Ötztaler Radmarathon: Negrini back on top!

Soelden - Bologna-based Italian Emmanuele Negrini came back from a number of shocking defeats this season to claim his second Oetztaler Radmarathon in a row. Negrini had to outsprint fellow-Italian Antonio Corradini and the surprising Dutch veteran Bert Dekker in the town of Sölden in a dramatic conclusion to the 238km race. The clock stopped at 7:03:37.

The event was held in the best weather conditions in years, resulting in overall faster times. The podium place of Bert Dekker was unexpected. The former three-time winner of La Marmotte did not make the top 10 on Alpe d'Huez this year and seemed to be on his return at the age of 37. Interestingly, the winner of La Marmotte this season, Andrea Ciavatti only managed 21st in 7:32.

T-Mobile Cycling Tour: RegioTour - Elin crashes out of contention

After a long hard summer, Elin had battled her way back to the top 3 of the T-Mobile Cycling Tour ranking... only to lose it all again in one race, the shortest race on the calendar. The 52km long race was full of incidents - an unfortunate characteristic of this season's T-Mobile events - and Elin was one of many to crash down hard. After the Texaspass Elin had found herself in second position (Annika was in a first group) when the rider in front of her made an unexpected move aside. Elin hit the rear wheel and went down, taking several other riders with her. She escaped with bruises herself, but her Cervelo suffered the most. Fork broken, handlebar bent and what have you: game over. The disappointment was huge. No points for Elin, Judith Cramer and Katharina Reitmaier are now much more comfortable in their podium slots in the Tour. Elin will now focus on the individual events and snatch a victory or two still this season.

The men's race saw a dominant performance by Nino Ackermann, who went solo on one of the climbs and reached the finish with a 1'40" advantage over Alex Bauer and the rest. Strong stuff. Markus Hagedorn also went down half-way the race and came in 74th.

There's a break in the schedule now, with the first event taking place in Nürnberg on 16 September.

T-Mobile Cycling Tour - Hamburg & Hannover

HAMBURG - Elin Amundsen is very likely to have regained her second spot in the T-Mobile ranking after last weekend's races in Hannover and Hamburg. On EDEKA Race Day Elin rebounded immediately from Friday's disappointment in Fürth, to snatch fourth place behind Annika Grüber (second) but way ahead of Katharina Reitmaier (9th) and Judith Cramer (3rd on 70km distance). The win went to a new name Gundula Henning, who managed and avs of nearly 42 km/h over the 100km distance. Martina Höllige from Team Strassacker is clearly a mountain and time trial specialist as she had to settle for sixth.

In Hamburg Elin managed sixth place but ahead of all the usual suspects including Annika (ninth). The first five places went to stars of the day. Interestingly, Elin showed the best recuperative powers over this intensive weekend as she even beat the #3 of the race in Hannover! She completed the 155km in 3:53:26 (avs 39.55 km/h). For once she was 3 minutes ahead of Annika Grüber who came in ninth. Reitmaier was 12th, Cramer 13th.

In the men's events Morten Hansen proved oncemore that Hamburg is his event. This season he finished 289th in 3:49 (avs 40.21 km/h), his best ever! In Hannover he was 107th in the 70km race. Markus Hagedorn was 96th in that race. In Hannover he finished in top 20 according to his own timing but official results are still not online due to a hick-up by Mika Timing. Markus Hagedorn also finished in top 20 on the medium distance.

T-Mobile Cycling Tour - Elin no chance without time trial machine

FUERTH - The 33km long GIANT individual time trial saw the men's winner Marcel Barth finishing with an average speed of46.83 km/h. Awesome performance. The traditional stars of the Tour turned out to be not the greatest time trialists so we may see some changes in the ranking. Alex Bauer was 30th and Nino Ackermann still stood his ground in 40th place, nearly five minutes down. Michael Rademacher was 46th. The Strassacker boys were cleary beaten too. Marc Leischner was fifth, Günter Höllige was 19th, Nico Wernicke 26th.

Markus Hagedorn managed 54th place with an avs of 41.37 km/h, 5'35" behind Barth. He was marginally quicker than Gary Weir (57th).

The women's race brought another win for Annika Grüber ahead of Martina Höllige. The Agapedia ace scored a time of 48'56" (40.57km/h). Without a time trial bike, Elin Amundsen was defenceless and had to be satisfied with 19th place, over six minutes down on Grüber. Unfortunately, Elin's two main rivals for the podium in the overall ranking finished ahead of her today. Judith Cramer was 10th and Katharina Reitmaier 17th. Let's see whether Elin can take revenge tomorrow and Sunday in Hannover and Hamburg!

Sunday 19 August: RTF Henninger Odenwald

FRANKFURT - This Sunday RV Henninger 1895 Sossenheim organises its annual RTF Henninger Odenwald with start and finish at the Henninger brewery on the Darmstädter Landstrasse in Sachsenhausen.

A great and recommended 117km tour goes to the Odenwald, where a few hills need to be climbed. A nice ride for those who don't race in Hamburg.

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T-Mobile Cycling Tour - Big weekend coming up

A big weekend is coming up in the T-Mobile Cycling Tour with no fewer than three events after one another. On Friday, the Deutschland Tour continues with the Giant time trial in Fürth over 32.8 km. Saturday is EDEKA Race Day in Hannover, a more or less flat race over 100km and Sunday is of course the Vatenfall Cyclassics in Hamburg, the most popular German cyclo event of the year.

Elin Amundsen will be riding all three of them in her ongoing attempt to regain second place in the overall tour ranking. After the mountain time trial in Sölden last Tuesday she is actually already back in third place, only 33 points behind Katharina Reitmaier.

Other ECB Cyclosports riders active this weekend will be Markus Hagedorn, Morten Hansen (photo) and newcomer Roswitha Hutter. Markus is the surprise of the season. A string of solid performances has put him in 74th place in the overall ranking so far, and his ambition is endless. In Fürth he is aiming high with his brand new Cervelo time trial bike, before travelling to Hannover - a course that should suit him well. Morten is doing Hannover and Hamburg, his traditional late summer goal. After a bit of a dip in his performance level during the month of June, Morten has come back strongly with a top 200 placing in Bochum two weeks ago.

T-Mobile Cycling Tour: Mountain challenge on Rettenbachferner

SOELDEN - Elin Amundsen had to settle for seventh place in the mountain time trial on the Rettenbachferner yesterday. She climbed the 13km in 1:16:18, ten minutes slower than winner Annika Grüber but considerably faster than the numbers two and three in the overall T-Mobile Tour ranking Cramer and Reithmayer. Elin is now looking forward to the flat events in Hannover and Hamburg where she has a better chance against the Agapedia lady, who admittedly is in stunning form these days. Second in Sölden was Strassacker's Martina Höllige, winner in Stuttgart this season, more than two-and-a-half minutes down on Grüber...

Slovenian Miran Cvet won the men's event with an advantage of 43 seconds over Günter Höllige.

T-Mobile Cycling Tour Update: Elin wins in Bochum!

It is summer holiday time but not for those with an interest in the points ranking of the T-Mobile Cycling Tour! Among those is Frankfurt-based Norwegian Elin Amundsen, who is still keen on a top three ending after the unfortunate Fürth debacle. Elin raced in Dresden, Nürburg and Bochum in the past few weeks. She came in second once again to Annika Grüber in the first two, but beat her rival in Bochum last week on Sunday in a sprint finish. It was Elin's first official victory of the season.

Elin will be competing today as well in the mountain time trial (13km and 1300hm) on the Rettenbachferner in Austria, which is the first stage of the jedermann Deutschland Tour. The next two events take place on Friday in Fürth (hopefully Elin will have more luck there this time!) and on Saturday in Hannover.

She warmed up for the Rettenbachferner last Saturday in Andermatt, Switzerland, where she did the 120km (3550hm) Alpen Brevet ride. Rumour has it she was second woman, but the event is officially not a race.

Two other members of the ECB Cyclosports squad were active in Bochum and Nürburg. Markus Hagedorn is continuing his amazing debut on the scene with a 51st place, preceeding seasoned powerhouse Morten Hansen who also found his legs back in 183th spot. Frankfurt-based Briton Gary Weir was 86th.
In Rad am Ring, Morten came in 77th in the 70km event won by Bad Vilbel rider Gerhard Hack.
Gary finished 80th on the 140km.