Day 2: nearly 72hours in the race.

And they are off ...

Lucas Becker

Chrsitian Holweck

Constantin Backmann

Sebastian Sarx

Tobias Fuchs

Lukas Neubeck

Glenn Bloemen

Thomas Ceyrowsky

Leonard von Hammerstein

Laurens van Gucht

Dominik Bokstaller

Joshua Gohl

Stefan Maertens

Florian Klein

Simon Geiser

Christoph Fuhrbach

Peter Adam

Luis Luz

Benedikt Heyl

Jens Zickermann

Fanny Bensussan

Jair Hoogland

Pierre  Vincent Benvenuto

Jonas Fischer

Christine Kammerer

Conrad Liwa

Stijn DeVeylder

Samuel Thompson

Marvin Schwarz

Konstantin Weise

Henning Sydow

Stefan Moritz

Micha Mayer

Bastian Wegner

Nicolas Malet

Rainmar Hönecke

Dominik Schreiber

Patrick Doupe

Jost Schumski

Alexander Vorrath

Michael Felber

Hubert Stratmann

Julian Neuweiler

Benjamin Schneider

Markus Merkle

Erik Schiller

Vincent Thibaut

Mirko Hackl

Carsten Honemann

Marek Garus

Andreas Roelfs

Mirko Schmidt

Tom Hudders

Denise Vorberg

Daniel Giek

Valentin Raab

Necdet Dolmis

Michael Grobe

Frieder Backu

William Soler

Sebastian Restrepo

Karsten Morisse

Frank Bühler

Matthias Polidar

Auri Teinilä

Jessica Kowalski

Tim Heiber

Roger Hegglin

Lars Toma

Frederick Aubry

Roland Toisul

Robin Hogger

Markus Scheidt

Gerhard Kohl

Christian Siegert

Sarah Dunker

Friedhelm Feige

Anne De Smet

Wessel Kremer

Ronny Martin

Yannik Pankrath

Hanna Lutz

Sebastian Allig

Christian Müller

Thomas Krippentz

Loes Holtmaat

Niklas Streek

Mathias Jäger

Benedikt Scholl

Anatole Naimi

Stephan Kirsch

Udo Waldenmaier

Johannes von  Freydorf

Katharina Pier

Niklas Muxel

Robert Müller

Pavel Krajcik

Joris Bosch

Zeno Bonduelle

Laura Delnevo

Elie-Nael Laurencery

Etienne Hamon

Philipp Meyer

Bastian Meyer

Hannes Marlok

Manja Seemann

Hans-Joachim Klein

Aynur Vater

Steffen Marlok

Media-Car

Video-Crew

Dominik Nordau

Philipp Ketterer

Hans-Hinrich Wilckens

Sören Grimmer

While many riders sheltered from the rain during the night, a few riders crossed the finish line before the 72-hour mark.

With the sunrise and the bakeries open, the following riders crossed the finish line this morning.

__15th - Stefan Eferdinger__

__16th - Kevin Wernhammer__

__17th - Oliver Gyger__

__18th - Nico Mausch__

__19th - Stefan Moritz__

all these riders are below 72hours, which means more then 350km per day - incredible performance!

*according to follow my challenge!

It ain't finished 'till it's over

Unfortunately, this is my last report from this event.
Before it is over, a few words...
Thanks to the organisation, the media team, the riders and especially to Georg for our incredible teamwork.

Tonight at 11:59 p.m. the time limit closes, currently there is only one rider left. The fight for the Lanterne Rouge is still in full swing.

Anne de Smet reaches the finish at 22:20 and is one of the finishers. At the same time, she makes one of the biggest moves ever: she enters the finisher party at the finish!

As I type the last lines, most of you are enjoying your wine spritzer, and rightly so!
You all really kicked ass out there and pushed yourselves to the limit.

![MC2_Safe all your kisses for me!](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/5Q59sYjtZuK3b01YHtZ94m/9168e4f0fdbcde2bb008a6111f699486/4C8A118B-40B1-4D98-9D17-F8622EC4C2D2-19934-00000295FF4BCB4B.jpg)

Enjoy a few days of rest.

I'm going to sign off, I'm sure I'll see you at one of the next races.

MC2 Day 5 recap - the last comes so fast

Where there's a will, there's a finisher party!

You guys are moving way too fast for us... Today we had the biggest chunk of finishers, from early in the morning until late tonight we are still expecting riders.

We were able to receive the top 3 pairs today. Laurencery/Hamon finished at 04am this morning, I guess they just didn't fancy another night out.
Congratulations on winning the pairs category!

![MC2_first pair](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/6L5Ssaz5sS7b2DDWyf3XXb/df39b7784ad86ac0820732a43a49a5eb/1017_1018-1_-_first_pair.JPG)

Around 6 hours later we welcomed Phillip & Bastian Meyer for breakfast. Well done guys!

![MC2_Bastian und Philipp Meyer](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/01HrQ3TgmWWjNOwzbyrOsg/a5e663690195372f562716bc41ffa4c3/1003_1004-1.JPG)

Another 5 hours later Bastian and Hannes Marlok crossed the finish line, at this time of day it is at least legitimate to have an alcoholic drink.

At the moment we are still waiting for several women, Denise Vorberg will be received shortly. Nope, update: She has arrived :-D Finishing after 87 hrs 58 mins.
I hope she could extend her perfect bivy spot to 3 out of 3. That would be the victory in the bivy ranking and also the 3rd place in the women's ranking.

![MC2_Denise Vorberg Rider and Bike](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/7d6kAsSMGZEoBtoXHmjksC/735a7db8c697a6ef9bed0eccb5867294/Denise_Vorberg.JPG)

Jessica Kowalski seems to be freshening up in a shelter at the moment to give it another go tomorrow at the finisher party. She had some Type 2 fun today.
Sweets will probably not end up in her shopping trolley any time soon. She also told me I could offer her bike for sale here... are you serious? You really want to sell your bike that took you over 1060km of the most beautiful roads of the MittelgebirgeClassique? Sounds like yet another decision you shouldn't make during the night...

Anne de Smet & Sarah Dunker are currently at the Col du Donon and will hopefully have a nice race, there are still 240km to go. Keep on pushing, you ucan do it!
![MC2_Anne de Smet](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/7A0yGlKdZ4nVlKQqOWVRIe/94a78407fe5a0303bff8e75523f93a6b/Anne_de_Smet.JPG)

Recap Day 4: Neustadt is filling - and they come in Pairs

Good morning everyone!

The third night is over, with cold temperatures, a spectacular moon and - our first female finisher: Fanny Bensussan finished as first women after 70 hrs 3 mins. A very strong performance by Fanny who constantly lead the women's field up to the finish. Chapeau Fanny, well deserved and very well executed!!!

![MC2_Fanny and bike](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/5dkM9hmLtxZCu2ukzGd7zq/b3f435729ee58849ae7f938ed7c0d39f/135.JPG)

Christine Kammerer, currently in second place of the women's filed, has only some 50 km to go. By the time this post goes out, she will probably have finished! Great job Christine!!

We also have the first Pair to finish the race: Elie-Nael Laurencery and Etienne Hamon finished after 70 hrs 7 mins/70 hrs 14 mins. Very well done you two, congratulations!!
![MC2_first pair](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/6L5Ssaz5sS7b2DDWyf3XXb/df39b7784ad86ac0820732a43a49a5eb/1017_1018-1_-_first_pair.JPG)

One of the nicest stories we heard from this night at CP2 was that of Christian Siegert (Cap 125) and Yannik Pankrath (Cap 107): Apparently Chris has lost his wallet on the route and Yannik picked it up and posted it on Instagram. Just as Yannik arrived at CP2, Chris realized that he had no money, so Dörte - one of our amazing supporters at CP2 - told Chris to step outside, where he not only met Yannik but also his wallet :-)

![MC2_Christian Siegert](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/76DRWHMCYYPWhOHOdKn51b/5b546a5807decd91656a7e770ccb946a/125_Christian_Sieger.JPG)

One big shoutout goes to Ronny Martin, who had a tough start to this year's MittelgebirgeClassique with bumming issues with his bum and saddle. But he is still pushing it, making his way to CP2. Massively impressive Ronny!!!

![MC2_Ronny Martin](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/Oa8lfgy48ngmyptuccjSL/449dacd97530148d1c5b9a58b925bb0a/24_Ronny_Martin.JPG)


Recap Night 3: First female finisher, money and luxury

Neustadt slowly fills up with happy faces of cyclists.

![MC2_Glen at the finish](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/2pXnb8x78v5Nmwdf4eyZGd/4ec4d87f3342b699908c0af02045ef42/8AB5A0B3-C218-491C-9698-32F39CE3EB04-4183-000000768F3B8B5E.jpg)

What happened today?
Hopefully everyone has already read that Lucas Becker finished first.

![MC2 - Winner Lucas Becker arriving](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/7QK0LhD8yp75BTICErye8/d2c400de7ce62fc1e76a075cffe162b5/IMG_1976.JPG)

But the fact that we were able to celebrate a 2nd place 3 times after Lucas had finished is also a rare occurrence.
Christian Holweck, Constantin Backmann and Sebastian Sarx all reached the finish line at the same time. To be able to enjoy the reception at the last climb, what could be better?
Fair sportsmanship!

![MC2 Three times second](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/S9Tp8t7g7FIRaFfBvU7WK/b2c4e116c131ccf9d253bb84f05b5d81/3_times_2.JPG)

6th finisher is Lukas Neubeck, he did it within 62h 10min.

7th finisher: Glenn Bloemen , this morning I saw a picture of waffles. A Belgian with waffles - his perfect drive!

Thomas Ceyrowsky, the man from Düsseldorf has a Top10 subscription, last year Top10, this year again.

Leonard von Hammerstein was able to check into the finish 10min later, securing 9th place.

And to make the Top10 full, we invited Laurens van Gucht. The Belgian crossed the finish line after 63h 2min.

Currently we are still waiting for some more riders who are not united in the position fights ;-)

In the women's race, Fanny Bensussan is still in the lead with almost 90km to go. It doesn't look like she wants to sleep again. We expect her tonight! Christine Kammerer is currently at kilometre 890 and is 140km ahead of Denise Vorberg.
If Denise stops again, her chances of a 5-star bivy are very high. The last 2 nights she could only report good things.

Hang in there!

![MC2_Christine Cap 33 Rider and bike](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/3SRjBu6R0hyY3Z3ljK8FLE/31932cb3932b146cc0bed0897ded8c45/IMG_2038.JPG)                                                  Christine

The pairs have not changed positions.
Laurencery & Hamon still have almost 100km to go!

1st Laurencery / Hamon
2nd Meyer
3rd Marlock

Scratchreport

I have received little feedback from riders.
Currently we have 27 riders who had to give up.

To all riders who are still on the road today: Take care of yourselves, have a good night and enjoy every kilometer!
You don't have to work tomorrow, you can ride your bike!


Day 3 recap: What once was 1 stays 1 - and then some 2s

After racing each other for literally thousands of kilometers, Christian Holweck, Sebastian Sarx and Constantin Backmann all finished together after 58 hrs and 37 mins. A very special ending for quite a special MittelgebirgeClassique!

![MC2_Finish of the 2](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/1ot4Typat7tvqXR9kneON8/5ea38cd87163ccf4beb70fc60d8c7fd7/Finish_of_the_2.JPG)

MC2 - Second podium spot taken ... and the second ... and the second

This year's winner is last year's winner!!! Lucas Becker finished the second edition of MittelgebirgeClassique in a little less than 56 hours. an amazing performance by one of the nicest guys out there! And there are so many... :-D Congratulations @Lucas and a heartfelt chapeau!!

![MC2 - Winner Lucas Becker arriving](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/7QK0LhD8yp75BTICErye8/d2c400de7ce62fc1e76a075cffe162b5/IMG_1976.JPG)

MC2 - We have our winner


![MC2_Hanna](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/4lfUA7TlT6bfjH8hmix0UE/20f6a90e2459184910abb8f8df764428/Hanna_Cap51_CP1.jpg)

We learned this morning, that Hanna Lutz had to abandon the race yesterday evening. She has shown an amazing race, chasing Fanny Bensussan who still leads the women's field.

MC2-Update: Hanna Lutz, 2nd women, had to abandon the Race

It was a busy night for the people at Checkpoint 2. A big bunch of riders arrived during the night and got some warm food.
![Night 2 at CP2](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/3znrEiZ0chMoN1VdlYd94r/6c141d8007f580007290cf4f600d6e13/CB2DF0C8-A534-4EFE-98F1-A087A38D62C7-28983-000003BBE90CA264.jpg)

Lets have a look at what happened.

There are not too much changes in the women's race. Its just a bit stretched. Fanny is now leading just 31km before Christine.

![MC2_Fanny on Road](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/4k6zbcIfAggGCKrAB2E32p/8b8e0648567a936d333c3061a199f680/Fanny_Cap135_day2.jpg)

Top5 Solo women
1. Fanny Bensussan
2. Hanna Lutz
3. Christine Kammerer
4. Denise Vorberg
5. Jessica Kowalski

And the men?
Lucas Becker is still leading after stopping for nearly 2 hours in Grandfontaine. Sebastian Sarx stopping time is still below 3 hours within 48 hours. Looks like he has been in a bit of a struggle with not too much energy left, but has now regained 2nd position after falling back to 4th. Take care my friend!

![MC2_Sebastian Sarx Road day 2](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/3UbuizJvyRInyox2kUqodo/db9eac44ad91e72595f8a6602be6b026/MC2_Sebastian_Sarx_Road_day_2.jpg)Sebastian on the road

Constantin Backmann is now chasing Christian Holweck, who in turn is now 2nd. These guys are not too far away from Sebastian.
Tobias Fuchs is 40 km behind Sebastian

Top5 Solo Men
1. Lucas Becker
2. Sebastian Sarx 
3. Christian Holweck
4. Constantin Backmann
5. Tobias Fuchs

I didn‘t get not that much information from the riders, so if I get some more news, I will share these with you!

Recap Night 2: On the hunt

Can somebody tell the riders, that the finisher party is on thursday?
If they don‘t stop - they can get some breakfast at the finish line!

What happened this day?

Lets start with the Pairs!
To ride as a pair can be very hard! Sometimes you need different brakes, different resupply, you have to find the flow and of course you have to be very good friends indeed!

Between the first and the third team are just 50km, everything is possible.
Yesterdays leader team Marlocks are now in 3rd position and they are chasing Team Meyer. 
The first pair are the belgium/french connection of Elie-Nael Laurencery and Etienne Hamon. 

The female race is equally exciting!
Fanny Bensussan is still leading the female race, Hanna Lutz and Christine Kammerer are just 10km behind her. And it would seem that they are in a good company... 

![MC2_Christine Kammerer_Cap51](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/4AOuf4cM5OcdyfWYhMJsdh/e86c685e80006bb7be0fdfbd53ec6d4c/MC2_Christine_Kammerer_Cap33.jpg)Christine

Denise Vorberg is currently at km 510, which means she is just 50km behind the 2nd and the 3rd position! Keep on fighting Denise!
I heard that Denise had a luxury bivy next to a self service shop with some fresh drinks - fingers crossed she will find a bivy spot like this again!

![MC2_Denise Vorberg_Cap21](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/5jqByS3ua2r68trUtTgasw/e70fb428725ed97226f743328e041f96/MC2_Denise_Vorberg_Cap21.jpg)Denise

Jessica Kowalski suffered in the heat like many other riders, so she stopped and tried to avoid the heat with stopping every 100m of elevation. She started early this morning at 3.30am to collect some kilometers in cooler temperatures.

I‘m not sure if Sebastian Sarx and Lucas Becker had a small chat, when Sebastian was descending the planche des Belles Filles, Lucas was ascending. This time they changed the positions again at CPT2.

![MC2_Lucas + Sebastian CPT2](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/kcXW7FJYb8Xcme9RCqqXR/0068148d335fbcf8091c8fd65160ac71/MC2_Lucas___Sebastian_CPT2.JPG) Lucas + Sebastian at CPT2

Sebastian was leading the whole day, up to CPT2. Currently Sebastian Sarx stopping time is still below 2hours. Will he need some rest? The chasing group is coming fast, but it looks not like they rested too much last night. 

Lukas Neubeck held the second position for quite some time, until he couldn‘t match the pace of Lucas Becker any longer.
Christian Holweck and Tobias Fuchs are now battling for the 3rd position.

Top 5 solo Men
1. Lucas Becker
2. Sebastian Sarx
3. Constantin Backmann
4. Christian Holweck
5. Tobias Fuchs

Top 5 solo women
1. Fanny Bensussan
2. Hanna Lutz
3. Christine Kammerer
4. Denise Vorberg
5. Jessica Kowalski

Scratch report
First, please allow me some rather personal thoughts:
We don‘t need heroes, who risk too much. But:
Never scratch at night.
If you think you want to scratch, take a nap, call your best friends, eat some potato fries and wait for the upcoming daylight :-) At day time, everything is so much better. Do not risk too much!

Stefan Barth suffered from yesterdays heat. He is okay, but couldn‘t get some power to the pedal.
He did everything right, took a nap and tried it on the day after. Well done mate!

Phillip Ketterer and Dominik Nordau are also ok with a did not finish, they couldn‘t find the flow. They are still friends and they already enjoyed a beer together.

Laura Delnevo, Zeno Bonduelle, Joris Bosch, Udo Waldenmeier & Matthias Jäger scratched also this day. Have a good recovery and chapeau to making this tough call! 


Recap Day 2

Georg Sponholz

MittelgebirgeClassic 2023 Tracking and Commentary: Back for its second edition, this event crosses between Germany and France and takes riders over 40 mountain passes in the middle mountains (Mittelgebirge) ranges of the Palatinate Forest, Black Forest and Vosges.

MittelgebirgeClassic 2023 Tracking

Back for its second edition, this event crosses between Germany and France which takes riders over 40 mountain passes in the middle mountains (Mittelgebirge) ranges of the Palatinate Forest, Black Forest and Vosges.

Mittelgebirge Classique 2023

DotWatcher.cc

Mittelgebirge Classique 2023

Distance — Elevation

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This Year's Female Winner

This Year's Male Winner

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