Cycling: At the European Marathon Championships in Singen on May 10, 2015, two legends of mountain biking will meet. At the Rothaus Hegau Bike-Marathon 2015, the Norwegian Gunn-Rita Dahle-Flesjaa and Sabine Spitz from Murg-Niederhof set a first highlight of the season and fight for the blue EM jersey.
The track record of the two ladies is page-long. Gunn-Rita Dahle-Flesjaa, 2004 Olympic champion, 28-time (record) World Cup winner, nine-time world champion and eight-time European champion, is considered the most successful mountain biker of all time. The "First Lady" in the MTB industry, who has just turned 42, has announced that she will be starting in Singen.
It goes without saying that she will and wants to compete for the title, because the mother of a son is still one of the world's best - in both disciplines: marathon and cross-country.
This also applies to Sabine Spitz (44). For 15 years, the South Baden native has not only been the most successful German mountain biker, but is also one of the world's best. No other biker has managed to win Olympic medals three times (gold 08, silver 12, bronze 04), she has collected 28 international medals in total.
Two years ago, when the European champion titles were awarded in Singen, Sabine Spitz received the bronze medal. Once, in 2007 in St. Wendel, she stood at the top of the podium in the marathon discipline at the European Championships, once, in 2009 in Graz, she won the world championship title. Last year in South Africa it was silver at the World Championships in the long distance.
Gunn-Rita Dahle-Flesjaa was the European marathon champion in 2006 and 2009. However, she has already been world champion over the long edges five times, most recently in 2013. In contrast to her long-time rival Spitz, she has never started at the Rothaus Hegau Bike-Marathon.
"The European Marathon Championships will be my first highlight of the season", explains Dahle-Flesjaa. Two weeks later, she wants to start at the start of the World Cup in the Czech Republic with the same form. The immediate preparation shows how seriously she takes the European Championship. "The plan is to travel to Singen on Monday to get to know the route", says the Scandinavian, who is known as a perfectionist.
The appearance of the two MTB legends should be a special treat for the audience in Singen. Probably also for the numerous hobby bikers who can romp about in the Hegau on the same terrain as the professionals. There were more than 1000 last year.