Vertical Adventure Team

One marathon in Italy for today, keep on running!
A very, very hard day!
Stage 7:
ANTHOLZ-MITTERTAL - NIEDERDORF IM PUSTERTAL

Vertical gain: 2788 m ascent, 2870 m decent.
Horizontal distance: 42,195 km.
Avg. time needed:

approx. 7 hours
Timelimits: V1 (Ochsenfelder Alm) 1193Hm, 0,79Km = 3,5 h, V2 (Überquerung Str. Gsiestal) 1200Hm, 18,17Km = 4,5 h, V3 (Gasthof Kurterhof) 2580Hm, 33,02Km = 7,5 h (7 km/hour horizontal, 500 Hm/hour vertikal).

Start: 7:00 am

Preview 7th stage: Antholz (ITA) to Niederdorf in Val Pustera (ITA)After a rather casual day today (at least as far as the race statistics go) the penultimate stage tomorrow will require full effort from all participants once again. Two serious ascents grace the stage profile adding up 2,788 meters over the true marathon distance of 42,195 kilometers. Unstable weather conditions forecast for tomorrow may thwart the itinerary yet but racers may not mind an abbreviated program one bit. After all, fatigue is an almost universal symptom at that point in the race and a less demanding stage would afford much-needed regeneration for the crown jewel of stages into Sesto, Italy, on the last day of the 2008 GORE-TEX® Transalpine-Run.

German duo Thomas Miksch and Christian Stork still ahead of the strong posse in the Masters Category‚Team Blt Laufsportsaukel-Haglöfs Masters’ made it to Antholz in the formidable time of 03:17:14 hours, which earned them yet another stage victory. However, it ended up being a very close call since local heroes Hans und Martin Nocker of ‘Team Antholz/Wioleboch’ gave just about everything for a literal ‘home run’ (03:07:34 hours). Asked about the team’s ambitions for today’s home showing, Hans Nocker made an emotional statement: ‘It’s such a great feeling to pass so many local fans on the last stretch to the finish line. Our big goal, however, bigger than winning a podium position on this stage to our hometown, is to arrive in Sesto as finishers’. The top podium position seems within reach for the German duo Thomas Miksch and Christian Stork at this point. Ever since the dominant ‘Team Niederdorf’ around Eugen Innerkofler and Manfred Wurzer had to withdraw several days ago on account of an injury, the Germans have been in the position to increase their lead over all other competitors day by day. Thomas Miksch shared some optimistic thoughts:’Christian ran a fabulous stage today and he is getting better by the day. You can never be sure, but we certainly didn’t show any weakness today’. Their 45-minute lead over the competition may not have grown by much on the 6th stage but - barring an injury or drab performance by one of the two over the next two stages - is a virtual guarantee for first place in their category. New on today’s stage podium was ‘Team Kleinwalsertal-Salomon’ who ended up running to third place in a time of 03:13:09 hours, a landmark performance for them which also advanced them significantly in the overall ranking.
Team Canada’s stage victory solidifies their lead in the Women’s categoryIt seems like daily routine among the top Women’s teams by now. On climbs, the Italian ‘Team Alpin Lauf Sexten’ and Team Canada play tit for tat and constantly switch off on the lead. As soon as it comes to the descent though, Canadians Nicki Haugan and Tracy Garneau just take off. It happened again today to the frustration of Elisabeth Egarter and Martina Pfeifhofer who were sobered: ’We were ahead of them most of the time on the way up to the Rieserfernerhütte. However, on the way down from the pass they quickly caught and passed us – I just don’t know what their legs are made off’. In the end, the Canadians arrived in Antholz after 03:46:28 hours, roughly a minute and a half ahead of the Italian ‘Team Alpin Lauf Sexten’ (03:47:54 hours). The third Women’s team on today’s podium posed no immediate threat to the first- and second-placing teams. ‘Team Running – Das Laufmagazin’ took 04:23:41 hours to pass across the Rieserfernerscharte into Antholz.
Unexpected change of lead in the Mixed category. Today’s stage offered up a complete change in the ranking of the top Mixed teams. The previously first- and second-ranking teams had to withdraw from the race on account of injuries and the slate has been cleaned for a number of strong, advancing teams. After yesterday’s stage, ‘Team Naturpark Lechtal’ had already quit on account of a knee injury, which Magdalena Schiffer had incurred. Today, ‘Team Salomon’ had to give up due to Stephan Tassani-Prell suffering from an aggravated muscular injury and related exhaustion. Several Mixed teams will now try to establish a new ‘pecking order’ in the Mixed category of the 2008 GORE-TEX® Transalpine- Run. It’ll be exciting to see which team will close the breach at the helm of the category. Team Hotel Lindenhof-Adidas Naturns certainly tried, making a dash for stage victory today in the time of 03:37:52 hours. ‘Team Cti’ (03:44:12 hours), a rookie on the podium, claimed second place whereas podium regular ‘Team Sport Paul Ultrasports’ was relegated to third position after spending 03:44:29 hours on the trail today. It’ll be exciting to witness which team will deal best with the pressure up front during the remaining two stages.

Photos:

04.09.2008
Keep on running in Italy today!

Stage 6: SAND IN TAUFERS (I) - ANTHOLZ-MITTERTAL (I)
Vertical gain: 1983 m ascent, 1612 m decent.
Horizontal distance: 24,83 km

Avg. time needed: approx. 4,5 hours (assuming a speed of 10 km/h horizontal and a vertical gain of 600 m/h)
Timelimits: V1 (Brücke Reinbach) 690Hm, 9,24Km = 2,5 h, V2 (Rieserfernerhütte) 1905Hm, 17,23Km = 5,5 h (7 km/hour horizontal, 500 Hm/hour vertikal).

Start: 8:00 am
Keep on running!
Results after Stage 5

Preview Stage 6
There’s no other way to say it - tomorrow’s warm-up will be brief and that’s putting it nicely. Shortly after the start, the trails begin to climb and won’t let up much in gradient before the racers scale the highest elevation (2,792 meters asl) on the 2008 GORE-TEX® Transalpine-Run. From there it’ll be all downhill – relentlessly steep until the finish line in Antholz, a quaint resort community well known inernationally for its biathlon competitions.

Vertical Adventure Team

Transalpine-run On Line Results

Stage 8 / 11 Sept.- NIEDERDORF IM PUSTERTAL (I) - SEXTEN (I)

Stage 7 - 10.09.2008, a marathon in Italy!

Stage 6 SAND IN TAUFERS (I) - ANTHOLZ-MITTERTAL (I)

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