Markt wins ahead of Gehbauer, Litscher

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Tough climbs and daredevil downhills were the perfect ground for the Felt Ötztal X-Bionic World Cup riders at the Ötztaler Mountain Bike Festival on May 1. Charly Markt won the men's race while Sabrina Enaux earned a victory in the women's race.

Markt's dreams came true when he won the UCI-inscripted race held in his hometown, Haiming. After the first lap, Markt took the lead and neither Ralph Näf (Multivan Merida) nor any of the others could follow him up the hill.

Markt won by 53 seconds over Alexander Gehbauer, so he had plenty of time to celebrate and enjoy the applause of fans in the final meters.  Thomas Litscher was third.

"It's awesome. The race was brutal and I'm so happy I finally made it to the top here in my hometown with all my fans cheering on the track," said Markt. "My tactics worked great: I kept the speed very high from the beginning so that nobody could ride into striking distance."

In the women's race, Enaux took her first win of the season. The petite French woman crossed the finish line with over one minute time advantage - and second was nobody other than the world's number one ranked Lisi Osl.

"The course was very technical and perfect," said Enaux. "A full suspension bike helped me ride fast through stones and roots, and the course was full with these technical sections."

Blaza Klemencic, who still is struggling with the aftermath of her painful crash last weekend at the World Cup in South Africa, came in third and was happy with the result.

"To race here was important for me because I don't want to slow down between the World Cups - even if the bruises still hurt a bit," said Klemencic.

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