Milatz breaks record with Bundesliga victory in Saalhausen

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Top favorites Moritz Milatz and Alexandra Engen won the finals of the International MTB-Bundesliga in Saalhausen this weekend, and each secured the victory in the overall standings. Milatz beat Markus Schulte-Lünzum and Manuel Fumic, while Engen held off Hanna Klein and Nina Wrobel. The U23 race was won by Christian Pfäffle.

Men

In the first of the eight-lap men's race, Moritz Milatz was riding in the front group, but he had some problems with his front brake. "I lost control for a moment and lost the group. But at last I was lucky that I didn't have a big crash" said the German.

Luckily, Milatz was able to close the gap to the leading group, but then he hit a branch with his bike and lost contact again. In the third lap, he finally made it to the top three.

Markus Schulte-Lünzum dictated the pace up front, closely followed by the Swede Matthias Wengelin and Manuel Fumic.

The lead group of four stayed together for some time and upped the pace. However, soon afterwards Fumic fell back, while by the end of the fourth lap, Schulte-Lünzum suffered from a rear wheel mechanical. But the later rider quickly managed to reconnect with Fumic, and both men raced onward, riding behind the leading duo.

Afterwards, Milatz managed to shake off Wengelin during the sixth lap and powered away to victory.

"It all went well today. I think I'm in good shape again. This was my first good race after my illness in May," said Milatz, happy about his fourth victory in Saalhausen. He sealed up the overall victory as well, making himself to a Bundesliga overall record winner.

In the meantime, Schulte-Lünzum closed the gap on Wengelin in the penultimate lap. "I was able to catch up with him quickly. I'm super happy. You never know, but I think Moritz was stronger than me," said the German U23 champion who crossed the finish line 1:32 minutes behind Milatz (1:33:07).

Twenty-five seconds later, Fumic crossed the line in third. He beat Wengelin in the final lap. "I'm really happy that it went so well. Halfway into the race, I was still holding on, but it was pretty clear. I couldn't keep up, especially in the descents," said Fumic.

Wengelin (at 2:14) came in fourth, ahead of the Belgian Kevin van Hoovels (2:49). Milatz won the overall standings ahead of Schulte-Lünzum and Simon Stiebjahn (Titisee-Neustadt), who finished seventh.

Women

Alexandra Engen dominated the women's race, but Hanna Klein proved to be a strong competitor. The leading duo took off from the first lap after Klein's attack and the two rode together for three laps.

"It was fun riding next to Hanna," said Engen after the race. They opened up a minute gap on the rest of the field. "It worked great," said Klein as well.

But Engen, who is ranked second in the world, attacked on the fourth lap of the seven-lap race and managed to pull away from Klein. "I wanted to go really fast," said Engen. Her rival had to follow her. The Swede had problems especially in the flat sections.

Nevertheless, Hanna Klein gave a strong fight. She crossed the line 40 seconds behind Engen (1:38:36) and was very satisfied. "I'm actually surprised that it went so well. I could have pushed to the limits, but I didn't," said Klein who, despite her second place, couldn't improve her position in the overall standings. She is third, behind Engen and the injured Adelheid Morath.

To the surprise of many, Nina Wrobel crossed the line in third ( at2:44). In the second half of the 29.4-kilomete race, Wrobel proved to be a better rider than her companions Elisabeth Brandau and Helen Grobert.

"I had back problems in the opening laps. But then it all went well. I think I couldn't catch up with Alex and Hanna anyway," said Wrobel.

The best U23 rider was Helen Grobert who came in fifth (7:11), behind the Argentinian Jaquelina Alvarez (5:19).

Under 23

Christian Pfäffle celebrated his second U23 Bundesliga victory of his career in Saalhausen. He won the 29.4-kilomete race in 1:23:07, 21 seconds ahead of Julian Schelb and 49 seconds in front of the Colombian Jonathan Villegas Botero.

In the beginning, Pfäffle rode together with Schelb in the front, but he suffered a mechanical in the fourth lap and lost almost a minute. However, he bounced back quickly and won the race.

U23 overall winner Jens Schuermans from Belgium crossed the line in fourth (1:21), followed by Martin Gluth in fifth (1:34).

Gluth and Engen win the eliminator

Alexandra Engen and Martin Gluth won the eliminator on Saturday night. The world champion defeated the World Cup third-placed in Albstadt, Nadine Rieder (Topeak-Ergon) and Veronika Brüchle (Stevens Schubert). Martin Gluth won the finals ahead of Frenchman Titouan Perrin-Ganier (Focus-Rotor). Andy Eyring (Bergamont) was third.

The overall victories in the Bundesliga eliminator standings went to Engen and Stiebjahn (Team Bulls), who was fifth in Saalhausen.

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