Stage 1: Füssen - Imst

17-07-2010

83,76 km - 2105 hm

After a absence of 4 years mainly due to injury I am back to a race that made me famous in Europe. The very first Trans Alp Challenge was also one of the first races with the 2 man concept back in 1998 and I was the first winner with my German team mate Marcus Rheicle sponsored by adidas.

With my shoulder injury 2 months ago, I am not on the form I would like to be this time of the year that’s why I decided to ride the race this year with Reini Woisi, a bike guide from Saalbach, and with our combined age 80 it was possible to enter the masters category this year.

Hopes was high to fight for the win in this category but a normal super strong Reini suffered big time on the first 2 days.  After stage 1 we were 5th in the masters category and in 20th overall. Leading the masters is Silvio Wiltschnich and X-tour de France rider Udo Boeltz. Overall leaders none other than Karl Platt and Stephan Sahm on their new 29” Bulls bikes.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/41374481

Stage 2: Imst - Ischgl

18-07-2010

Stage 2 totals 78km and 3060 meters of climbing. The stage started with a climb of 1300Hm and again Reini could not follow the wheels he normally leads. With my experience I told him not to panic and take it easy because this is an 8 day stage race not a one or 2 day event.

We did manage a 4th place finish in the masters category today but lost more valuable time on the podium finishers.
Stage 3 is no different as we climb 1400m from Iscghl at 1350 meters up to the Idjoch at 2730 meters all in just 10 km and then down to Scuol in Switzerland. Total climbing 2500m in 73km.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/40983131

Stage 3: Ischgl - Scuol

19-07-2010

73,64 km - 2504 hm

Today started with some of the nicest weather I have ever seen here in Europe, just right for the 1400 meter ascent up to Idjoch.  A short loop through the town and then it was up to every team to make sure they don’t kill themselves to quickly on such a long climb.

Reini looked a bit stronger today and we were climbing in 4th place in the masters cat. Halfway up the climb we were lying in 3rd place and had the 2nd team in our focus. We just did not managed to catch up before the looong decent and it was me in pursuit of the 2nd place master team. Another long climb and the gap stayed at about 20 seconds with Reini just not strong enough to close the gap with me.

But they were also on the limit and as we came round the next corner one member were lying on the ground with some nasty roasties. A quick “are you OK” and of we were. We also caught up with 2 other teams including Carsten and Volker from team Rocky Mountain who punctured. That was just what we needed on the final 25km stretch of slightly undulating terrain and we managed to jump from 4th in the overall masters to 3rd place by finishing 2nd today. Reini is very happy and fully motivated for the next 5 days. Let’s hope we can built on today.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/41374467

Stage 4: Scuol - Livigno

20-07-2010

73,91 km - 2377 hm

So overnight we made up another place as Georg Koch, the master rider that crashed yesterday could not make the start with cracked ribs. Good luck I know how that hurts.

I now know that with Reini we must not overcook it in the beginning although I would like to ride in the front of the bunch a bit but that is not possible at the moment.

This was so far the nieces stage of this year’s TAC. And the trails down to Livigno just awesome. At first we were in front of the 3rd place masters, then with them and later we made up good time to finish nearly 3 minutes in front of the KTM duo, Dorschlag and Zorweg. The leading masters, Silvio and Udo are still just too strong to stay with but we will keep on fighting.

Tomorrow we climb the famous Mortirollo pass from the Giro and that on the King Stage with 107km and 3500Hm of climbing.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/41374453

Stage 5: Livigno - Ponte Di Legno

21-07-2010

106,87 km - 3461 hm

The stage started with a short controlled start through Livigno and then we turned right and 25% gradient was the order of the day. Aua. Reini was not feeling too great today and team KTM got away from us and it was up to Mr-african to keep a steady pace that was comfortable for Reini but not losing too much time to KTM.

It once again showed that pacing on a 5 hour stage is crucial. We started the Mortirolo a good 8 minutes behind our rivals KTM and by the time we climbed the 1500Hm it was down to 4 minutes. Now Reini was feeling better and the difficult trails he was on my wheel and we made up some more ground. With one km to go I could see the KTM boys suffering in front of us and at the end finished only 1 second behind them. So 2nd place in the overall still in tact. The Cube boys also suffered 2day and finished a mere 3 minutes in front of us.

In the overall men category there is also new leaders in the form of Team Merida, Hannes Genze and Andreas Kugler. They now lead the Swiss guys by 25 seconds with Karl and Stephan on their 29” Bulls Bikes in 3rd 2 min 20 sec down. This is turning out to be an interesting TAC 2010.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/41374441

Stage 6: Ponte Di Legnol - Male

22-07-2010

72,61 km - 2363 hm

Today will be easy after yesterday’s tough stage or so did race director Uli Stansio said. But climbing to a height of 2370m and that nearly all on a old army gravel road made me think back to the last stage of this year’s Cape Epic. That was also supposed to be a easy stage but this climb hurt just as much as that final one.

The reward on the top was worth it though and from now on it was lots of single track and trails all the way down to Male in Val di Sole. I remembered this from previous Trans alps as well as the Cross Country World Champs in 2008.

Today we managed to get away from team KTM on the first climb and stayed away right till the end increasing the gap to 3rd by another 3 minutes. Hopefully Reini will have the same legs the last two days and maybe we can fight for a stage win in the final 2 days.

In the men’s category there was another change. Team Merida only had the leader’s jersey for one day and now it is on the shoulders of Karl and Stephan again from Team Bulls. Today they broke away with De Bertollis and Felderer from Team Fulldynamix and finished the day in 2nd. They now lead the race by 1min 39 sec from the Swiss Bixis team and team Merida in 3rd a further 5min 35sec back. Really interesting in the front of the men’s category.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/41374425

Stage 7: Male - Madonna D.C.

23-07-2010

47,73km - 2321 hm

A day with only 47km sounds easy but more than 2300Hm of climbing also interesting. And like always if a stage is shorter the speed is higher.
Immediately after the start we started with a climb of about 5 kilometres and we just could not stay on the wheels of the leading masters, Silvio and Udo.

That meant a lot of hard pacing for mr-african until we hit the second long STEEP climb of the day. After about a kilometre it also happened to us and Reini was shouting “Mannie my rear wheel is losing air”. “No stress” I said and we stopped, inflated the wheel and hoped the Joes will do the trick. It did work for the next 10km but then with about 2 km to the top of the climb it was time to replace the tubeless system with a tube.  While doing this our rivals for the 2nd place passed us but with a 6 minute gap it was still not necessary to worry. 

Valve out, tube in, air in, wheel back in and of we were in pursuit of team KTM.

It did not take us long and we passed them again to make sure we keep our 2nd place safe. Then the rain came down on us and the final 5 km we were racing in pouring rain. Something new for the Trans Alp Challenge and that just showed again how lucky we were the last 6 days because now it is getting really chilly here in the mountains.

Upfront in the men’s category there was some more drama as the defending Swiss riders leading the race by about 20 seconds, cut the final corner 200 meters from the finish and collided with a car. The finals can get a bit dangerous especially in a holiday town like this. Hope they are fine to complete the last stage 2morrow to Riva. Karl and Stephan still lead the race but now I think by about 5 minutes from Team Merida.

1 day to go. Hope the sun is back 2morrow.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/41481217

Stage 8: Madonna D.C. - Riva

24-07-2010

67,26km - 1462 hm

And another great day at the 2010 Trans Alp Challenge. Sunshine, mountains, trails and the finish, Riva del Garda.
Reini and I finished the last day in 2nd place again and also 2nd overall in the masters category so yet another 2nd place for me at the Trans Alp challenge
It was a great week in the Alps. Riding was good, no punctures, no mechanical, no crashes and my shoulder is not feeling too bad. Looking forward to the marathon world championships now in 2 weeks.