April 3rd in the Netherlands Sören Nissen won his first marathon race of the season in the ”Hell of Groesbeck”. After finishing the 105km (65ml) course with lots of singletrack sections on his STEVENS Sonora SL in 4:10:14 hrs. he came in one minute ahead of Dutch National Marathon Champion Roy van Heeswijk. Third was Ronan van Zandbeek, also from the Netherlands.

”That was a really fast and technically challenging course”, the Danish Marathon Champion said after the race. In the final of three rounds of 35km each Nissen was part of a seven-strong top group until Heeswijk attacked on a longer uphill section. Nissen was the only one able to follow. ”Five kilometers before the finish I could place the decisive attack and increase my lead steadily”, Nissen said.

The race featured tough competition with such strong riders as Bas Peters (Team Giant Benelux) and Hans Becking (Betch NL Superior Mountainbike Racing Team), ”which didn’t make it easier”, Nissen said.

Two weeks later, next stop in the race calendar will be the 19. SKS-Kellerwald-Bike Marathon in Gilserberg, Hesse, Germany between the cities of Kassel and Frankfurt/Main.