The penultimate day of the Afxentia Bike Race should be for the Giant Pro XC-Team will be another successful day. After Fabian Giger and Jolanda Neff took over the overall ranking yesterday, Friday, both were able to win on the third day.
Although the winners were the same, the cards were divided differently compared to the day before. After a group of nine was able to break away from the rest of the field in the men's race, an eight-kilometer single trail climb brought another division. As on the two previous days, Jan Skarnitzl was in top form. Together with Fabian Giger, Ondrej Cink and Emil Lindgren he formed the new top group. With almost ten kilometers to go, Giger took his chance on another climb and was able to open up a gap. The Swede Emil Lindgren could not keep up with the high speed, but still managed to leave Ondrej Cink behind and thus secured second place. Jan Skarnitzel, who already had a defect on day two, was plagued by gearshift problems and was unable to keep the pace. He finished fourth. “It was hard for me to keep up, but then on the singletrack climb it suddenly got better and I was able to overtake one after the other. Anyway, I'm satisfied.", commented Julian Schelb on today's fifth place.
“Skarnitzl was very strong again and he set a great pace on the singletrack climb. I was able to attack on the short climb and win again. Everything went perfectly today, it was cool and it was a lot of fun.", said the renewed winner, Fabian Giger, after his second stage win.
Jolanda Neff once again proved her strength in downhill. After she lost ground in the first few kilometers, she used the descent down to Mantra tou Kampiou-Picnic place and took the lead of the field. “It was clear to me that Jolanda would drive past me. I tried to get down safely. I'm not ready to keep up with Jolanda and I couldn't really put any pressure on on the winding gravel road that followed.", explained Morath.
While Neff, like her teammate Giger, celebrated her second stage win, Annika Langvad finished second, 1:29 minutes behind. “I had a lot of fun and it was really cool. Let's see what happens tomorrow but I hope I can defend the lead. I've had a very good winter, but before the first race you never really know how you're feeling. I'm glad everything feels so good"said Neff. Adelheid Morath completes the podium on day three, followed by Sabine Spitz.
result men
1. Fabian Giger (Giant Pro XC) 1:34:12.891
2. Emil Lindgren (Giant Pro XC) +7.791
3. Ondrej Cink (Multivan Merida) +39.246
4. Jan Skarnitzl (Sram Rubena Trek) +48.081
5. Julian Schelb (Multivan-Merida) +2:11.470
result women
1. Jolanda Neff (Giant Pro XC) 1:48:28.580
2. Annika Langvad (Specialized Racing XC) +1:29.713
3. Adelheid Morath (Haibike Pro) +2:16.177
4. Sabine Spitz (Haibike Pro) +4:45.487
5. Kathrin Stirnemann (Haibike Pro) +5:46.279
Rating men
1. Fabian Giger (Giant Pro XC) 3:49:33.689
2. Ondrej Cink (Multivan Merida) +49.832
3. Florian Vogel (Scott Odlo) +2:29.328
4. Julian Schelb (Multivan-Merida) +2:32.169
5. Jan Skarnitzl (Sram Rubena Trek) +2:35.758
Appreciation women
1. Jolanda Neff (Giant Pro XC) 4:17:31.909
2. Annika Langvad (Specialized Racing XC) +4:02.006
3. Adelheid Morath (Haibike Pro) +4:57.974
4. Sabine Spitz (Haibike Pro) +11:48.164
5. Blaza Klemencic (Feenstra Felt Kenda) +14:06.225