Red Bull X-Alps 2015 day 4 round-up: Christian Maurer in the lead

The report of day 4 of the Red Bull X-Alps 2015. Christian Maurer leads, followed by Paul Guschlbauer and Sebastian Huber.
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Red Bull X-Alps 2015: Stanislav Mayer (CZE)
Kelvin Trautman / Red Bull Content Pool
Yesterday the Red Bull X-Alps was rain-soaked and windy as athletes force-marched themselves into the Italian mountains in a bid to be the first to get to Turnpoint 5.

Christian Maurer (SUI1) made it first and won the Salewa Brenta Trophy for his efforts. This trophy, awarded to the first athlete to get to Turnpoint 5, Brenta, Cima Tosa, was given to him by the guardian of the Brenta Hut, Michele Leonardi when Chrigel arrived at 12.40pm.

There was no time for celebrations however as hot on his heels were Sebastian Huber (GER3) and Paul Guschlbauer (AUT1), just 10km behind Maurer.

Maurer has never been in this position before – being chased so closely through the mountains by a pack of highly motivated elite athletes. In previous editions he has managed to outwit them in the air, but in this race his fellow athletes have matched him almost thermal for thermal.

Meanwhile, at 2pm it was announced that Guschlbauer had deployed an ace – he’d pulled out one of his two Led Lenser Night Passes.

Night Passes allow an athlete to hike through the night – and Guschlbauer has two of them. He won a second for winning the Powertraveller Prologue before the Red Bull X-Alps began.

This is a strategic move by Guschlbauer, who will use his Night Pass to march as close to Maurer as he can get. With one extra Night Pass still in the bag that can only pile the pressure further on an already under-pressure Maurer.

Meanwhile the field is now down to 31 athletes after the athlete in last place was eliminated at 06:00am this morning. That was Yvonne Dathe (GER2) who failed in her tactic to race ahead by flying, instead of choosing to take a Led Lenser Night Pass.

"I think we made a good effort," she said. "We reached our goal to have fun. I’m a little bit sad the race ended so fast for us but it’s ok." That leaves Dawn Westrum (USA2) as the only woman left in the race. Last night she hiked about 35km through the night.

"It’s been raining like crazy," she said. "I went through this rain storm, there was massive lightning. It was awesome! The rain then went around me and I could see the stars. I had my husband walking with me for a while. It worked out pretty well but my feet hurt quite a bit."

She wasn’t the only athlete hurting. Ivan Colás (ESP) called a doctor Wednesday morning after suffering intense pain in his legs. He was given some anti-inflammatories and given the all-clear. "It’s ok now," he said, "I feel fine and on my way to Lermoos."

Also hurt, but not seriously, was Dave Turner (USA4). He was attacked by a swarm of bees. "I had to run down the hill. I got bee stings all over the back of my neck, my arms, my legs!" he reported on his athlete diary. Fortunately, he recovered ok. "I’m fine," he later said.

The seventh edition of the Red Bull X-Alps remains as unpredictable as ever – and a serious and grueling adventure for everyone taking part.


RED BULL X-ALPS 2015
07/07/2015 - Red Bull X-Alps 2015, incredible action on days 1 and 2
06/07/2015 - Red Bull X-Alps 2015: the start!
24/06/2015 - Aaron Durogati full flight ahead to Red Bull X-Alps 2015
19/06/2015 - Aaron Durogati: the Road to Red Bull X-Alps 2015
11/06/2015 - Red Bull X-Alps 2015: 10 reasons to follow the competition live 
23/03/2015 - Aaron Durogati interview with the only Italian competitor
20/03/2015 - Red Bull X-Alps 2015 route revealed

ABOUT THE RED BULL X-ALPS
The 2015 Red Bull X-Alps is the seventh edition of the world's toughest adventure race in which athletes must hike or fly 1,038km across the Alps from Salzburg to Monaco in the fastest time possible. The race starts on July 5, 2015. It's an epic undertaking that can involve hiking up to 100km of mountain terrain in a day – or flying at altitudes in excess of 4,000m. The race demands not only a very high level of endurance fitness but expert paragliding experience. The 2013 edition was the fastest on record with 10 athletes reaching Monaco. It was won by Christian Maurer (SUI) in 6d 23hr 40m.
New in 2015 is the one-day Powertraveller Prologue on July 2 which was won by Paul Guschlbauer in 2h 21m. Stanislav Mayer (CZE) was 2nd in 2h 22m and Gavin McClurg (USA2) came 3rd in 2h 24m. Athletes started and finished in Fuschl am See, passing the Turnpoints of the Zwölferhorn and Schafberg peaks. The first three athletes each gained an additional Led Lenser Night Pass and a five-minute headstart on the main race start.

Note:
www
redbullxalps.com



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