Hero 2015: Lakata and Dahle are the world champions - UPDATE

Both new world champions achieved their victory confidently. Alban Lakata set the pace on the first of the 87 kilometers filled with demanding climbs (a total of 4700 meters in altitude) around the Sella massif and Sassolungo, i.e. through Val Gardena, Alta Badia, Arabba, the Fassa Valley and over the Alpe di Siusi.

After the first descent to Corvara and the climb to Pralongià, he had a lead of around 40 seconds. At Pordoijoch, the second highest point of the race, it was already a minute and a half that Lakata was able to confidently reach the finish in Wolkenstein.

Lakata had one of the best races of his career “Today was a great race, perhaps one of the best that I have ridden in my career,” said Lakata in an initial statement. He felt comfortable in Val Gardena and was not impressed by the steep climbs or the external conditions The temperatures were not too high. He tried to pick up the pace on every climb because he knew that his closest pursuers, Leonardo Paez and Christoph Sauser, would not let up. "I wanted this victory and I had it today really good legs," says Lakata, who adds laconically: "I did my job."

Exciting fight for silver

The fight for silver and bronze was different from the one for gold. Until a few hundred meters before the finish in Wolkenstein it was completely open. Paez, something of a local hero with three wins at the South Tyrol Sellaronda HERO, and the three-time world champion Sauser took turns in the lead in order to secure their lead at the back and perhaps also be able to pose a threat to Lakata. It was only in the last kilometer that Sauser was able to pull away in the last race of his great career and leave the Colombian behind.

It didn't look like a medal at all for Vice World Champion Christoph Sauser: "In the first two and a half hours I had difficulty keeping up because my engine ran like a ship's engine: always at the same speed," said Sauser, who was still able to keep up with the chasing group: " After the single trail on the Pordoijoch, at some point I knew that I could win a medal," said Sauser. With Lakata, the best guy won today, the fight for second place was tough: "I'm a clever driver, just a little lazy sometimes, that's why I waited until the last descent to attack," explained the Swiss after his last race : "Ending my career with a second place is very, very nice."

Paez not at his best to become a hero

As the HERO series winner, Leonardo Paez was one of the closest favorites, but the Colombian did not come to Val Gardena in the best condition. “I recently broke my little finger and that caused me problems today, especially on the climbs,” said Paez, who is still happy with bronze: “I did my best, after all, you can’t always win a race ", said the World Cup third place. Lakata's early breakaway surprised him, but above all how the race continued: "Lakata got away from us on the descent from Gardena Pass, but I wouldn't have believed that he had the strength to start the race from the front," said Paez .

Dahle once again unbeatable

For mountain bike veteran Gunn-Rita Dahle-Flesjå, today's victory means her tenth world championship title in addition to her Olympic victory in 2004; she has won no less than six of them in the marathon. Today's World Championship race was a clear affair for Dahle-Flesjå as well as for the men's winner, Alban Lakata, and a classic start-to-finish victory. After just half an hour on Dantercepies, the highest point of the race at almost 2300 meters, the 42-year-old Norwegian had a half-minute lead over her pursuers, which she was able to extend to over three and a half minutes by the time she reached the finish.

However, the race wasn't as easy as it sounds for Dahle-Flesjå: "Mountain biking is always hard, but this route is a bit harder," said the newly crowned world champion. She was already pretty exhausted on the last climbs, But I didn't let up with my eyes on her pursuer Annika Langvad: "I kept pushing because I knew that Annika could get closer and be dangerous to me," said the Norwegian, who prepared meticulously for this race. “Two weeks ago I cycled the entire route in one day,” says Dahle-Flesjå, who is impressed by the route and landscape: “This is a great area for biking and even if it hadn’t gone so well today, it would have been "I would definitely like to come back," said the Norwegian.

Langvad also happy with silver

With today's hussar ride, Dahle-Flesjå relegated reigning world champion Annika Langvad to second place. She looks at it calmly: "I'm very happy with this runner-up title in the World Championships, also because the silver medal was still missing from my World Championship collection," said Langvad. She knew how strong Dahle-Flesjå was, but was still hoping for a closer race : “But I had to give up on the first climb, perhaps because I had been in poor health in the last few days,” said the Dane, who added: “Especially in such a tough race, you shouldn’t make the mistake of overpowering at the beginning ."

Another mountain bike icon, the German Sabine Spitz, came in third today and is also “super happy” with bronze. The route of the South Tyrol Sellaronda HERO – for women, 60 kilometers long with 3400 meters of altitude – is an extremely demanding one: “I "I never drove this route under racing conditions, so I didn't know exactly how to divide up the race," says Spitz, "after all, you never know where the man with the hammer is." She therefore drove at her own rhythm: " "So I not only survived, but also won a medal," said the German bronze medalist.

The sixth edition of the South Tyrol Sellaronda HERO was special not only because of the combination with the Marathon World Championships. In fact, HERO also set a new record number of participants this year. Starting in 2010 with 400 participants, today there were 4015 mountain bikers from no fewer than 50 nations at the start. 217 elite riders from 40 nations fought for the World Cup crown, including three Olympic champions, nine world champions and five former HEROs.

Sellaronda Hero 2015 - Marathon World Championships Men:

1. Alban Lakata AUT 4:24.46 hours 2. Christoph Sauser SUI 4:26.53 3. Leo Paez COL 4:27.01 4. Periclis Iliad GRE4:29.19 5. Damiano Ferraro ITA 4:29.40

21. Klaus Fontana ITA/Olang 4:45.34 47. Hannes Pallhuber ITA/Antholz 5:03.18

Sellaronda Hero 2015 - Women's Marathon World Championships:

1. Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjaa NOR3:34.13 2. Annika Langvad DAN3:37.31 3. Sabine Spitz GER3:43.43 4. Ariane Kleinhans SUI3:45.27 5. Sally Bigham GBR3:45.56

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Hero 2015: Lakata and Dahle are the world champions - UPDATE

The Austrian Alban Lakata and the Norwegian Gunn-Rita Dahle-Flesjå won the Hero 2015 and thus secured the world championship title over the marathon distance.

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