Austria's largest cross country mountain bike race. On a perfect racing weekend, the "sports class" start the race on Saturday and the absolute top elite on Sunday. As a triathlete, I start in the sports class.
I start the race in the 2nd row. After I made it from the last row to place 2 in 2019, all the signs are pointing to victory today. But, as the first race of the season, it remains exciting until the end of what the legs have to offer. The boys are really stepping on the gas again. I'm pedaling 500 watts on the first climb, but I'm "only" 15th on the descent. There are 5 laps to master, which we complete in just over an hour. Little by little I'm fighting my way back towards the top. The first 2 simply have more pressure on the pedals today and for me it's about 3rd place in the overall ranking. It all fits perfectly when I slipped in the deep gravel on the final climb and my direct competitor overtook me. I had to push a good 20m, but that cost valuable seconds which I couldn't close on the last section. I finally finished 4th in the overall ranking, for which I was rewarded with victory in Elite 1. It was a lot of fun, there were 8 other teammates in the race with me. Together we push ourselves to 5 podium places.