Lakata victorious on third stage

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Alban Lakata (Topeak Ergon) claimed victory in the third stage of the Trans Germany and thus brought home another stage win after he had clinched one each in 2009 and 2010. On the 83km stage, with 1881m of climbing, from Lermoos, Austria, to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, the reigning marathon World Champion successfully competed against yellow jersey wearer Christoph Sauser (Specialized Racing). Lakata reached the end of the official timed section on Partnachalm after 2:44:36 and less than a second before Sauser.

Team Bulls racer Tim Böhme was the fastest of the chasing group sprinting for the third rank (2:47:24). While the German celebrated his first 2011 Trans Germany podium, Markus Kaufmann, the leading man in the best climber classifier, secured his third rank in the overall ranking by finishing fourth today (2:47:25).

The course didn't seem to suggest what would be such a tight finish, but Sauser had some problems in defending his lead. On the long and tough ascent to Ehrwalder Alm and further on to the transition to Gaistal, Lakata attacked the man in yellow.

Defending overall champion Sauser lost contact. "I temporarily lost control of the race. I couldn't keep up with the pace at the end of the climb," said Sauser. "On the flat, he (Alban Lakata) always had a lead of 15, 20 seconds. And as he is strong in the flat, I saw my lead shrinking."

But a small gradient after Gaistalalm brought Sauser back in the game. "I was able to catch up again at this kicker. But I definitely had to fight hard today."

While the Swiss rider looks very likely to keep hold of the lead until the end of this year's Trans Germany with only one stage to go tomorrow, Lakata was also all smiles about his racing.

"I tried to break away. But in the flat part I had too much headwind to deal with. So I decided to save some energy and go for the stage win as this is always a goal of mine," said three-time Austrian champion Lakata. The 31-year-old from East Tyrol, who still has a deficit of more than 1:20 to cope with, wasn't giving up with one stage remaining. Speaking of tomorrow, he said, "It's a new game, so let's wait and see."

Sundstedt lays foundation to first Trans Germany title

With her third consecutive stage win, the Finnish Craft-Rocky Mountain racer has impressively underlined her claim to bring home the women's title. The 36-year-old put her main rivals for the Trans Germany crown in their place once again when crossing the finish line after 3:06:24.

British Champion Sally Bigham of Topeak Ergon Racing came in three minutes later (3:09:24) and has now a gap of more than 15 minutes to catch up while being the classifier's runner-up. Milena Landtwing (3:10:23) of Centurion-Vaude rounded out the podium as third.

Grainau local wins master category

In the masters race, two time Trans Germany winner Johann Grasegger secured his first 2011 stage win. The Garmisch-Partenkirchen Team member rolled in as winner of the 40+ category after 2:53:21 and was 0.5 seconds ahead of the bearer of the blue leader's jersey Carsten Bresser of Craft-Rocky Mountain.

According to this, the 45-year-old was pretty satisfied with the result. "Of course you are hoping for a win when the stages wraps up in your home town. I noticed in the first climb that it would be a good day, so I gave in all I had."

However, he also admitted that there is no chance for him to go for the title hattrick: "Carsten (Bresser) is a bit stronger. So he deserves it."

Tension rising in the senior master category

Earning a back-to-back win, Milan Spolc put some more pressure on the current leader of the senior master classification Werner Höpperger. While the Czech of TBR-Bikes-JH Sachsen came in after 3:06:48, the lead of today's third ranked Austrian, who is riding for Team Tiroler Zugspitz Arena, (3:10:34) shrank by another 3:46.

Nevertheless, Tyrol's Senior Champion is still optimistic for tomorrow as he enters the final stage to Maurach/Achensee with a margin of 2:52. "I underestimated the first climb. But I'm pretty sure that I will bring home the title."

Stage 4 preview: Garmisch-Partenkirchen - Maurach/Achensee

The fifth Trans Germany will conclude with a pretty mellow last stage. The final leg might be the longest one with a total of almost 100km. But 1,630 meters of climbing is not as harsh as the days before.

The race will be neutralized for some 40 kilometers after passing Wallgau. According to this, the first and the third section, starting in Kaiserwacht, will count for the overall result while only the last part in Austria will be decisive for the stage win.

Stage 3 Results

General classification after stage 3