Once again, the starters of this year's TOUR Transalp were greeted at the start by bright sunshine and summery temperatures. At 9.00 a.m. on the dot, the 600 or so motivated racing cyclists set off on the compressed third stage. Thanks to their 47 kilometres, the remaining time after today's short stage could be used to take a deep breath. However, lungs and legs still had to work during the race: two Alpine passes and a total of 1775 metres in altitude had to be climbed.
The route of the third stage led directly from Bormio to Livigno. On the short journey, however, the Passo Foscagno and the Passo d'Eira The road was a bit of a challenge for the riders: they had to huff and puff again and activate their leg muscles. So today was not really a day of rest. But the athletes were able to use the ample time remaining after the race day for extensive regeneration. This is also necessary for tomorrow, which will take the starters 107 kilometres and 2440 metres in altitude from Livigno to Aprica.
Taking it easy was a foreign word today, especially for the fastest runners of the day. The pace was kept extremely high right from the start. There was not a moment to catch your breath or relax your legs. "Because the stage was so short, it was full throttle right from the start," explained Nils Kessler from Team Strassacker 1/radsport-news.com, who secured victory in the men's race with his team partner Moritz Palm. "We were only able to pull away on the last wave before Livigno," continued the happy winner. In this short distance, they pulled out a lead of just under half a minute over the runners-up, Team Strassacker 2/radsport-news.com, and were thus able to secure another double victory.
Team Strassacker 2 retains overall lead
The very first rider to cross the finish line today was the individual starter Piero Lorenzini. He crossed the finish line in Livigno after 1:40.27.2 hours.
Nils Kessler and Moritz Palm from Team Strassacker 1/radsport-news.com won the men's team classification today with a time of 1:44.24.7h, followed by Team Strassacker 2/radsport-news.com consisting of Benjamin Witt and Philip Peitzmeier, who crossed the finish line after 1:44.49.0h. Third place went to Erik Franssen and Stefan Verhaaf from the Stipbike Racing Team with a time of 1:45.22.1h.
Kerstin Kaiser and Luisa Zimmermann from Team Kartoffelclub won the women's race again; they needed 2:45.40.7h for today's stage. Carmen Krebs and Karina Steffan from TSV Karlstadt Mädels were the second women's team to cross the finish line after 3:09.31.9 hours. Third place went to Gitta Fernau and Petra Marton from Team Genussschnecken.
The fastest mixed team was the Hypertech pb Castelli team. Francesco Visconti and Chiara Doni crossed the finish line after 1:53.35.8 hours. Jael Heinrich and Jonas Kahler from Team Strassacker 3-mixed secured 2nd place with a time of 2:01.24.7h. Third place went to Tina Büttner and Johannes Wagner from Team drahtesel-lützelbach.de with a time of 2:02.53.9h.
Benjamin Witt and Philip Peitzmeier from Team Strassacker 2/radsport-news.com continue to lead the overall standings for the men's teams. Kerstin Kaiser and Luisa Zimmermann from Team Kartoffelclub still hold the lead in the women's teams. Francesco Visconti and Chiara Doni from Team Hypertech pb Castelli consistently dominate the mixed classification.
About the legendary Mortirolo
The weather forecast for tomorrow is unsettled, with thunderstorms reported. Let's hope that the weather will be kind to the athletes tomorrow on the long and challenging fourth stage from Livigno to Aprica.
Further information and all results can be found at: https://tour-transalp.de
