Sauser successful on opening stage

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Christoph Sauser (Specialized) clinched the opening stage of the 2011 Trans Germany mountain bike stage race. On stage 1, which took riders over 68km and up 2557m from Sonthofen to Pfronten, the defending champion from Switzerland proved that he is again the man to beat. Sauser finished in 2:49:22 ahead of marathon world champion Alban Lakata (Topeak Ergon Racing) in 2:50:16 and Markus Kaufman (Centurion Vaude) in 2:52:09.

With an eye on the deficits, Sauser, who had laid foundation to victory on the first stage last year, too, rode his way into yellow with a fairly comfortable 54.2-second margin. But there are still three more days to go.

"This advantage gives me the opportunity to ride more defensively," said the 35-year-old Sauser. "That's the reason why I was aiming to win the first stage; despite the fact that I'm still not that top in shape after last weekend's World Cup in Offenburg."

The decision on today's stage came on the last of the four climbs up to Edelsberg. Sauser attacked the leading group of four, which had escaped over the ascents which came before. The Swiss rider pedaled away; only Lakata was able to hold the pace.

"I was able to keep up pretty well. But then, Susi (Christoph Sauser - ed.) went on/off again and again," said Lakata. "He got away with this as I wanted to ride my own rhythm."

On the last kilometers down into the finish of the royal stage, Sauser, well-known for his skills on descents, piled on second after second to his advantage.

But his main challenger Lakata isn't in the mood to throw in the towel yet. "I hope that it will get better. Maybe, something is possible tomorrow. I will try to attack," said the 32-year-old East Tyrolean.

Kaufmann also gave proof of his currently outstanding shape. After he won the Tegernsee Marathon last weekend, the Meckenbeuren resident raised the ante today thus upstaging some of the top aces.

Besides his first ever top-three result at the Trans Germany, he also took over the lead in the best climber classifier thus bearing the green jersey of the Bayerischen Staatsforsten tomorrow.

"I checked the best climber classification yesterday. I never had a special jersey like this one in my whole life before. So I was definitely going for it today." Whether the 29-year-old can hold to his lead in the special category remains to be seen, because as he said, "My focus is on the overall standings."

Personal revenge for Sundstedt at Trans Germany

After her crash on last year's third stage from Pfronten to Sonthofen and the following helicopter transport and thus her end of the race, the 36-years-old Finn Pia Sundstedt settled an old score. Sundstedt mastered the leg in 3:18:11 hours and relegated Milena Landtwing (Centurion-Vaude) to second with a time of 3:25:35. British Champion Sally Bigham of Topeak Ergon Racing was third in 3:26:30.

"I put the hammer down right away and was able to break away after the first climb", the Craft-Rocky Mountain racer said. "After my surgery last autumn, it went pretty well today. But I always had my last year's crash in mind, on every single descent."

"Kombresser" best master

In the 40+ category, Carsten Bresser not only was able to successfully compete against his competitors, but also pile up a huge advantage. In his first ever masters' season, Sundstedt's teammate gave an impressive display of his skills by finishing in 3:07:11.5 hours.

"It's a strong master class this year," said the rider who finished eighth at the 2000 Olympics. "But I was able to break away on the last 20 km." Bresser competed in a triathlon last weekend in Worms.

In a final sprint for the other podium spots, Arild Christophersen (Team United Bakteries) finished in 3:10:23.3, crossing the line ahead of Lars van der Sloot (3:10:24) and defending master champion Johann Grasegger from Team Garmisch-Partenkirchen (3:10:24).

Senior master category: Transition of power

In the class of the eldest participants (50+), Werner Höpperger (Team Tiroler Zugspitz Arena) deposed the dominating senior master of the last two years in 3:23:35.

Milan Spolc (TBR-Bikes-JH Sachsen) came in as third after 3:32:19 hours after Norway's Olav Tronnes had secured the second spot (3:27:14) about five minutes before.

Stage 2: Pfronten, Germany to Lermoos, Austria

After the plenty up and downs of the first day, the second stage seems to be something known as déjà vu as there are once again many climbs to master on the 78km long course, which is peppered with 2,298 meters in elevation gain.

Stage 1 Results

General classification after stage 1