Lakata wins marathon

Alban Lakata (Topeak Ergon Team) and Birgit Söllner won the 122km marathon in Willingen.

Going into it, Lakata was worried. He'd suffered a head cold the previous week, from which he was still recovering, and it was drizzling and chilly at the start of the race.

With 10km to go in the race, three riders escaped from the still-large leading group, including Lakata. In the remaining part of the race, Lakata attacked on the final climb and shook off his rivals one after the other. He won the race in 4:48:40, with a 44-second lead over Urs Huber and Thomas Dietsch.

"During the race, I really didn't think that I had the win in me today," he said. "But I managed to pull it out of the bag. I am really pleased."

German Birgit Söllner won the women's race in 5:44:53. Dutchwoman Arielle Boek - Van Meurs was second and Anna Baylis-Scheiderbauer of Austria was third.

Full Results