Cycling: The Italian Marco Fontana and the Ukrainian Yana Belomoina won the KMC Bundesliga final in Bad Säckingen. Fontana won Cannondale's internal duel with German champion Manuel Fumic. In front of an enthusiastic crowd of spectators, Frenchman Maxime Marotte finished third. The German champion Helen Grobert took second place in the women's Bundesliga ahead of the Swiss Linda Indergand.
Ironically, the two Cannondale drivers Manuel Fumic and Marco Fontana fought for victory in the HC race. Ironically, an Italian and a German, when these two nations are fighting so tenaciously for fifth place in the national rankings, that allows three riders to be sent to the Olympic Games in Rio.
A group of four had formed. In addition to the two friends, the two Swiss Florian Vogel (Focus-XC) and Nicola Rohrbach (Goldwurstpower.ch) were also there. But Vogel, the series winner in the spring and also the winner of the KMC Bundesliga race in Heubach, was no longer able to keep up the pace on the fifth lap. “Mentally it just didn’t work anymore. That was one race too many for me this season,” explained Vogel, who fell back to ninth place and thus lost all chances of winning the Bundesliga overall.
No sooner had Vogel fallen behind than the next message came: Nicola Rohrbach had a defective rear wheel. Suddenly Maxime Marotte was in third position, albeit just under a minute behind the German-Italian duo.
Fumic and Fontana agreed to work together and actually wanted to make it down to the last lap. But then Fumic made a small mistake on a technical climb and the London Olympic bronze medalist suddenly had a 15-second lead.
"I didn't know how much of a lead we had. That's why I drove on,” explained Fontana. His buddy fought again to catch up, but couldn't get any closer.
“That was a great race for me today. I could easily cruise behind the others. I like routes like that. Thank you Germany for this great race”, Fontana commented on his first KMC Bundesliga victory.
Manuel Fumic crossed the finish line 39 seconds behind Fontana (1:38:01). “The fact that I was up front with Marco was of course a lucky constellation. He had the better day and I'm happy for the team that we were able to land a one-two. For me it's a happy end to the season," said the 33-year-old from Kirchheim/T, fourth in the World Championships.
Maxime Marotte (BH-Sr Suntour-KMC) had problems in the starting phase and had to start catching up. So he missed the top group. “I became French marathon champion last week, that was definitely not the best preparation. But I'm happy with my result. At the beginning I was always in the red zone, but then at some point things got better and better,” commented Marotte.
Fourth place (+1:34) was taken by the strong Nicola Rohrbach, while his compatriot Fabian Giger (Colnago-Südtirol +1:41)
Simon Stiebjahn (Team Bulls) had to suffer in Bad Säckingen for his second Bundesliga victory. After a good first four laps, "all of a sudden things weren't going so well anymore," as he admitted.
He was informed that Vogel had dropped back from the leading group. "I knew that, but I definitely wanted to score as many points as possible for the national ranking," explained Stiebjahn. In 17th (+4:51) he crossed the finish line completely exhausted. "I'm happy that we managed to win the overall Bundesliga again," summed up the 25-year-old from Titisee-Neustadt.
Moritz Milatz (Koch Engineering-Müsing) from Freiburg was twelfth (+2:56), Markus Schulte-Lünzum (Focus-XC) from Haltern finished 16th (+4:32).
Ladies: Belomoina lives up to her position as a favourite.
Third in the World Championships Yana Belomoina (Betch.nl Superior-Brentjens) won an exciting duel with local hero Helen Grobert (Ghost Factory Racing) and celebrated her first Bundesliga victory.
Belomoina and Grobert were able to break away from Linda Indergand (Focus XC) on the second lap after the sprint world champion fell in a technical passage.
The Remetschwieler, who lives in Freiburg, and the Ukrainian stayed together until the penultimate round. Then Belomoina was able to break away in a technical uphill passage.
"I drove up with Helen. So I was able to get to know the course a little better,” Belomoina explained, explaining how she benefited from the local hero. When she tore the gap, she pulled through. "It was a nice race and I enjoyed driving here," explained the 22-year-old.
Grobert preferred to continue at his "own pace" and finished 58 seconds behind Belomoina (1:26:12). Her second place and thus the overall Bundesliga victory was no longer in danger.
The 23-year-old Helen Grobert, who had dueled with Belomoina in the U23 last year, once again confirmed the class she had demonstrated throughout the season. "I'm super happy. I was really motivated again and it feels good to win overall here in front of a home crowd. The race was so fun and everyone deserves praise for making the Bundesliga final such a great event,” Grobert expressed his emotions.
Third was Linda Indergand (+1:51), who also lost air from the tires in the last lap, but was able to hold off the second local hero and name giver of the Gold Trophy, Sabine Spitz. "Apart from the crash, it was great fun to drive on this track and I can be satisfied with third place," said Indergand.
Sabine Spitz finished fourth, 2:14 minutes behind, and made the difference in the technical passages. “I certainly haven't lost anything on the tarmac or on the flat sections. But in the technical area they are just a bit faster,” said Spitz, adding with a smile: “Maybe age will do it.”
In the first lap, in the labyrinth, when Linda Indergand slipped in front of her, Spitz lost touch.
Bad luck had Vice World Champion Irina Kalentieva (Möbel Märki), who fell back from the leading group in the second lap due to a tire defect and finally finished fifth (+4:21).
U23 men: Milan Vader keeps Luca Schwarzbauer at bay
The race didn't start optimally for Milan Vader. The Dutchman slipped away in the first technical passage and had to make his way back to the top. Once there he sat down with the French Neilo Perrin-Ganier (Rotor-Focus). Vader was stronger on the climbs, Perrin-Ganier on the technical sections.
"When I saw Luca approaching from behind, I attacked. I knew I had no choice but to go full speed ahead,” said Vader, who was ninth at this year's U23 World Championships.
The Dutchman knows Schwarzbauer from his junior days and accordingly he had respect for his pursuer, who had pulled away from a group at the front. Last year's third in the World Championships only competed in one larger race this year, in Titisee-Neustadt, and was "very surprised" by his result. 24 seconds after Vader (1:30:20) he reached the finish.
“I enjoyed every minute today. The chain went down twice and I still lack the strength. But what can I say, that was really awesome today,” Schwarzbauer commented on his result.
Florian Chenaux (Zimmermann-Bergamont) prevailed in the battle for third place. "I put everything on the last lap and it worked out," said the happy Swiss, who in the meantime had to let Marcel Guerrini, who was seventh in the U23 World Championship, go.
Sven Straehle (MHW-Cube) was the second-best German in seventh place (+1:08) and was therefore happy. "I was sick last week too. That's why I thought today, either or," said Strähle. He had fought his way up to the chasing group, but then allowed himself a fall and lost the group again.
Behind Georg Egger (Lexware, +1:54), Martin Frey (Team Bulls, +2:04) took ninth place and thus secured overall victory in the U23 Bundesliga. “After the World Cup I had to take antibiotics for six days. My goal was to win the overall ranking and that's another nice success at the end of the season," explained Frey, who won the league ranking ahead of Philipp Bertsch (MHW-Cube) and Luca Schwarzbauer and David Horvath (Lexware) who tied for points.
Juniors: The Vice World Champion also dominates in the final
With his third win of the season, Max Brandl from Lohr am Main easily won the overall ranking for juniors. The Vice World Champion, his Lexware team colleague Lars Koch from Furtwangen and the World Championship fourth-placed Robin Hofmann (Haibike-KMC), also from Lohr aM, were able to pull away in the first lap.
In lap two of five, Max Brandl pulled away decisively, his teammate Koch was unable to react immediately because he was in third position. The German junior champion Max Brandl pulled away and celebrated victory in 1:04:15 hours, 35 seconds ahead of Koch.
"When the gap was there, I thought, now you have to try it and it worked. The season is already in the bones, I wasn't really lively anymore," said Brandl.
Juniors: Hannah Grobert prevails
With Hannah Grobert, a local hero used the home advantage in the juniors to her first Bundesliga victory. The German champion Clarissa Mai (Link Rad Quadrat) couldn't get into the clipless pedal at the start, had to roll up the field from behind and paid for this effort with a fall.
"Then Hannah was gone. I didn't get there anymore, she was just really strong today," said Clarissa Mai. The Hausacherin won the overall standings of the Junior National League for the second time.
She finished second, 1:31 minutes behind Grobert, who was over the moon about her victory. "I wanted to give everything again in the last race of the season, but I never thought that I could win," said Hannah Grobert.
Third was Nina Benz from Laichingen (+3:38).
Overall ranking MTB Bundesliga 2015:
Elite:
1. Simon Stiebjahn – Team BULLS
2. Florian Vogel – Focus XC Team
3. Fabian Giger – Team Colnago South Tyrol
U23:
1. Martin Frey - Team BULLS
2. Phillip Bertsch - MHW Cube
3. Milan Vader – KNWU National Team
Sprint:
1. Simon Stiebjahn – Team BULLS
2. David Horvath - Lexware MTB Team
3. Heiko Hog – Freiburger Pilsener AFK Biking Team
Daily rating of the Bundesliga final in Bad Säckingen:
Elite:
1. Marco Aurelio Fontana – Cannondale Factory Racing – 1:38:01
2. Manuel Fumic - Cannondale Factory Racing - 1:38:40
3. Maxime Marotte – BH-SR Suntour-KMC – 1:38:56
17. Simon Stiebjahn – Team BULLS – 1:42:52 h
U23:
1. Milan Vader – KNWU National Team – 1:30:20
2. Luca Schwarzbauer – Lexware MTB Team – 1:30:45 h
3. Florian Chenaux – Team Zimmermann Bergamont Mathieu SA – 1:30:56 h
10. Martin Frey – Team BULLS – 1:32:25 h
Short Race:
1. Simon Stiebjahn – Team BULLS – 31:05 min
2. Fabian Giger – Team Colnago South Tyrol – 31:12 min
3. Martin Gluth – Paarl Media OMX Pro Team – 31:31min
5. Martin Frey – Team BULLS – 32:13 min
Juniors:
1. Maximilian Brandl – Lexware MTB Team – 1:04:15 h
2. Lars Koch – Lexware MTB Team – 1:04:50 h
3. Robin Hofmann – RV Victoria Wombach Haibike KMC – 1:05:31
9. Niklas Schehl – Team BULLS – 1:08:15 h
17. Björn Traeckner – Team BULLS – 1:10:47 h
La Forestiere, UCI MTB Marathon Series
1. Samuele Porro – Silmax X-Bionic Racing Team – 4:35:45
2. Urs Huber – Team BULLS – 4:35:56 h
3. Alexis Vuillermoz – AG2R – 4:36:07
4. Karl Platt - Team BULLS - 4:38:54