Reichel forced to withdraw | Bracht finishes third in Challenge Kraichgau

It should have been the highlight of Horst Reichel's season, yet fever and aching limbs "put a spoke in his wheel", so he decided to pull out a just a few hours before the race. His team colleague Timo Bracht then opted on short notice for participating in the race, being rewarded with a third place finish.

"I'm rather disappointed", Horst Reichel wrote in a short message to his fans, explaining why he had decided to withdraw from Challenge Kraichgau. Highly motivated and in great shape Reichel was longing to take part in the race, considering it at the beginning of the season as one of his highlights. He is not sure how his season will continue, but probably will return to competition on June 29th, racing in the traditional Heinerman Triathlon in Darmstadt.

"I wanted to go all the way and had good legs"

Reichel's team colleague Timo Bracht opted on short notice to make the short trip to Kraichgau and use the race to test his current form. "After the swim I was second and soon took the lead on the bike", Bracht described the race. "I had no chance against Sebastian then, but still opted to go for it. Tactically it would have been wiser to just roll with the group, but I had good legs." In the run, Bracht found himself for quite a while in second place, but when the Swiss Ronnie Schildknecht increased the pace at km 17, "I was not able to react. In the end I finished third in quite a good race." In the race for the German Championship, Bracht was second behind Sebastian Kienle.

After an eight-hour training three days before the race, a short-notice trip and participation in Challenge Kraichgau, Bracht was quite satisfied with the race: "As far as Challenge Roth is concerned, I am perfectly on track."