Symonds + Owen claim fifth stage victory / Steigmeier withdraws / Other leader teams maintain lead

Andrew Symonds and Tom Owens of British Team ‘Saab Salomon Outdoor’ were back on track today pocketing another stage triumph. The overall leaders mustn’t have spent much time taking in the spectacular sights alongside the trail as they covered the distance of 37.02 kilometers between Scuol (SUI) and Mals (ITA) in just 03:09:14.0 hours. Thomas Geisenberger and Michael Veit of the German ‘Team Dr. Steinbauer’ (03:15:41.0 hours) claimed second place without a threat in sight. Seconds decided over third place, in contrast, as the Italians Michael Fischer and Roland Osele of ‘Telmekom Team Südtirol’ (03:21:01.4 hours) beat Bruno Jost and Urs Jenzer (‘Team Pedal-Fast Switzerland 1’, 03:31:04.3 hours) by a hair to the finish line.

With each stage the Swiss have continuously improved their ranking but missed the podium by the closest margin imaginable today (2.9 sec). Bruno Jost expressed his disappointment: “We were able to catch up nicely but then they noticed us and cleverly managed to keep ahead. It’s too bad because today was meant to be our stage as for once we were able to run it all.” Indeed, today’s stage required a single, consistent but benign climb up Schlinigpass (2.261 m) before dropping gently into the Upper Val Venosta.

The dominant teams were well ahead of the main field by the time they reached the highest point of the stage and maintained high running speeds right into Mals. Tom Owens commented on today’s experience: “We’re delighted to have arrived in first place again. It was a long stage that was quite taxing. It’s good to have had an uphill race yesterday, almost a rest day. It’s the descents in particular that are hard on the legs and there are two more days to go’. 

Mixed-Team racer Gaby Steigmeier withdraws on account of health issues
With two-thirds of the race behind them and only 65 kilometers to go, Gaby Steigmeier (SUI) and Seppi Neuhauser (AUT) of ‘Team Salomon’ were in second place in the overall Mixed team ranking and had a podium position within sight. The team withdrew unexpectedly at the first food stop early this morning on account of Steigmeier’s aggravating asthma. Seppi Neuhauser continued the stage on his own but was obviously saddened: “She had serious problems breathing and we needed to seek medical attention.” 
Due to this prominent withdrawal, Iona Robertson and Casey Morgan of ‘Team TPC Freight Management’ (03:35:23.2 hours) and siblings Annemarie and Ulrich Gross of ‘Telmekom Team Südtirol’ (03:42:33.8 hours) moved up in the overall ranking to second and third place, respectively.

First place went once again to Angela Mudge and Ben Bardsley who haven’t yielded their top podium position even once in this race. Angela Mudge, world champion in Sky Running, and her partner admitted to having a harder time today though: “It was really hard. We are used to running in the mountains and had to fight on the many, relatively flat stretches.”

‘Team Latsch’ putting competitors into their place
After suffering a hurtful defeat in yesterday’s uphill sprint at the hands of rivaling ‘Team Sexten Salomon’, Irene Senfter and Petra Theiner were back in exceptional shape in today’s stage. ‘Team Latsch’ mastered the trails today in 03:56:16.1 hours securing a lead of nine minutes on second-placing, fellow Italians Pfeifhofer/Egarter (04:05:24.6 hours).  Regine Schlump and Carmen Schindler of Team ‘Intersport-Salomon Womenice’ (GER) spent four more minutes on the trail but held on to third place with their time of 04:09:11.3 hours. 

Leading Masters demonstrating who’s boss
As in the Men’s category, the leading Masters ‘Team BLT Laufsport Saukel Haglöfs’ continue to extend their lead and keep a comfortable distance from their closest rivals, let alone the main field. Dr. Thomas Miksch and Anton Philipp hung on to their sixth top podium position with a time of 03:30:24.2 hours. Over ten minutes later, Joseph Gallagher and Sven Buchheister of the US/German ‘Team Schwarzwald-Express’ crossed the finish line placing second in today’s stage (03:41:10.4), a position they intensely fought over with ‘Team Magic-Sportfood.de’. In the end Uwe Richlik and Markus Mühlbeyer of the latter team had lost 11 seconds on their competitors but at least hung on to third place (3:41:20.4).

Preview Stage 7: Mals (ITA) – Schlanders (ITA)

On the penultimate day of the 2009 GORE-TEX® Transalpine Run, the racers will be facing the highest elevation of the race, the Rappenscharte (3,012 m), a high alpine pass on either sides of which tough trail-less terrain has to be negotiated. The overall distance of 34.51 kilometers and a vertical gain of 2,004 meters will tire out even the top runners this far into the race. The stage will be merciless with an unrelenting, brutal descent but it will have several redeeming qualities – one being the exceptional panoramic views of the glaciated High Divide that also forms the border between Austria and Italy, another being the lush fruit orchards and fragrant oak/chestnut groves at lower elevation around Schlanders.

Photo credit © GORE-TEX® Transalpine-Run-Lars Schneider