Two national championships for Multivan Merida

In the Netherlands, Rudi van Houts lived up to his reputation as a favourite and superiorly won the race in Zoetermeer. In Germany, the Multivan Merida Biking team even scored a double. With a first-class ride Moritz Milatz went for an undisputed win. «I felt super and winning the championship is another highlight of my career. It comes as kind of a consolation after a first half of the season where things did not go that well after my crash», the Freiburg resident commented on his victory after the race. In his wake, Jochen Käß rode to an outstanding second place. After having some problems with his front wheel in the first lap, Käß started an impressive chase that left him finishing 2.17 minutes behind Milatz.

In Spain José Hermida who had started as the clear favourite dropped out of the race after half of the distance as he had a bad day. «I have only dropped out of very few races in my career, normally I consider myself a fighter. But in this race it’s all about the victory», Hermida commented at the finish. In order not to risk his form for the next Worldcup races, he decided to quit the race early.

Ralph Näf decided not to start at the national championships as he is currently training at altitude, focussing on both the marathon and the crosscountry world championships.

Andreas Kugler and Hannes Genze are both currently competing at the «Bike-Transalp» stage race. After finishing in second in today’s second stage, the two have moved up to the third position in the overall standings. Only two minutes down on the leading duo of Thomas Stoll and Lukas Buchli, their chances for the overall win are still alive. Consisting of seven stages, the «Bike-Transalp» ends in Riva del Garda next Saturday.

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