The last day of the Afxentia Bike Race caused excitement again. Especially jan Skarnitzl, who was plagued by defects in the previous days, showed on the final day how good he is at the moment. While Ondrej Cink launched an attack early on and fled the group for the time being, his compatriot Skarnitzl stayed hesitant in the chasing squad. However, Cink was caught early and Skarnitzl picked up the pace on lap three of five.
“I'm used to training in the wind. Maybe that was an advantage when I was alone in front. I've been a bit fed up the last few days because my bike is still stuck at the airport in Vienna. And also because of the last two days with the technical problems. That's why I'm happy that my good form has now translated into a result.", explained Skarnitzl. He escaped the field and celebrated his well deserved stage win.
Cink seemed to have run out of breath in the meantime, but after a refreshment in the feed zone he attacked again. With a strong final lap, he took second place, exactly one minute behind Skarnitzl. “Of course I'm happy with my second place in the overall standings. I think my form is good”said Cink. Fabain Giger, overall leader, drove a cautious but good race. With his third place on the last day of the race, he remains in the lead and repeats his victory from last year. “In the end my yellow jersey was almost in danger because of Skarnitzl. He was really, really strong. In the end we made it and I'm very happy to have repeated my win from last year. My goal in this strong field was the podium, which I have now won is perfect", explained Fabian Giger.
Skarnitzl was able to move up from sixth to second place thanks to his day's win. He overtook Marco Fontana, Florian Vogel and Julian Schelb. The 21-year-old from Münstertäler couldn't keep up with the top riders that day and finished seventh. "I was already tired today. It's a shame that I couldn't keep up with Vogel and Fontana today, but overall I'm very satisfied."said Schelb.
On the last day of the Afxentia Bike Race, the Dane Annika Langvad was able to assert herself against her strong competition for the first time. After realizing that Neff was having trouble following her, she didn't hesitate and started her solo. "I didn't feel like I was on the limit and decided to keep going with my rhythm", Langvad said. Jolanda Neff was able to end the last day with a good second place and, like her teammate Fabian Giger, secured the overall ranking. Adelheid Morath couldn't keep up with the high pace of the leaders today and only finished seventh, which had no effect on her third place in the overall standings.
Sabine Spitz finished fourth for the third day in a row. "It seems I'm subscribed to the Wood Medal", but she took it calmly "But I'm still very happy with my form, especially compared to last year", Spitz explained.
result men
1. Jan Skarnitzl (Sram Rubena Trek) 1:34:17.116
2. Ondrej Cink (Multivan Merida) +1:00353
3. Fabain Giger (Giant Pro XC) +1:07.592
4. Emil Lindgren (Giant Pro XC) +1:08.786
5. Florian Vogel (Scott Odlo) +1:13.395
result women
1. Annika Langvad (Specialized Racing XC) 1:33:29
2. Jolanda Neff (Giant Pro XC) +1:35.216
3. Blaza Klemencic (Feenstra Felt Kenda) +1:50.370
4. Sabine Spitz (Haibike pro) +2:26.261
5. Gunn-Rita Dahle-Flesjaa (Multivan-Merida) +2:29.620
Rating men
1. Fabian Giger (Giant Pro XC) 5:24:58.397
2. Ondrej Cink (Multivan Merida) +42.593
3. Jan Skarnitzl (Sram Rubena Trek) +1:28.166
4. Florian Vogel (Scott Odlo) +2:35.131
5. Marco Fontana (Cannondale) +3:23.349
Appreciation women
1. Jolanda Neff (Giant Pro XC) 5:52:36.868
2. Annika Langvad (Specialized Racing XC) +2:26.790
3. Adelheid Morath (Haibike Pro) +7:32.841
4. Sabine Spitz (Haibike Pro) +12:39.209
5. Blaza Klemencic (Feenstra Felt Kenda) +14:21.379