Christoph Sauser and Annika Langvad win 2011 UCI Marathon World Championships
Switzerland’s Christoph Sauser took his second career's 2011 UCI Marathon World Championships in Montebelluna on Sunday, June 26.
The 35-year-old Sauser took a total of 4 hours, 24 minutes and 48 seconds to cover the distance of 115.7 kilometres.
Jaroslav Kulhavy of Czech Republic was the runner-up with 3 minutes and 10 seconds behind Sauser. Mirko Celestino (Italy) finished third with a difference of 5 minutes and 42 seconds.
With 70 kilometres to go, a group of four launched the attack, which included Christoph Sauser, Julian Absalon (France), Jaroslav Kulhavy (Czech Republic) and Tim Bohme (Germany).
The two cyclists, Sauser and Jaroslav, maintained his pace and left Mirko Celestino. However, after few kilometres Jaroslav tried his best to take a lead, but he was unable to maintain his pace. Sauser took his chance and crossed the finish-line ahead of
other cyclists.
After finishing the stage, Sauser said, “The crucial moment was when we were left with 4 riders in front; I felt good all the time and I have to thank my teammates. It was an amazing feeling entering this mountain bike stadium the organizers have set up.”
The 22 cyclists including, Julien Absalon (France), Alexey Medvedev (Russian Federation) and Andreas Kugler (Switzerland) were disqualified from the race.
In the women category, Annika Langvad won the Marathon World Championships in Montebelluna. Danish cyclists took a total of 4 hours, 20 minutes and 33 seconds to cover the distance of 98.3 kilometres.
Sabine Spitz was runner-up with a difference of 1 minute and 56 seconds, while Esther Suss was in the third spot with a difference of 3 minutes and 23 seconds.
Annika said, “I just felt good and strong throughout the whole race, so that I really believed I could make this. I managed to stay calm, and the decreasing of the kilometres motivated me a lot. My decisive attack and my staying in front alone galvanized
me even more.”
Ariane Luethi was in good form and built an advantage of 3 minutes and 27 seconds, but she was caught by a group of four riders which included Spitz, Elisabeth Brandau, Suss and Langvad.
Langvad steadily maintained his pace and took the lead ahead of other cyclists.
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