Giro delle Dolomiti: Gschnitzer and Meyer celebrate on Ritten

After the start in the Bolzano trade fair, the participating cyclists rode at a controlled pace on Sunday morning to Rentsch to the turnoff on the Ritten. The mountain time trial began there after a few meters and ended after 11,6 kilometers and 791 meters in altitude at Weber im Moos, just before Klobenstein. After an exciting duel between the Colombian Antonio Donado and local hero Thomas Gschnitzer, the South Tyroleans celebrated at the end. The 38-year-old from Vipiteno, who won the Giro delle Dolomiti last year and in 2016, prevailed in 32.25 minutes, five seconds ahead of Donado. The podium was completed by Raphael Tiziani from Bolzano, who lost almost two minutes to Gschnitzer, while the overall winner from 2019 - Eduard Rizzi from Sarner - arrived on the high plateau in fourth place.

“It won't be an easy week for us. Today it was extremely difficult because of the heat, we are not necessarily used to these temperatures. But of course I'm happy that I was just ahead in the end," summarized Gschnitzer at the finish. His strongest competitor Antonio Donado, who took part in the renowned cycle tour in the heart of the Dolomites for the first time, was enthusiastic about the unique landscape. “I also enjoyed the panorama, although we were of course traveling quite quickly. In any case, the organization of the event is top notch, I can already say that much,” said the 37-year-old South American. The blink of an eye makes the difference The decision for the first win of the day for the women was even more exciting than for the men. Here, two former overall Giro winners, Julia Jederelhauser (Marktoberdorf/Allgäu) and Janine Meyer (Cologne), fought a thrilling head-to-head race in which Meyer retained the upper hand by the tiniest of 16 hundredths of a second. The two extremely strong cyclists had a time of 37.25 minutes - which would have put them in eighth and ninth positions among the men. Third place in the women's ranking on Sunday went to Francesca Sassani. The woman from Bolzano, who relegated the German Ursula Armbruster to fourth place, took second place in the overall ranking last year.

Julia Gedelhauser and Janine Meyer climb the mountain. © hkMedia

“It's always fun to take part in the Giro delle Dolomiti and as an athlete you always want to compete for overall victory. The great thing about this event is that you have plenty of time to chat along the way and exchange ideas with cyclists from all parts of the world. During the mountain time trials you can really put your foot down and get the most out of yourself,” said Meyer, who won the cycling tour for the last time in 2016. “It was a great fight today between me and Janine, who I didn't know personally before. “Today she was just ahead, but tomorrow (Monday, editor’s note) the cards will be reshuffled,” explained defending champion Jederelhauser.

The Giro delle Dolomiti 2022 continues with the second stage on Monday, July 25th. The section begins again in Bolzano and takes the participants via Meran to the Vinschgau. The mountain time trial from Schluderns up to Albergad is 9,6 kilometers long and has an altitude difference of 619 meters. Afterwards we go back to Bolzano. In total, the stage is 173,4 kilometers long (1619 meters in altitude) and is therefore the second longest section of this year's cycle tour. 45th Giro delle Dolomiti – results 1st stage Men 1. Thomas Gschnitzer ITA / Polisportiva AVI Bike Team Vipiteno 32.25,65 2. Antonio Donado COL 32.31,26 3. Raphael Tiziani ITA / Team Mentecorpo by Biemme 34.25,56 4. Eduard Wilhelm Rizzi ITA / athlete team 34.44,08 5. Iraitz Goñi Diaz ESP / Baxurde TE 35.33,13

Women 1. Janine Meyer GER / FC LeXXi Speedbike 37.25,03 2. Julia Jederelhauser GER / St. Vinzenz Clinic Pfronten 37.25,19 3. Francesca Sassani ITA / ASD BRÃO CAFFE' – UNTERTHURNER 43.44,48 4. Ursula Armbruster Ursula GER 43.51,80 5. Franziska Hollmig GER 47.09,04

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Giro delle Dolomiti: Gschnitzer and Meyer celebrate on Ritten

The 45th edition of the Giro delle Dolomiti began on Sunday with the first stage. On the first section, defending champion Thomas Gschnitzer (Vipiteno) and the German Janine Meyer won the first mountain time trial, which led from Bozen to the Ritten.

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