Cycling: Sabine Spitz, who won three Olympic medals, won the title of European marathon champion for the second time at the Rothaus Hegau Bike Marathon. In a close race in Singen/H. the two Swiss women Jolanda Neff and Esther Süss. In the men's race, the Czech Jaroslav Kulhavy won gold ahead of a sensational Sascha Weber from St. Wendel and Alban Lakata from Austria. Many thousands of spectators came to the route and over 1100 bikers were at the start.
The conditions were perfect for Sabine Spitz. The 44-year-old was happy about the sunny weather and warm temperatures. Coupled with a good preparation phase, Spitz was up to date at all times. In the leading group of eight, Brit Sally Bigham (Topeak-Ergon) and Esther Süss (Wheeler-iXS) from Switzerland were the most active.
Co-favorite Gunn-Rita Dahle-Flesjaa had problems early on and lost contact when she faced a longer and very steep asphalt climb after around 55 kilometers.
So a trio remained at the top, which the pursuers did reach again, but in the end the balance of power was already clear.
The decision about gold, silver and bronze was made just 200 meters from the finish line. There, Sabine Spitz got the decisive advantage when she chose a line over a banquet and through the grass, while Jolanda Neff took the corner. The world number one in cross-country has sprint skills, but the approach to the finish in Singen is too winding and narrow for the Swiss to have had a chance.
“After the first lap we drove around the outside, but I saw that the line was also being driven. That's how I got over", said Spitz.
The narrowly defeated Jolanda Neff called it "a bit of a shame"that it wasn't enough for her to win the title. “But there's no question, Sabine was clever and she rode well. She deserved to win", congratulated the 22-year-old.
“It was my first marathon race and I've never raced in such a long race. But I didn't have any problems, it was really cool.", summed up Neff, who had already won a cross-country race in Solothurn the day before.
A few meters away, a beaming winner provided information. "Singing was the first highlight of the season for me and the fact that the title ended, of course it couldn't have gone better", said Sabine Spitz. “At some point it was clear that it would end in a sprint. We already had a gap, but Gunn-Rita and Sally then closed in again on the surface. With three kilometers to go, I was surprised who was there again. I thought oh dear I then always tried to drive a good line in the corners so as not to lose any positions.”
She was the first to turn into the last corner and in the last 50 meters Neff wouldn't let Neff snatch her second European title in the marathon discipline and thus her twelfth medal at European Championships.
Esther Süss was third, six seconds behind. The Swiss, who won in Singen in 2013, did not take the full risk in the last kilometer. She fell in this passage after the first 30-kilometer lap. "I didn't want to risk anything anymore. I'm totally happy with the bronze medal, since originally I didn't want to drive at all. The legs were great, despite the cross-country race yesterday”, explained the 41-year-old.
Karl Platt, who didn't have a good day and didn't finish the race, had put forward a possible script in advance, which actually became reality on this Sunday in Hegau.
Only Jaroslav Kulhavy (Specialized Racing) believed that Platt would be able to escape early and make it to the finish. And that's how it happened.
It was the Czech who took the lead in a muddy singletrack passage, followed by his compatriot Kristian Hynek (Topeak-Ergon) and Sascha Weber (Orbea-smp) also trusted in his racing driver intuition. "I knew I had to be there. I mean, a European Championship is about medals, what are you waiting for?, outsider Weber explained later.
This resulted in a three-person leading group that was able to gain more and more of a lead. After the first 49 kilometers a first decision was made. Unlucky Kristian Hynek had problems with his clipless pedal. "I kept slipping out and almost fell a couple of times", he said later. He stopped trying to clean the pedal and lost contact. He then changed the pedal and then didn't have a chance anymore.
The reigning marathon world champion Jaroslav Kulhavy missed his compatriot at the front. "We took turns in the lead. So it was obviously more difficult on the second lap. But I was confident because I had good legs and because I'm just strong in the many flat sections.", explained the Olympic champion.
So he was left with only Sascha Weber as an appendage. It was almost a no-name for the marathon specialists, but as a regular cross and road rider, the Saarlander brought everything that was needed on this undulating course in the volcanic landscape.
“At the end of the first and beginning of the second lap I was able to help Jaroslav a little, but then no more. I had cramps for the last 15 kilometers, and I wasn’t well fed either.”, explained Weber. And full of respect for the new European champion, he added: "He drove like a moped on the surface, unbelievable."
He managed to keep up and the lead grew to 3:15 minutes. With one kilometer to go, Kulhavy pulled away slightly and, six seconds ahead of Weber, took the last title he was missing from his collection. The 30-year-old is the only mountain biker to have won every title there is in both the marathon distance and the Olympic cross-country discipline. "That was the last thing I missed", Kulhavy grinned.
Sascha Weber couldn't really classify his par force ride to silver at the European Championships. "Jaroslav was stronger, but I can't assess that. I knew I prepared well, but I didn't know how strong the others were. I arrived here very relaxed. Now it's silver, it was a great experience and I'm happy."said Weber.
MTB national coach Peter Schaupp had already speculated after 15 kilometers. "Sascha has prepared himself seriously, he can do that. I'm convinced that he can stay tuned." The expert should be right.
In the fight for bronze, Topeak Ergon driver Alban Lakata finally prevailed (+2:05). The Austrian believes that there could have been more in terms of performance. "The fact that we missed the train annoyed me the whole time. I had great legs. But after Kristian was up front, Robert (Mennen) and I weren't able to put enough pressure on the back. We only did that at the end.", explained Lakata.
Lakata broke away from a group of nine chasing at Plören and took the bronze medal.
Robert Mennen, who had to give up first, managed to get past the Czech Jiri Novak and Tiago Ferreira and even put pressure on his teammate Lakata. "I knew I had to get past them very quickly so that I didn't lead them back to Alban. Now it's the wooden medal for me. It's a shame, but I'm happy that the form was so good and that I was even able to do better at the end. I've never been so close to an international medal.", explained Mennen, who finished 2:17 minutes behind.
Local hero Tim Böhme couldn't keep up at an early stage. He was no longer in the chasing group after just 30 kilometers. Böhme had been skeptical beforehand.
The third best German was Centurion Vaude driver Markus Kaufmann from Meckenbeuren in 14th place (+6:35).
Defending champion Christoph Sauser (Specialized Racing) was in the chasing group when he retired from the race for the medals with a defect.
All results of the Marathon EM are below www.raceresult.com a DAK Bungalow.