The third race of the European Enduro Series will take place in Kirchberg at the same time as the Enduro World Series in Winterpark. Nonetheless, the "stay-at-home" riders will provide plenty of excitement on the six downhill stages, which together add up to over 2,500 meters of altitude. While the riders reach the first two stages under their own steam, the last four stages use various mountain lifts to help them reach the attractive descents.

With three stage wins, Stonig prevails over Döhl by just under 15 seconds. Marco Arnold fought valiantly to finish third. Like his direct rivals Hayden Lee from New Zealand and Britain's Robert Williams, Arnold rides similarly consistent times. The second-best time on stage three was ultimately decisive for his success. "For once, everything worked out for me and I didn't crash either. It was a really good weekend. It's just a shame that my team colleague Mirco Widmer just missed out on the top five," says Arnold. As a result, the former Swiss cross-country specialist climbs to fifth place in the overall standings.

In fact, Mirco Widmer is only five seconds behind Arnold and less than a second behind fifth-placed Williams. After his victory in the prologue, he falls back on the first downhill stage, but fights his way back to sixth place with good and also consistent times. After three of six races, Widmer is in tenth place overall.

Rookie as the dominator
In the women's race, it is not an experienced enduro racer who sets the best times, but 17-year-old Raphaela Richter from Germany. From the prologue to the final stage, Richter leads her rivals and ultimately wins by a good minute ahead of Birgit Braumann (AUT). Third place went to former German cyclo-cross specialist Alexa Hüni.

The next race of the European Enduro Series will take place on August 23 and 24, 2014 on the Reschen Pass in Austria.

www.enduroseries.eu

Results 3rd round European Enduro Series Kronplatz/ITA
Pro Men
1.	Matthias Stonig (AUT)	MS-Mondraker	0:31.23,77
2.	Ludwig Döhl (GER)	CubeActionTeam	+0:00.14,87
3.	Marco Arnold (SUI)	Giant Swiss Team	+0:00.30,84
4.	Hayden Lee (NZL)	Giant - Fox Gravity NZ	+0:00.31,83
5.	Robert Williams (GBR)	UK WTB Enduro Team	+0:00.34,74
6.	Mirco Widmer (SUI)	Giant Swiss Team	+0:00.35,34
7.	Tobias Reiser (GER)	Focus Trail Team	+0:00.36,65
8.	Premek Tejchman (CZE)	Commencal FDF	+0:00.40,84
9.	James Shirley (GBR)	Radon Factory Enduro Team	+0:00.42,84
10.	Nicola Casadei (ITA)	gravitygames - Lapierre	+0:00.58,32
15.	Stefan Peter (SUI)	WHEELER - iXS Team	+0:01.31,24
17.	Mike Schuler (SUI)	Giant Swiss Team	+0:02.00,65
20.	Raphael Heule (SUI)	Radsport Frei	+0:02.29,07
23.	Ismaël Muller (SUI)		+0:02.32,47
Pro Women
1.	Raphaela Richter (GER)	Radon Factory Enduro Team	0:36.12,16
2.	Birgit Braumann (AUT)	Trek Gravity Girls	+0:01.00,82
3.	Alexa Hüni (GER)	Team Centurion Vaude	+0:03.45,57
4.	Sandra Börner (GER)	Fahrwerk Fahrnau / SG	+0:04.16,48
5.	Stephanie Teltscher (GER)	Carver Trailfoundation	+0:04.44,15