"I am really happy", said Alexander Meenhorst at
the finish line. "We were present in all groups and worked together
fantastically. In the end I had the opportunity to attack once more
and thereby could win the well-deserved victory for Team NetApp",
the New Zealander continued.
The sports director Jens Heppner
was also extremely satisfied with Team NetApp. "We did not win by
coincidence - at this circuit you need to be in very good shape",
Heppner underlines the good performance of his team at this
difficult section of the stage race.
Team manager Ralf Denk is very
proud of his Kiwi. "I am really happy for Alex. He had some
injury-related problems recently and really earned this victory. I
congratulate him and the whole team to this extraordinary
performance."
The stage had started with two
steep climbs after which the peloton got splitted up into two
groups, the leading group with at first 29 riders. The number of
the riders in the break away decreased on the circuit in
Bischoffsheim. In the finale the pros of Team NetApp attacked
constantly - at first Jan Barta, later Andreas Dietziker, finally
Alexander Meenhorst succeeded with his second attempt and got his
first victory in the jersey of Team NetApp. Andreas Dietziker
finished fifth in the chasing group behind the Thuringian John
Degenkolb and Michel Koch from the German National Team.
Tour
Alsace: Team NetApp finishes within the peloton
The Team NetApp at the Tour Alsace:
Jan Barta (CZE), Andreas Dietziker (SUI), Huub Duyn
(NED), Tassilo Fricke (GER), Alexander Gottfried (KAZ), Alexander
Meenhorst (NZL)
Sports director:
Jens Heppner
The stages:
27th July, prologue: Sausheim - Sausheim 4.2 km
(ttt)
28th July 1st stage: Colmar - Cernay 156.4 km
29th July, 2nd stage: Strasbourg - Bischhoffsheim 153.8 km
30th July, 3rd stage: Illzach - Huningue 178.9 km
31st July, 4th stage: Bioscope - Carspach 147 km
1st August, 5th stage: Ribeauville - Ballon D'Alsace 146.3 km
Website of the event:
http://www.touralsace.fr/