April 10, 2006 (Offenburg, Germany) – The German Mountain Bike Bundesliga Series got underway yesterday on a demanding, crowd-pleasing 5.1K course in Germany’s Black Forest. Many of the world’s top European riders, who skipped the Sea Otter Classic in California were on hand including Russia’s Irina Kalentieva (RUS, Ergon Topic), who won the women’s event, and Florian Vogel (SUI, Swisspower), who took top honours in the men’s race. Organizers expected over 15,000 fans to cheer riders on, and they were ready with beer gardens, sausages a-plenty and a live band.

Germany’s Ivonne Kraft (GER, Fuji) finished second in the women’s event, trailing Kalentieva by less than a minute. One day previously, Kraft finished third in Swisspower Cup #2 in Reinach, Switzerland. The two podium results were enough to win her the combined omnium prize of 2000 Euros. Fellow countrywoman Adelheid Morath (GER, Rothaus-CUBE) finished third in the five-lap race, which featured several steep, rooty descents. Canada’s Sandra Walter (CAN, X.O.-Felt), who is racing for Swiss team X.O.-Felt, finished 12th.

The rain that started just in time for the men’s race didn’t deter Vogel, who pulled out all the stops. He cruised through the short twisty climbs, steep descents and fast power sections of the five-kilometre lap and put over a minute on second place Lado Fumic (GER, Fumic Racing). Silvio Bundi (SUI, Athleticum) of Switzerland finished third, merely a second behind Fumic.

Results
Women (27.3K)
1. Irina Kalentieva (RUS, Ergon Topic) 1:33:49.7
2. Ivonne Kraft (GER, Fuji) 1:34:32.5
3. Adelheid Morath (GER, Rothaus-CUBE) 1:34:48.1
4. Anna Enocsson (SWE, Ghost International) 1:36:44.6
5. Petra Henzi (SUI, Fischer-BMC) 1:39:23.8
6. Maroussia Rusca (SUI, Team Bikepark.ch) 1:40:11.0
7. Esther Süss (SUI, Ghost International) 1:41:12.9
8. Hanna Klein (GER, KROSS Racing Team) 1:42:30.6
9. Laura Turpijn (NED, Binnenvaart-Merida) 1:42:56.5
10. Githa Michiels (BEL, Thompson Team) 1:43:24.0

12. Sandra Walter (CAN, X.O-Felt) 1:45:27.8

Men (36.5K)
1. Florian Vogel (SUI, Swisspower) 1:52:42.2
2. Lado Fumic (GER, Fumic Racing) 1:54:07.3
3. Silvio Bundi (SUI, Athleticum) 1:54:08.7
4. Peter Andersen Riis (DEN, Cannondale-Vredestein) 1:54:23.4
5. Kashi Leuchs (NZL, Cannondale-Vredestein) 1:55:28.6
6. Mortiz Milatz (GER, Multivan-Merida) 1:55:38.0
7. Torsten Marx (GER, Team Alb -Gold) 1:56:11.3
8. Nino Schurter (SUI, Swisspower) 1:56:12.9
9. Andreas Kugler (SUI, Athleticum) 1:57:11.0
10. Bas Peters (NED, Binnenvaart-Merida) 1:57:38.0

For full results visit www.womc.de/oxrace.htm