Federspiel, last year's runner-up, had the best start in the final on the 600 meters long course right in front of famous La Rocca. The 2014 European champion and two-time world championships medalist crossed the finish line with a comfortable lead on Simon Gegenheimer and Henrik Grobert. In the women's competition, 2013 German champion Veronika Bruechle, celebrated a wire-to-wire win in the Riva del Garda drizzle relegating Kerstin Koegler and Chiara Eberle to the second and third rank, respectively.
Danny McAskill in da house
Kristian Hynek of Czech Republic has claimed victory on the longest course of the Rocky Mountain BIKE Marathon called Ronda Extrema. The 2012 European Champion mastered the 90.43 km and 3,838 meters of climbing in 4:23.08,2 hours and therefore relegated his Austrian teammate Alban Lakata with an advantage of just a few seconds to the second rank.
“It was my goal," said Hynek. "Two years ago I lost due to a puncture in the last downhill and last year I got lost at the same spot. So I thought it was enough of bad luck. It's nice that it worked out this time.”
In the women's event, Swiss racer Michèle Wittlin (Stöckli Race Team, 6:15.37,8) came out victorious of a tough battle with Russian Guzel Akhmadullina. The fastest female racer in the field, however, was Katrin Schwing of Germany, who crossed the finish line after 5:55.5,1 hours and therefore claimed victory in the women masters category (40+).
pumptrack, one of the side events in action
Facing foggy weather conditions and a slippery course, a faultless ride on stage four was key to success for Beerten who therefore was able to head Richter, the so far leading rival and winner of the opening stop of the series, off.
“The fog didn't really bother me, and I really liked the course. I got into a good flow quickly. That was important to be able to win today,” said defending SSES title holder Beerten.
Lau in contrary dominated the competition at whim securing the best time on all four stages whilst not being disturbed at all by a slow puncture which he got right after entering the final stage.
“I constantly lost air and therefore tried to ride as clean as I could. But in the end, I finished the stage on the rim. As a result, I was totally surprised that I took home the win. I'm super happy,” said the Frenchman
Many reasons to look forward to 2016 when the three-day event at Riva del Garda will take place from April 29th thru May 1st attracting more than 150 exhibitors again to present their innovations at the traditional opening of the European mountain bike season.
“The last weekend indicated once again how important the festival for all mountain bike brands is. Compared to the last years, the event was able to significantly improve again. A record crowd and record number of participants also underline that the Ziener BIKE Festival Garda Trentino powered by MINI is part of the inner circle of Europe's top mountain bike events,” says Mathias Ley, CEO of the Hamburg based organising event company Ley Events GmbH.
Photos: © Henning Angerer
Source: http://www.riva.bike-festival.de
