Cycling: Thomas Dietsch (Bulls) and Milena Landtwing won the O-Tour bike marathon in Obwalden. Dietsch also benefited from a driving error by the Swiss Urs Huber (Bulls).
Up to five kilometers from the finish, Urs Huber still looked like the sure winner. On the last climb to the Ächerli, the main obstacle of the O-Tour, the Swiss bike marathon champion was able to gain a comfortable lead of one minute over his eleven-year-old teammate Thomas Dietsch from France. The duo had already broken away from the rest in the first half of the race.
“I knew that I was better at descending than Thomas and was able to really enjoy the descent. However, just before I was down in the valley, I misread a direction sign and lost my way. This is very annoying", said Huber after his race.
As a satisfaction, Huber was able to put on the iXS Classic leader's jersey - the reason why he competed, because he wants to secure the overall ranking again in 2007, just like in 2008, 2009 and 2014.
His 39-year-old colleague Dietsch, who will be giving up his bike at the end of the season, is no stranger. The Frenchman secured the iXS-classic in 2000 and has won almost all well-known bike marathons in Switzerland at least once: “The win came unexpectedly for me. The joy is all the greater!”
Third placed Jérémy Huguenin said: “I had a lot of trouble, especially in the first half of the race, because I was ill last week. But as the distance increased, things got better and better for me.”
Despite a flat tire shortly before crossing the first finish line, Milena Landtwing was able to distance her first pursuer Florence Darbellay by 8:25 minutes on her first victory run on the O-Tour.
“I was actually extra careful on the road to avoid any defects. Nevertheless, it suddenly hissed", according to Landtwing. “Today went well against my expectations. In view of the Swiss Epic, which starts tomorrow, I didn't even want to ride the O-Tour. Now I'm glad I decided to start.”' said Landtwing.
“The descents here are awesome. I wish there were more races like this”, gushed second-place finisher Florence Darbellay. And third-place finisher Nadia Walker added: “Florence drove sensationally downhill. I sometimes had a very uneasy feeling.”
The final run of the iXS Classic will be held on September 28th at the Iron Bike Race in Einsiedeln.