Craft Bike Transalp ends with two South Tyrolean victories

In the Grand Master category, in which the riders must be at least 100 years old, Walter Platzgummer from Naturns celebrated his sixth overall Transalp victory. He has won the Alpine crossing five times on a mountain bike and once on a racing bike. This year his partner was Gilberto Perini from Castrocaro, in the province of Forlí. Together they won all eight stages, which they completed in a total time of 31:18.29 hours. On the final stage the two were even faster than the South Tyrolean master riders.

“You always have to set a goal that you can work towards all year long,” said 51-year-old Walter Platzgummer after reaching the finish line. “We harmonized perfectly,” says his 50-year-old partner. “50% of the victory is the right partner, the rest is good preparation,” adds the serial winner from Naturns.

Daniel Jung wins mixed doubles with Kirstin Aamodt

In the mixed teams, the South Tyrolean-Norwegian pairing of Daniel Jung and Kristin Aamodt secured overall victory. The mixed duo finished the Bike Transalp with six daily wins and a total time of 33:22.52 hours. This was Jung's first overall victory after third place two years ago with Kristina Weber.

“Winning the Transalp is a special feeling. “I’m in the shape of my life,” says the 29-year-old electrical mechanic from Laces, who only met Aamodt two weeks ago after his original partner dropped out. “We worked well together, worked hard, but also had fun, which is why I am very happy about the success,” says the chemical engineer from Oslo.

Like last year, Andreas Laner from Gais and Hansi Grasegger from Grainau had to make do with second place in the overall master's ranking, despite their excellent performance. In 2012, the Italian pros Massimo Debertolis and Marzio Deho were faster, but this year the German ex-pros Carsten Bresser and Udo Bölts. With one stage win, five second places and one third place, the South Tyrolean-Bavarian duo completed the Alpine mountain bike crossing after 675 km in 30:37.49 hours.

“That was my last Transalp,” says Andreas Laner. “The training effort is very high and difficult to combine with family responsibilities. If you’re going to take part, you want to do well.”

Markus Kaufmann and Jochen Käß overall winners The overall men's winners were the German marathon champions Markus Kaufmann and Jochen Käß (27:33.02,0), who won three times. The last and only stage for men was secured by last year's winners, the Austrian Alban Lakata and the German Robert Mennen. In the women's category, after eight successes in a row, the British-Norwegian duo Sally Bigham/Borghild Loevset (33:40.51,7) took gold.

With Brixen and St. Vigil, two of the eight stage locations this year were in South Tyrol. The approximately 1000 participants from 35 nations, including 27 South Tyroleans, had to cover 675,98 kilometers and 20.242 meters of altitude in eight days from Mittenwald to Riva del Garda. The teams consisted of teams of two. The competition started and was judged in five categories: men, women, mixed, master (80 years in total) and grand master (100 years in total). South Tyrolean participants have been successful five times since the first edition of the BIKE Transalp in 1998. The total prize money was 25.000 euros.

Results 16th Craft Bike Transalp Men 1. Markus Kaufmann/Jochen Käss (GER) 27:33.02,0 2. Alban Lakata/Robert Mennen (AUT/GER) 27:39.49,1 3. Karl Plattl/Urs Huber (GER/SUI) 27:45.40,9 4. Thomas Stoll/Konny Looser (SUI) 28:09.50,9 5. Christoph Sauser/Max Knox (SUI/RSA) 28:11.56,3

Women 1. Sally Bigham/Borghild Loevset (GB/NOR)33:40.51,7 2. Cornelia Hug/Andrea Fässler 34:36.08,0 3. Lisa Pleyer/Katrin Schwing (AUT/GER) 35:31.15,0

Master Degrees 1. Carsten Bresser/Udo Bölts (GER) 29:57.20,8 2. Hans Grasegger(Andreas Laner (GER/ITA) 30:37.49,3 3. Claudio Segata/Piergiorgio Dellagiacoma (ITA) 31:20.46,9 4. Viktor Paris/Thomas Piazza (ITA) 32:09.00,1

Grand Master 1. Walter Platzgummer/Gilberto Perini (ITA) 31:18.29,6 2. Bucher Bärti/Brown Doug (SUI/RSA) 32:57.11,8 3. Felix Weese/Georg Niggl (GER) 35:11.56,2 4. Giovanni Macaluso/Rolando Inama (ITA) 35:43.38,0

Mixed 1. Daniel Jung/Kirstin Aamodt (ITA/NOR) 33:22.52,5 2. Ronald Andraczek/Kerstin Brachtendorf (GER) 35:05.15,3 3. Mike Blewitt/Imogen Smith (AUS) 35:08.57,3

Football

Italy

International leagues

International

Hockey

Tennis

Winter sports

Learn More

Motorsport

Cycling

Watersports

Favorites

Craft Bike Transalp ends with two South Tyrolean victories

Comments (0)