Tour de Danube, Cat 2.6

Stage 1     Stage 2     Stage 3     Stage 4     Stage 5     Preview: This race goes through Yugoslavia, Hungary and Slovakia and finished with a mountain TT in Bratislava. Tomas Nilsson, from Sweden who reports on Scandinavian racing for cyclingnews.com is the source of this data. Prologue, 2.5 kms: 1. Mikos Rnjakovic (Yug) FB Belgrad 3.03 2. Esa Rosendahl (Swe) Wirsbo/De Nardi 0.04 3. Victor Ulzen (Ger) RG Berlin 0.07 4. Johannes Gerngross (Aut) RC Union Koreuburg 0.07 5. Ondrej Slobodnik (Svk) ASK Interslovnaft 0.07 6. Magnus Ljungblad (Swe) Wirsbo/De Nardi 0.08 Stage 2, Belgrad - Subotica, 187 kms: German Victor Ulzen snatched the leaders jersey on the second stage of the Danube tour by winning the stage nine seconds ahead of a gruop with the other top contenders. 1. Victor Ulzen (Ger) RG Berlin 4.32.35 2. Ondrej Slobodnik (Svk) ASK Interslovnaft 0.09 3. Anders Juhlin (Swe) Wirsbo/De Nardi 0.09 4. Robert Glajza (Svk) ASK Interslovnaft 0.09 5. Esa Rosendahl (Swe) Wirsbo/De Nardi 0.09 Stage 3, Subotica - Budapest, 171 kms: 1. Richard Nudl (Aut) RC Union Koreuburg 4.04.0 2. Ondrej Slobodnik (Svk) ASK Interslavnaft 3. Victor Ulzen (Ger) RG Berlin 4. Johannes Gerngross (Aut) RC Union Koreuburg 5. Dalibor Grebeci (Svk) SKC ZTS Dubnica s.t. GC after Stage 3 1. Victor Ulzen (Ger) RG Berlin 8.39.35 2. Mikos Rnjakovic (Yug) FB Belgrad 0.09 3. Ondrej Slobodnik (Svk) ASK Interslavnaft 0.12 4. Esa Rosendahl (Swe) Wirsbo/De Nardi 0.14 5. Martin Praznovsky (Svk) ASK Interslovnaft 0.20 6. Anders Juhlin (Swe) Wirsbo/De Nardi 0.22 Stage 4, Budapest-Gabcikovo, 151 kms: The 151 kms flat and easy "transport" from Budapest to Gabcikovo became mmore dramatic than expected with several early attacks that the leader Victor Ulzens RG Berlin had obvious problems with. And the problems grew. Swedish champion Henrik Sparr, with a bad stomach reduced to domestique, tells the story: "After about 60 kms i got three riders with me. After a while I turned around and noticed that Anders Juhlin was in a chasing group, and he was only 22 secs behind in the GC so we waited for them. The two Swedes managed to get the group going." Anders Juhlin noted: "It was tough, we never seemed to get a good gap. It wasn't until the end that we managed to get more than half a minute, when the Berliners couldn't keep the pace in the peloton." 1. Andrej Kruzic (Svk) ASK Interslovnaft 3.48.23 2. Sasa Gajicic (Yug) Spartak Vetzavod 3. Esko Salminen (Fin) Valo-Jevel 4. Henrik Sparr (Swe) Wirsbo/De Nardi 0.03 5. Aleksandar Milenkovic (Svk) OBK Delta-Bike 0.08 7. Anders Juhlin (Swe) Wirsbo/De Nardi 0.08 GC after Stage 4 1. Anders Juhlin (Swe) Wirsbo/De Nardi 2.28.28 2. Victor Ulzen (Ger) RG Berlin 2.12 3. Ondrej Slobodnik (Svk) ASK Interslovnaft 2.21 4. Mikos Rjnakovic (Yug) FB Belgrad 2.22 5. Esa Rosendahl (Swe) Wirsbo/De Nardi 2.28 Stage 5, Bratislava, ITT climb, 3.5 kms: Smilingly Anders Juhlin of Team Wirsbo/De Nardi crossed the finishing line on the last stage of the Tour de Danube, a 3.5 kms ITT climb in Bratislava, as overall winner. The 24 year old rider from Mora (Nicklas Axelsson's home town) had won his first international stage race. Juhlin, who is more sprinter than climber, had 2.12 on German Victor Ulzen and lost only 3 seconds to him and was 30 seconds behind stage winner Boris Margetic of Yugoslavia. He told the press later: "I'm horribly happy (yes, that's how they say it in Swedish), it's the best I've done in my career. I was a bit nervous before the start, really without any reason, I could have run up the mountain and win anyway. I would also thank the whole team. They've been excellent the whole race and if I hadn't won, Esa Rosendahl probably would." Yes, he probably would. He missed the second place with one second only but was second on the stage. Italian DS Enrico Zanardo for De Nardi said: "I knew that Sparr was good but Juhlin was a positive surprise. All the Swedes are good especially as a team. Now I know what they can do and I will match them in races with tougher opposition. If they go on like this they will definitely have a future here on the continent. Wonderful for Juhlin who came to the team this spring and really made progress. He is a sprinter who never hesitates to work for the team. He has helped Sparr and Rosendahl the whole year so they gladly worked for him this time when he got the chance to win the race." Patrick Serra, Team Wirsbo manager has said that a Portuguese professional team have been asking questions about Juhlin. "I know that a pro contact is his dream, so maybe it's time for us to get our own pro team together." Patrick Serra, then a home coming professional, started the team in 1993 around Michael Andersson with himself as manager and rider in one person. Four of the best Swedish pros of today, Andersson, Axelsson, Ritsell and Ljungqvist have been racing for the team. They race in categories 4-7 and have won around twenty international races and lots of Swedish championships. This year there has been a collaboration with the team IF Länken Cykel from Finland which has made it possible to put a complete U23 team on the road at Cat 7 events. The cooperation with De Nardi raises some interesting questions about the forming of the first Swedish pro team ever for the next year. Right now the team goes to Italy fore some reloading and then to Poland for pro races next week end. 1. Boris Margetic (Yug) Spartak Vetzavod 5.22 2. Esa Rosendahl (Swe) Wirsbo/De Nardi 0.12 3. Martin Prazdnovsky (Svk) ASK Interslovnaft 0.19 4. Henrik Sparr (Swe) Wirsbo/De Nardi 0.22 5. Robert Glajza (Svk) ASK Interslovnaft 0.24 GC after Stage 5 1. Anders Juhlin (Swe) Wirsbo/De Nardi 12.34.20 2. Victor Ulzen (Ger) RG Berlin 2.09 3. Esa Rosendahl (Swe) Wirsbo/De Nardi 2.10 4. Ondrej Slobodnik (Svk) ASK Interslovnaft 2.17 5. Mikos Rnjakovic (Yug) FB Belgrad 2.22