the race, but they had caught me those times."

But once the 25-year-old Brandau made it out of sight, she was able to extend her lead. In the end, she finished 11:12 ahead of Mailin Franke and 13:29 ahead of Nina Gaessler.

"Today, everything was perfect, and I had good legs. This was important for my self confidence," said Brandau, who won a silver medal earlier this season at the European cross country championships earlier this year.

In the men's race, Milatz beat Karl Platt by 3:19. Hannes Genze followed in third at 5:34.

Genze put in an impressive ride for the bronze. While battling Platt for second, he crashed at high speed. He was unhurt, but his bike hit the ground so hard, he snapped off a shifter and put a hole in his top tube. A visit to the tech zone helped fix the shifting and some adhesive tape proved to be a makeshift repair for his frame. Coming back from sixth place, he chased back to nearly within two minutes of the silver medal.

"Silver would have been within reach, but on the other hand I was lucky as well as the frame held up for the rest of the race. I felt very good," said Genze at the finish.

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