Trans Alpine Run - Stage 3

For a third consecutive day Andrew Symonds and Tom Owens of ‘Saab Salomon Outdoor’ demonstrated manifest superiority in the Men’s category. They did not just win on today’s course between St. Anton / Arlberg and Galtür but also managed to establish a new stage record with their time of 03:43:56.0 hours. This performance effectively nipped ten minutes off the previous record established in 2007. The two ‘Saab Salomon Outdoor Team’ racers have extended their overall lead to nearly 50 minutes – a comfortable lead even with nearly two-thirds of the race still lying ahead.
Roland Osele and Michael Fischer of the Italian ‘Telmekom Team Südtirol’ (04:01:22.2 hours) arrived in Galtür over 17 minutes later, celebrating a first podium position and advancing to third place in the Men’s category. Ahead of them in the overall ranking is still ‘Team Dr. Steinbauer’ (Thomas Geisenberger and Michael Veit, 04:06:14.8) who managed to defend their overall rank by finishing third today, but by a decreasing margin. There were several more upsets today that changed the relative positions of the top-ranking teams. A landslide change happened in the Men’s category as soon as the news broke that Matthias Dippacher and Christian Stork of ‘BLT Laufsport Saukel Haglöfs’ had to quit half way through today’s stage. Stork had suffered on the punishing ascent up the Kuchenjoch (2,730 m) falling far behind. When he twisted an ankle soon after, the team decided to withdraw on the suspicion of an ankle fracture. Michael Veit of ‘Team Dr. Steinbauer’ had noticed “that they experienced some type of problem but we continued to run our pace. It was not our intention to attack.” Nonetheless, the team benefited from Dippacher’s unfortunate mishap defending the second place in their category. Yet, the experienced racer Veit is aware that “‘this advance means nothing. You’re not through with the race until the last mountain is behind you. That’s what’s so brutal about this race. But it is going well for us right now.”

Italian Men’s team demands attention
The race hasn’t been so kind to others. Roland Osele of ‘Team Telmekom Südtirol’ knows because he wasn’t feeling particularly well on both previous stages. “Already on the first day I fell and suffered greatly yesterday. Fortunately, it went a lot better today.” A great deal better to be precise since the Italian team delivered a demonstration of what they have in store by running to a well-deserved second place. Michael Fischer added “We’re satisfied with today’s run. It was great that our strategy worked because we wanted to gain some visibility in the race by attacking before the leads between the top teams get too big.”
The performance of the top-ranked Men’s team still seems unreachable for any other team at this point. Tom Owens is convinced that it was key to “put some distance between the others and us right on the first day.” That the two Brits are experiencing tired legs isn’t a big deal given their sizeable lead. Neither is admitting to “praying for a first sight of the finish line. It was a long and very hard day” – indeed.

Team Latsch extends their lead ahead of the top Women’s teams
The neck-to-neck competition between ‘Team Latsch’ and ‘Team Sexten Salomon’ continues to offer a lot of excitement at this point in the race. Yet once again, Irene Senfter and Petra Theiner managed to leave their closest pursuers behind on the last descent of the day, a feat that gained them first place (05:09:07.2 hours) for a third time in a row and extended their overall lead to almost four minutes. Martina Pfeifhofer and Elisabeth Egarter (05:12:55.1 hours) had to be content with second place but stayed well ahead of the third-ranking ‘Team Intersport-Salomon’ around Regine Schlump and Carmen Schindler (05:29:29.0 hours).
Team Sexten Salomon had launched a courageous and successful attack on the technically difficult descent from the Kuchenjoch. By the time they reached the Schafbichljoch though Irene Senfter and Petra Theiner had caught up to them and set off downhill on a punishing pace which ultimately earned them victory. Both teams should be good for some more competitive action during the next few days.

Leaders of the Master’s category also claim third stage victory
Dr. Thomas Miksch and Anton Philipp of ‘BLT Laufsport Saukel Haglöfs’ delivered a formidable performance among the teams with a cumulative age of over eighty years. Their stage time of 04:12:00.0 hours landed them squarely on the top podium position and also in fourth place in the overall ranking. Similarly to both previous stages, the dominant Masters shared the podium with Oscar Perez Lopez/Eladio Lantada Zarzosa (‘Team Elyos’, 04:32:28.1 hours) and Steffen Walk/Bernhard Endras (‘Salomon/Sport Reischmann’, 04:21:20.5 hours).

Saab Salomon Outdoor on top among the Mixed teams
Angela Mudge and Ben Bardsley have done it again. The two British runners didn’t just win in their category but continue to rank highly overall. The terrific time of 04:23:11.1 hours secured a third, fresh set of leader jerseys for Team ‘Saab Salomon Outdoor’ and an impressive seventh place overall. Gaby Steigmeier and Seppi Neuhauser (SUI/AUT) of ‘Team Salomon’ (04:41:12.5 hours) landed on second place while ‘Team TPC Freight Management’ (04:41:54.7 hours) around Iona Robertson and Casey Morgan were happy to be back in third place, a repeat performance of their first stage ranking.

Preview Stage Four: Galtür (AUT) to Scuol (SUI):
Tomorrow’s stage may decide the fate of quite a few teams. The runners face a distance of 39.92 km and two punishing ascents with a cumulative vertical of 2,339 m across the impressive Silvretta Range. The race will cross into Switzerland with what we expect to be perfect weather. The participants should be looking forward to the soothing thermal spa facilities Scuol is renowned for.

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