Tour Transalp: Seledkov and Wielinga storm to victory on the day

After a long solo ride, Ivan Seledkov (RUS) and Remmert Wielinga (NED) were rewarded for their fighting performance with the day's victory (3:52.19,8), while Daniel Pechtl (AUT) and Thomas Gschnitzer (South Tyrol) came fifth (3:56.55,5 .XNUMX) benefited from the collapse of the championship leaders Michael Spögler (South Tyrol) and Michael Markolf (GER) and took over the yellow jerseys.

Right at the start of the race, it was a restless day at the front of the field after Wielinga attacked on the climb to the Furkel Pass immediately after leaving St. Vigil and was able to quickly pull away.

The former Rabobank professional, who won the Dutch time trial championships in 1999 and 2000, followed the same tactics as on Sunday. However, after a successful attack on the first descent, the 40-year-old slipped on gravel and fell. However, things worked better on Monday.

“I then expected my teammate to catch up with me as the race progressed. “I was surprised that he managed to do that after the Misurina saddle and before the ascent to Passo Sant' Antonio,” said Wielinga, who has only been supporting his much younger Russian teammate from Serpantin-Panavto as a coach for a few months .

Together, the duo managed to keep the pace up until the timing at the summit of Passo Sant' Antonio and the subsequent Kreuzberg Pass. In the meantime, the Russian-Dutch pairing was in the lead by more than 6:30 minutes, but then lost time again after a driving error shortly before the finish.

In the end, however, the satisfaction of having made up a lot of ground in the lead of the field in around five minutes was outweighed. “We had strong legs. Our goal is still the title, even though I haven't known my teammate for that long," said Wielinga, who is now in fourth place with Seledkov, 5.26 minutes behind, in the ranking, which is led by Daniel Pechtl and Thomas Gschnitzer (6: 51.39,4).

Last year's runners-up in the men's ranking from the Plasmatreat-Storck Bicycle 1 team came today in an eight-man pursuit group behind the Germans Marco König and Lukas Baum from the Easton Cycling Team (3:56.54,5), the defending champions from Belgium Frederic Glorieux and Bob Michels from Tauris- Grinta! (3:56.55,2) and the German Florian Vrecko and Nils Kessler from Team Strassacker / Garmin (3:56.55,4) crossed the finish line in fifth place.

The four teams had only come together to catch up in the last of the four climbs, after each individual starter had previously had more or less to do with themselves in a disorganized race.

“With overall leadership, a goal would be achieved. “It’s the first time we’ve received the yellow jerseys – and it’s only our second time taking part,” said Pechtl happily after crossing the finish line. However, the Tyrolean and his colleague from South Tyrol are only 0,7 seconds ahead of last year's winners from Belgium.

And even though yesterday's successful pairing, Team corratec 1, experienced a pitch-black day today, Michael Markolf (GER) and Michael Spögler (South Tyrol) cannot be written off for a long time. “I felt really good until Passo Sant' Antonio, and then suddenly nothing worked anymore. I managed to make it to the finish, but we lost a lot of time. But the Transalp is still long,” says the tall South Tyrolean Spögler combatively.

Kiesenhofer is extremely strong While the previous men's ranking leaders suffered a bitter defeat, things went according to plan for the leading duos in the other ranking categories. The Austrian mixed pairing of Anna Kiesenhofer and Günther Flatscher particularly impressed, finishing twelfth overall in the second stage (4:09.41,3).

For her outstanding performance, the female protagonist from Team Bikeexpress, as the strongest woman in the field, received one or two praises from the male competition in Sillian. A praise that the 27-year-old wanted to pass on straight away: “I'm not traveling alone, but with my colleague Günther. Not only do I tread the mud, but he also helps me a lot. He rides in front a lot or catapults me up the climb every now and then. This puts us in stronger groups, and that’s crucial.”

However, the former triathlete, who has only been concentrating on racing bikes since 2016 and is taking part in the TOUR Transalp for the first time, is expecting a lot more: “We weren't at the limit today. I'm more of an endurance athlete and felt better today than yesterday. If nothing comes up, you can be confident that the diesel engine will continue to run.”

The same applies to the other categories, in which the best teams from the previous day also excelled today. In the Masters category, the Canadians Jamie Armstrong and Geoff Dyke from TNA-Method once again prevailed (4:11.26,5), together with the victorious Grand Masters from Austria, Günter Baringer and Axel Strauss from Roadbiker.at & Bike city (4:11.24,4), reached the finish.

The Dutch Linda Stuurman and Carla Mellema from the Dutch Express once again dominated the women's ranking (4:48.30,1).

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Tour Transalp: Seledkov and Wielinga storm to victory on the day

The second stage of the TOUR Transalp 2018, which took place on Monday in the best cycling weather from St. Vigil over 131,72 km and 2.697 meters in altitude, around the famous Three Peaks and to Sillian, offered pure drama on the route and in the overall ranking.

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