30.06.2006 News report from Multivan Merida Biking Team:

European Championships: Ralph Näf wins three medals, Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjaa becomes second

At the Cross Country European Championships, Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjaa became runner-up behind Spaniard Marga Fulla. Dahle was suffering the days before the race from diarrhea and she spent more time on the toilet than on the bike. «Under this circumstances I am really happy with the silver medal», the Norwegian analyzed her race at the finish. She had no power at all even she told herself that you win a race with the legs an not with the stomach.

During the race, it was impossible for Dahle to keep Fullanas wheel but she managed to secure her second place with a gap of one minute to Sabine Spitz. Nina Göhl reached a satisfiing eleventh place even she is actually in hard test period with her studies of medicine.

In the mens race, Ralph Näf did a tactically great race behind Julien Absalon und Christoph Sauser. He already won gold at the European Championships in marathon and in the team-relay and suffered today from tired legs. But now he knows: He ist exactly on the right way for the world championships. «Three medals at the European Championships during seven days, what do you want more?» asked Ralph at the finish.

José Hermida and Moritz Milatz, they had both a bad day and finished the race early. Milatz did not recover yet from the Sachsen-Tour (road stage race) while Hermida just had no power. «I felt like a candle which is burning down much to fast», explained José his race. «But now I know what I have to do before the world championships».

Different place: At the «Trans-Schwarzwald» (mountainbike stage race), Jürgen Kotulla and Benny Joerges became second overall. After 16 hours racetime they missed the victory only by four minutes behind Hannes Genze and Andreas Dilger (Team Alb-Gold).

Results European Championships, Men:
1. Julien Absalon, France, 2:01.45
2. Christoph Sauser, Switzerland, 2:02.13
3. Ralph Näf, Switzerland, 2:02.21
4. Fredrik Kessiakoff, Sweden, 2:03.01
5. Florian Vogel, Switzerland, 2:04.13
DNF: Moritz Milatz, José Hermida

Results European Championships, Women:
1. Marga Fullana, Spain, 1:41.37
2. Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjaa, Norway, 1:43.08
3. Sabine Spitz, Germany, 1:44.07
4. Petra Henzi, Switzerland, 1:46.48
5. Anna Szafraniec, Poland, 1:47.17

Results European Championships, Team-Relay:
1. Schweiz (Schurter, Fanger, Henzi, Näf) 1:05:09
2. Frankreich (Vuillermoz, Tempier, Hansen, Ravanel) 1:05:43
3. Schweden (Lindgren, Wengelin, Ostergren, Kessiakoff) 1:06:15
4. Spanien (Ruzafa, Lozano, Fullana, Hermida) 1:06:42

Results Trans-Schwarzwald:
1. Team ALB-GOLD, 15:56:42
2. Multivan Merida Biking Team, 16:01:03
3. TEAM VAUDE Dämpfle/Mathis 2, 17:05:03