Dolomiti Superbike: favorites wins on the marathon route

Although (or precisely because) there are two major events on the schedule: the Olympics and the World Cup, this year's 22nd edition of the South Tyrol Dolomiti Superbike was better attended than ever before. Almost the entire world elite took part in today's mountain bike marathon race through the five Hochpuster communities of Niederdorf, Braies, Toblach, San Candido and Sesto. The podiums for both men and women are correspondingly prominent and top-class. For the men, it is the newly crowned world champion Tiago Ferreira from Portugal who sets the pace. “He almost scares you when he accelerates – as if he were sitting on a motorcycle,” said short-distance winner Hannes Pallhuber. Ferreira is still leading the field after around 45 kilometers at the Haunoldhütte in Innichen. However, on the climb to the Rotwand mountain station in Sexten, a preliminary decision was made: Paez increased the pace, won the third mountain classification and was able to temporarily gain a lead of around 50 seconds. In the last few kilometers, Kristian Hynek almost managed to close the hole again, but at the finish he was around 19 seconds behind. “I picked up the pace on the climb to the Rotwand mountain station and saw that the others couldn’t follow,” said a happy Paez at the finish. “In the last few kilometers I thought that I would never be able to do this again.” After the World Championships he slightly injured his knee and was therefore behind on training, but the plan still worked out. With today's victory, Paez also gave himself an early birthday present: tomorrow he will be 34 years old. Kristian Hynek, who finished third at the World Cup a few weeks ago, almost ruined the gift for him. He ended up in second place today in Niederdorf. “Paez took a lot of risks, especially on the descents. I was more careful, also because the route was slippery,” said Hynek, who came within sight of Paez in the last few kilometers. “However, there was a lot of traffic on the route, so it wasn’t enough,” said the Czech. Behind him was the Swiss Urs Huber, a three-time winner in the Dolomiti Superbike. “The others started very quickly, I drove my own race and that paid off,” said Huber. His conclusion: “This is a great area, the people are nice, I like the track – so I’m happy to have landed on the podium again.”

Women's race: Bigham puts together the four pack In the women's race, British runner-up Sally Bigham was in a class of her own. She dominated the entire race and gained an impressive lead of almost 119 minutes over the young Italian Valentina Frasisti over the 13-kilometer lap. Nevertheless, Bigham was still shaking until shortly before the finish: “It was a really hard race; “Something can still happen before you have completed the last descent,” said the 38-year-old Brit. Today was her fourth victory at the South Tyrol Dolomiti Superbike. “This was my first race outside of Great Britain eight years ago,” said Bigham, “to be able to win it four times is really special, also because it is a race that has everything: steep climbs, long climbs, descents and flat sections “. For runner-up Valentina Frasisti, 24 years old and reigning Italian champion, today was the first start in the South Tyrol Dolomiti Superbike. “It's a difficult race and I'm very happy that I was able to manage it well,” said Frasisti. She started the race relatively slowly and only picked up the pace in the second half of the race. However, she was never in contention for victory: “Sally Bigham drives at a different level,” said the young Lombard. In third place today, as at the European Championships in Sigulda (Latvia), was the Lithuanian Katazina Sosna, who appeared tired but happy at the finish: “This race demands everything from you, but the beautiful landscape makes up for all the effort.” Sosna's assessment is no coincidence: The South Tyrol Dolomiti Superbike is considered one of the toughest, but above all the most scenic, mountain bike races ever. Today's long tour led over almost 120 kilometers and almost 3900 meters in altitude right through the heart of the Dolomites World Heritage Site: from Niederdorf via the Plätzwiese, Schluderbach, Toblach and Innichen, over the Haunold and Sexten to the Rotwand and from there via Winnebach and Vierschach back to Niederdorf .

Results: Elite men, 119 km 1. Leon Hector Leonardo Paez (COL) 4:36.46,0 hours 2. Kristian Hynek (CZE) 4:37.05,0 3. Urs Huber (SUI) 4:42.04,4 4. Tiago Ferreira (POR) 4:43.05,8 5. Alban Lakata (AUT) 4:44.35,2 Elite women, 119 km 1. Sally Bigham (GBR) 5:33.25,6 hours 2. Valentina Frasisti (ITA) 5:46.06,3 3. Katazina Sosna (LTU) 5:48.46,1 4. Maria Cristina Nisi (ITA) 5:53.39,5 5. Elena Gaddoni (ITA) 5:59.10,7

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Dolomiti Superbike: favorites wins on the marathon route

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