The decision in the battle for the day's victory on the 100-kilometre queen stage will be made on the final 1,000-metre climb from Trasch up to the Marzonalm and the final descent. In addition to the more than 3,300 meters of altitude, the changeable weather also saps the strength of the participants. After the start in the rain in Nauders, the leading teams kept the pace high at the beginning, which meant that the field quickly spread out. The two Swiss riders Lukas Buchli and Konny Looser also felt the effects of this. Both had bad legs and had to abandon on the first big climb.

After the first 1,500 meters of climbing, at the Bruggeralm, a five-team breakaway group breaks away. They worked well together at first. However, the increasingly humid weather conditions in Val Venosta/Vinschgau made things difficult for the riders. At the foot of the last mountain, in Tarsch, the Kaufmann/Käss duo pushes the pace. Only the Austrian Alban Lakata and the Czech Kristian Hynek are able to follow the Germans. In the final downhill, Kaufmann and Käss are more committed and storm to the finish line in first place with a narrow lead, extending their overall lead to just under two minutes.

Karl Platt (GER) and Urs Huber (SUI) get back into the groove and secure third place, 1:19 minutes behind. The two winners of the opening stage thus reduced their gap to third overall Hannes Genze and Daniel Geismayr. The Buchli/Looser duo fell further back. Almost the entire race alone, the two finish the stage in sixth place. "We could hardly enjoy the wonderful trails and the fantastic views of the Vintschgau apple orchards. The stage was a real struggle," says Buchli, adding: "But Konny and I are convinced that we will be able to show our potential on one of the remaining stages."

Ranking Men

Hug and Fässler for second
With a winning time of six hours, Cornelia Hug and Andrea Fässler clinch their second stage victory. The Swiss women thus extend their lead over the Austrians, Silke Schrattenecker and Barbara Mayer, who finished second overall. They lost almost twelve minutes on the stage to the winners. Third place goes to the Swiss team of Stéphanie Gutknecht and Barbara Liardet. The pair had to abandon the second stage with hypothermia and were therefore handed the maximum penalty time. Having recovered, Gutknecht and Liardet set out to catch up, but are too far behind in the overall standings to be able to make up any ground at the front.

Ranking Women

The fourth stage from Naturns to Sarntal is less demanding in terms of numbers. On the 73-kilometre stage, the participants actually have to cover more altitude meters per kilometer than on the previous day. It starts with a few small climbs. But after the refreshment zone in Burgstall, the main ascent of around 35 kilometers, almost 1,800 meters in altitude, winds its way to the highest point of the stage at over 2,000 meters above sea level. On the subsequent descent to Sarntal, the participants are served the finest trails for dessert.

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