Sauser claims second consecutive Trans Germany title

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Christoph Sauser (Specialized racing) clinched the fifth edition of the Trans Germany on Saturday. The Swiss rider mastered the total distance of 325 kilometers from Sonthofen, Germany to Maurach/Achensee, Austria in 11:04:57 and thus earned his second consecutive overall title. The reigning marathon world champion Alban Lakata (Topeak Ergon Racing) placed second - just like last year - with a deficit of 1:13. Centurion-Vaude racer Markus Kaufmann, who took the first spot in the best climber classification, rounded out the podium as third.

Kaufmann's teammate Matthias Bettinger celebrated victory on the final stage 4, which covered 100km and had 1,630m of climbing from Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Germany to Maurach. Bettinger finished in 1:15:02.

"I said to myself now or never!" said Bettinger, who outsprinted Kaufmann and Lakata in second and third respectively. Sauser was fifth, just after South Africa's David George.

"I wanted to win again," said Sauser, who added that "there was no way for me to be satisfied with second after my last year's triumph." Due to a strong performance on the queen stage, Sauser had laid foundation to a successful title defense on day one.

"It's just incredible. I love stage races. Winning an event which lasts longer than just one day is worth much more," said Sauser. "In addition, it's more fun, except for yesterday."

Sauser's win didn't come easily as Lakata pushed him the entire way, including attacking again on the final stage.

"I never gave up," said Lakata. "So many things can happen all the time. So, I wanted to make sure that I would have nothing to complain about. And as I tried everything, I'm ok with the result."

Kaufmann said something similar. "I gave in everything I had to claim the best climber classification. That this worked out and I also placed on the podium is insane. It's just a very good season for me so far. Everything else that happens now is a plus," said the 29-year-old.

First title for Sundstedt

On the women's side, Pia Sundstedt (Craft - Rocky Mountain) took an even more imposing triumph after she won three of the four stages en route to collecting the overall title. Sundstedt did not win the final stage. Instead, that honor went to Sally Bingham (Topeak Ergon), who finished in 1:23:54 for the day, five seconds ahead of Sundstedt. Milena Landtwing (Centurion-Vaude) was third in 1:26:20.

The 36-year-old Sundstedt finished with an overall time of 12:57:42. She was 16 minutes faster than runner up Sally Bingham (Topeak Ergon Racing).

"I'm very happy about this win. This race is very important to me," said Sundstedt. "But I had to fight really hard for this victory."

Bresser best master racer

In the masters 40+ category, Carsten Bresser (Craft Rocky Mountain) triumphed in 11:52:36, dethroning the winner of the last two editions, Johann Grasegger of Team Garmisch-Partenkirchen, who finished as runner-up (1:58:00).

"It wasn't easy at all," Bresser said. "But in the end, it worked out. It's a nice win, the second at an event lasting several days after I triumphed at the Cape Epic with Udo Bölts this spring."

Lars van der Sloot took the third podium spot in the overall ranking (12:00:25) as well as today (1:19:47). The win on the final stage went to Arild Christophersen (1:18:33) who came in ahead of Grasegger (1:19:44).

Spolc earns victory on final stage

Performing an impressive true feat, Milan Spolc not only secured victory in the senior master category on the final stage (1:23:03) but also scored his title hattrick. The Czech of TBR-Bikes-JH Sachsen mastered the total distance in 12:58:07 hours and therefore was 2:12 faster than Austria's Werner Höpperger (Team Tiroler Zugspitze), the so far bearer of the green leader's jersey.

"Two weeks ago, I was racing in South Africa. According to this, it was pretty hard for me over the course of the last four days. But I got better and better each day. It's fantastic that it did work out," Spolc said, who had turned a deficit of almost nine minutes in a lead over Höpperger.

The second in the overall ranking missed today's podium by finishing fourth ahead after second placed Ferdinand Ganser (Craft - Rocky Mountain) and third placed Olav Tronnes.

Stage 4 Results

Final general classification