After four days, Tim Smeenge and Teus Ruijter take second place in the general classification of the Bike Transalp. The first stage was immediately a very tough one with temperatures around thirty degrees and more than 3000 altimeters over 65 kilometers from Lienz to Sillian. Behind the winners Herrera and Mejia from Costa Rica, the KMC duo crossed the line in second. The second stage had the same result with the ascent of the Kronplatz and finish in the Italian Bruneck.
In the third stage the Kronplatz was again climbed and Ruijter had a hard time in the early part of the short stage over 37 kilometers. Behind again the Costa Rican winners and the Austrian/Italian duo Philip Handl and Michael Wohlgemuth, the KMC duo came in third in St. Vigil.
Today with 109 kilometers the longest stage was on the program to Kaltern and it was again very warm. The top three classification was the same as yesterday and with three stages to go the overall victory seems to go to Costa Rica but the battle for second and third place is still going to be tense.
photo: Markus Greber