Swiss rider Reto Schoch sets rookie solo record in winning 2012 Race Across America

ANNAPOLIS, Maryland (VN) — Swiss rider Reto Schoch set a rookie pace record in winning the 31st Race Across America on Thursday.

Schoch, racing in the solo male/under-50 division, covered the 3,000 miles from Oceanside, California, to Annapolis in eight days, six hours and 29 minutes.

His time eclipsed the mark of 8:14:26, set in 1996 by Wolfgang Fasching.

Austrian Christoph Strasser took second in 8:09:34, with countryman Gerhard Gulewicz finishing third in 9:11:12

In the solo female/under-50 division, Swiss Trix Zgraggen claimed victory, reaching Annapolis in 10:13:59. Runner-up Joan Deitchman of Canada crossed in 10:16:06. The only other woman in the category, Cassie Schumacher of the United States, did not finish.

The winning eight-person open squad, Team ViaSat, hit the line in 5:05:05, breaking Team Type 1’s 2009 record of 5:09:03. Team 4Mil and Strategic Lions Cycling were close behind, finishing in 5:08:49 and 5:13:17, respectively.

Team Twenty-Six clinched the male four-person/under-50 title in 5:18:55. On the women’s side, the four-person/50-59 squad Love, Sweat & Gears finished in 5:21:20.

RAAM Beau&Babe won the two-person mixed division in 8:03:43, while Dreamteam 115 is unofficially credited with the fastest male two-person time of 5:21:39.

The Race Across America (RAAM) began in 1982 as a competition between four solo riders, racing from Santa Monica Pier in Los Angeles to the Empire State Building in New York City. The team divisions were added in 1992.