Bettin and de Bertolis triumph in a final sprint

Mauro Bettin and Massimo de Bertolis have clinched the win on stage three. The two Italians had the best legs in a mass sprint after pedalling from Mayrhofen to Brixen, the first Italian town to host a finish this year. Although Hannes Genze crossed the line after 94.9 kilometres and 2,131 metres of altitude first, it was the Full Dynamix team who was the first complete pair to cross the line ahead of Genze's partner Andreas Kugler. The winners finished in 3:26:56, only two hundredths before second place, which also holds the overall lead. Thomas Dietsch and Tim Boehme from Team Bulls 2 rounded out the podium as third (3:26:59).

After the tight win, Massimo de Bertolis was very satisfied that all the work in the wind and that being responsible for the pace paid off. "A few complained about the speed we were pedalling, but this is a race! I'm very happy that we were able to win," said the 2005 World Champion, who is in his first TransAlp.

Bearers of the Yellow Jersey keep vigilant

Multivan Merida Biking Team again proved their incredible form with Andreas Kugler following into the finish only a few millimetres behind Mauro Bettin, who won the 2000 Transalp title together with Pascal Corti.

"We weren't aiming for the stage win. It was more about staying out of the scrap for positions. We didn't want to risk anything, so we tried to stay in front," Hannes Genze said. It was a wise decision bearing in mind the very narrow alleys of Brixen. "Of course we would have loved to win but tomorrow is the day. It will be a challenge!"

It was a statement which was underlined by the so far second ranked BiXS iXS Pro Team who came in fourth today, extended their gap in the classification by 2.7 to four seconds after two stages so far. Switzerland's Lukas Buchli and Thomas Stoll are still in perfect position to attack the Yellow Jerseys.

Thus, Stoll, who won the Ronda Extrema at the 2008 Bike Festival in Riva del Garda said on the eve of the queen stage, "Tomorrow we will know what might be possible. However, we are still optimistic."

Sprint decides women's category

The ladies' competition also saw a close battle for victory. In an enthralling head-to-head duel, Milena Landtwing and Kristine Noorgard from Rothaus-Cube crossed the finish line after 4:06:05, only 1.5 seconds ahead of runner-ups Peggy Klose and Claudia Till from Zwillingscraft 1. Yesterday's second ranked pairing Fiat-Rotwild jumped on the podium as third with a time of 4:06:59.

Scott-Adidas wins finish sprint in master category

Walter Platzgummer and Johann Grasegger showed today that, although having collected already quite a big gap in the master ranking (3:56), the bearers of the Blue Jersey should keep them in mind.

The South Tyrolean and his German teammate from Scott-Adidas clinched the finish sprint against the master leaders in a time of 3:36:23, only four hundredths ahead of Austria's Team KTM consisting of Ekkehard Doerschlag and Heinz Zoerweg. Silvano Janes and Stephan Unterthurner from Petrovilla Bergner Bau RTTR rolled in as third (3:44:06).

Rocky Mountain extends lead in mixed category

On the third stage, the Canadian-German mix Alison Sydor and Daniel Gathof (Rocky Mountain) underlined their status as holders of the Orange Jerseys. Both secured their back-to-back wins in 3:51:04, thus extending their lead in the mixed classification as second-ranked Stoeckli Craft/Fischli Bikes-riders Anita Steiner and Sepp Fischli from Switzerland lost nine minutes (4:00:14). Martin Jochem and Steffi Hadraschek from the German Sebamed team celebrated their first Transalp podium as third (4:01:36).

Jeantex RSC Logwin Kempten once again fastest senior master team

Georg Niggl and Ferdinand Ganser from Jeantex RSC Logwin Kempten seem to be trying to tie their winning streak from last year. After 3:58:59, they secured their second consecutive stage win. With a gap of more than 20 minutes, runner-up pairing Long Time Bikers V-Sport.ch consisting of Ueli Schuermann and Hanspeter Hunziker came in (4:19:29) finished just ahead of Norway’s Team Replica with Per Kristian Greve and Bjarne Lien (4:20:19).

Stage 4: Brixen to St. Christina (Italy)

The four stage will run 83.52km and climb 3,665 metres for the queen stage. The peloton will first follow a long ascent up to Wuerzjoch and then through the Villnoesstal to the Schlueterhuette. There, the Kreuzkofeljoch will reward riders with fantastic scenery before everyone heads for the downhill to Campill. The route then mainly follows gravel roads to Corvora and climbs up to the Groednerjoch. Riders will see one more trail just before the finish