The 'Apprentice' graduates at 4 Trails
Philipp Reiter takes the 4 Trails
Known affectionately as the ‘Sorcerer’s Apprentice’, Germany’s Philipp Reiter took the biggest win of his young career yesterday as he won the Salomon 4 Trails, ahead of quality international competition…
Reiter (GER), who is only 20 years old, claimed the overall victory after four stages with a total of 152.1 kilometers and a total vertical gain of 9376 metres. Second in the overall ranking was Thomas Lorblanchet (FRA), followed by Francois d’Haene (FRA) in third place.
The three Team Salomon members dominated the whole race and left no doubt about their dominance. After finishing second overall in 2011, Reiter showed his class this year and was the most consistent performer over the four days.
Men's top 3
During the final stage of 44.5 kilometers and 2844 meters of total vertical gain, Reiter was able to defend his lead of four minutes successfully taking the overall victory in 16:05:37 for the four stages from Garmisch Partenkichen to Swiss Samnaun.
Speaking about his win Reiter said:
“Amazing, I can’t believe what just happened. It helped me a lot to run with Francois and Thomas, we are a great team and supported each other. I would not have been able to run as fast as I did without their support.”
France’s Lorblanchet won two stages during the event but lost too much time on the first stage of the race. The former trail running world champion finished in a time of 16:09:30. Francois d’Haene managed to win the first and the last stage but got lost during stage two, losing him more than twenty minutes, and simply left him too much time to recover, finally finishing in 16:17:54.
During the first part of the race the Spanish runner Jose Francisco Gutierrez of Team Avientu Tierra Tragame was a real contender for the podium, but he was unable to maintain his strong pace due to injuries, finishing fourth overall.
Regine Schlump
Women’s winner Regine Schlump unintentionally ensured excitement during the final stage. Suffering from severe knee pain the German’s substantial lead of 21 minutes going into today’s stage was eaten away at by the super-strong Helen Bonsor.
The Scot ran a great last stage to claim victory on the day, however she was to fall just short of the overall victory finishing the four days with a time of 20:50:38 compared to Schlump’s 20:47:10. Kim Threadgall also ran a strong race to claim to third podium spot in 22:01:50.
Final overall – men
1 Philipp Reiter, GER, Team Salomon Deutschland, 16:05:37
2 Thomas Lorblanchet, Frankreich, Team Salomon, 16:09:30
3 Francois d’Haene, Team Salomon, 16:17:54
Final overall – women
1 Regine Schlump, GER, Team Salomon, 20:47:10
2 Helen Bonsor, SCO, 20:50:38
3 Kim Threadgall, UK, 22:01:50
Full 4 Trails results now online here with some great images via the Salomon Running #fb page here
The category winners
