Mediterranean racing experiences to kick off the season

Published 02/21/2018 · Updated 01/05/2022

Oropesa del Mar, Spain

Untermünkheim rider best German on the course, team mate scores world ranking points. Stage races are booming: At the Mediterranean Epic by Gaes in Spain, Frenchman Jordan Sarrou and Brazilian Raiza Goulao took the overall victories after four days. Riders from Untermünkheim also started the season last weekend near Valencia.

Four days, 260km and 6300hm on trails, asphalt, river crossings or pushing passages the Mediterranean Epic in Oropesa Del Mar demanded everything from the riders. Frenchman Jordan Sarrou won the first stage ahead of his team mate Victor Koretzky and controlled the action from then on. Koretzky won the second stage, at the same time as Sarrou. The duo took a 40-second lead over returnee Ondrej Cink (Primaflor-Mondraker) into the third stage of the day. The Czech rider won the final stage, 15 seconds ahead of Sarrou, but he had everything under control and won the Tour by 1:50 minutes.

Schrievers takes points

The women’s race was won by Brazilian Raiza Goulao (Primaflor-Mondraker). GTR rider Lia Schrievers finished seventh. She had ridden up to 4th place in the meantime, but on the last day she had to fight against two bad tyres. Nevertheless, the rider, who is also a member of the German national team, took 40 world ranking points into the season.

Best German rider, Sven Straehle (German Technology Racing)

He finished 40th overall, but surprisingly was still twelve seconds ahead of Olympic bronze medallist Carlos Coloma. Team mate Tim Feinauer (German Technology Racing) finished in 71st place. “It was a great event where I was able to gain important race hours for the upcoming season. To really torture ourselves for 4 days in a row gives us the final toughness we need for the races. The ranking was a little bit in the background, but I can be satisfied with my 40th position in the extremely strong starting field” Strähle said at the finish.

After 11 hours of racing in four days, it’s time to “put your feet up” and relax for a few days. Then it’s off to the training camp in Mallorca in just 3 weeks to put the finishing touches on the season.

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