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 TWINCAM/Salomon speedster Eddy Matzger celebrated his second ascension onto the podium in as many weeks at the Singen Inline Cup season finale race in Singen Germany, on Sunday, August 25, 2002. Living up to his attack-happy style, Matzger gambled heavily early in the 21 kilometer race only to have his break countered by Tristan Loy, the eventual winner who managed to slip away on the third lap and extend his lead slowly but surely for the win. Matzger was able to regroup and mount a serious chase by himself with the Saab Salomon Team in tow, never letting Loy get out of sight. Eddy was able to hold the gap down to a maximum of 10 seconds for 5 laps of the 14 lap criterium, but was unable to corral help from the Saab Salomon Team. The blistering chase was too much for some individuals of Saab Salomon. They preferred instead to sit in behind Eddy, protect their sprinter Dirk Breder, and wait for the final sprint. "I had everything to lose by keeping the hammer down but wasn't about to race for second," said Matzger, who lost but was nonetheless able to raise his arms on the podium. "With one of those guys helping we had a solid chance at catching Loy, but having to mount a solo chase while being shadowed by the opposition was too much," conceded Matzger. "At this point in the season, Tristan is racing as if from another planet, but he did say he was half-dead up there." The crowd, standing two and three deep behind barriers along the course, was solidly behind Matzger and Loy, appreciating the gusto with which they raced. They roared with approval every time they hit the hill hard or passed the start/finish area. The crowd was especially captivated by the battle between the Orange TWINCAM/Salomon skater and the Yellow and grey Saab-Salomon team. To the delight of onlookers, Eddy strung out the three teammates heavily with surges on the backside hill and down the home stretch every lap with all cylinders firing. Ultimately, though, Eddy hurt himself with his unrequited offensives, sapping his legs enough to take the edge off his finish. Leading out the sprint from afar in a bid to oulast his stalkers to the line, Matzger was overtaken by a leg (two hundredths of a second) in the last meters by Sprint Champion Dirk Breder. While the other skaters recuperated on the sidelines, Matzger continued out on the course and filmed the rest of the field, drawing out their best enthusiasm as they races. Interviewed after the race in front of the assembled crowd, the TWINCAM/Salomon skater joked that people "no longer look me in the eye, they just stare down and take pictures of my feet!" Eddy skates on 100mm Salomon/Miller/Xenan skates that garnered heavy attention from pros and the public alike. Eddy constantly communicates his passion for skating to the public through his website, news media, races, instructional workshops and personal appearances, in each instance inspiring more and more people to make inline skating an important part of their lives. |