Bad Goisern MTB Marathon World Cup wrap-up

By Steve Medcroft

Angel Fire wasn't the only site of World Cup racing the weekend of July 10. Five thousand miles away, in Bad Goisern, Austria, 130 racers competed in the fourth round of the UCI's Marathon World Cup.

Held in the picturesque mountain country of upper Austria, German Moritz Milatz (Multivan Merida) put almost five minutes on the second place rider to earn the first-ever marathon World-Cup win for a German rider.

"I couldn't believe no-one had caught me," he said at the finish after racing the final forty kilometers solo. "Not until I crossed the finish line, did I realize I had won."

Moritz wasn't the only rider surprised by his victory. Current World-Cup leader and pre-race favorite Massimo De Bartolis (Ita.) finished fourth, seven minutes behind Milatz. The only rider to come close was Colombian marathon specialist Hector Leonardo Paez, who stayed with Milatz to the sixty-kilometer mark, after everyone else from the lead group had been dropped, then threw a chain and never saw Moritz again.

To cap off the day's racing, in a field that contained Paolo Pezza (Specialized), Swede Anna Enoccson (Ghost International) won the women's race over Sandra Klose (Rosenheim/Fuji Bikes).

Click here for the full results and Marathon World Cup standings