European Winter Triathlon
Sunday, January 14.
Oberstaufen, Germany
5k run, 15k mountain bike, 8k cc ski

Oberstaufen, Germany: located in Allgaeu, in the south of Germany, welcomed
the winter triathlon elite with wonderful winter weather, cold and windy,
but hot with regard to the competition! The enthusiastic spectators along
the run/bike/cross-country skiing legs made it easier for the athletes to
cope with the 5km run/15km MTB/8km cross country skiing event.

The women's race started with a strong performance of Marianne Braun/GER,
better known as very strong summer triathlete (6th at the Junior World
Championships), who could clock the fastest running split, closely followed
by Sigrid Lang and Heidi Jesberger, both from Germany. Marianne
Vlasveld/NED, ETU Cup winner 2000 and Gabi Pauli/GER followed 1 minute down.
The mountain bike leg brought Lang into the lead, Vlasveld and Pauli entered
the second transition head to head. Lang's lead grew another minute on the
difficult cross country skiing leg, and she took the first European Winter
Triathlon Cup race, as well as the German Winter Triathlon crown. Vlasveld
demonstrated, that she recovers from an injury (foot) and is getting in
shape for the big races to come. Gabi Pauli could take bronze, and silver in
the German Championships. Reigning Winter Triathlon World Champion Karin
Moebes/SUI demonstrated her strength especially on the bike, and could score
place 4.

A lot of drama in the men's race ! The honours for the fastest running split
went to Maik Petzhold/GER, who, like the whole A, B and C German National
Team took part in a training camp in Oberstaufen. The training stage was
topped off with the participation in the ETU Winter Triathlon Cup and German
Championships. The orders were clear:  a fast run and a strong bike part
have to be done. The last leg would be the cream topping. Zibi Slufcik/GER,
who was just a 10 seconds down Petzold after the run, took the lead in the
MTB section and pushed hard to get away from the field. Paolo Riva/ITA and
Martin Lang/GER, both not the fastest runners but excellent on the bike and
the skis stormed right after Slufcik into the second transition. High drama
on the last leg, where Lang could overtake Riva and Slufcik to take gold,
and leave silver to Riva and bronze to Slufcik. With this top class
performance, Lang also secured the German Championships title.

Next station in the European Winter Triathlon Cup is Freudenstadt/GER,
January 21.

Cup ranking after the first race in Oberstaufen/GER
1 Lang Martin GER 100
2 Riva Paolo ITA 90
3 Slufcik Zibi GER 80
4 Holzner Mathias GER 75
5 Sonntag Benjamin GER 70
6 Schuwey Iwan SUI 65
7 Ernst Walter GER 60
8 Apiluello Juan ESP 55
9 Schrenk Thomas GER 50
10 Trebing Immo GER 45

1 Lang Sigrid GER 100
2 Vlasveld Marianne NED 90
3 Pauli Gabi GER 80
4 Moebes Karin SUI 75
5 Siman Iva GER 70
6 Huy Angela GER 65
7 Braun Marianne GER 60
8 Renn Susanne GER 55
9 Bejstova Jindriska CZE 50
10 Schubert Jutta GER 45