These four stages are not for the faint of heart and calves

Created: 08/12/2022, 19:06

By: Wolfgang Stauner

The number one in Ischgl: Andreas Seewald finished the marathon in first place and was also the overall Ironbike winner with a lead of more than two minutes on Leon Paez.

Photo: TVB Paznaun-Ischgl/kn © TVB Paznaun-Ischgl/kn

Ischgl/Lenggries - hard, harder, Ischgl Ironbike.

The cult race in the Tyrolean Silvretta Arena is one of the toughest and most demanding races in the mountain bike calendar of the world association UCI.

What sets this event apart from the others: on four days, professionals and hobby bikers are required to complete four different disciplines: uphill (7.3 km, 980 m altitude), time trial (7.3 km, 250 m altitude), short track and finally the supreme discipline – the marathon (71 km, 3200 m elevation gain).

The athletes can accept one, several or all challenges according to their taste;

Of course, the overall Ironbike winner is only one who presents himself as a complete biker and completes all four race formats.

Last year, mountain bike pro Andreas Seewald from Lenggries was on the verge of bagging the overall win.

After three competitions, he confidently led the rankings.

But weakened by a virus, he collapsed badly on the last stage.

"I started the marathon as the overall leader and was not even among the top ten at the end," he remembers with horror.

Arrival from the high camp

So now Seewald wanted to clear the gap.

However, he did not go into the competition completely unencumbered.

Before that, he had set up an eight-day high-altitude camp in Livigno and finally checked his form at the Alta Valtellina Marathon.

It was extremely positive: He beat second Aleksej Medvedev over the 100 km distance for more than three minutes.

But in Ischgl my legs were still a little heavy.

Even a world champion doesn't put up with such hardships that easily.

"That was planned a bit risky," says Seewald with a smile.

“And after three stages it almost looked as if I had miscalculated.

But I was able to fix it in the marathon.”

The Czech Lubomir Petrus hit the world champion the hardest.

Petrus comes from the streets and was once a junior European champion in cyclocross.

At the age of 32, he is contesting his first MTB season this year, and the established mountain bikers around world champions Seewald, Leon Paez, Martin Stosek and Markus Kaufmann looked at the result lists in amazement after each stage.

Three times in front: Lubomir Petrus.

The 30-year-old from Lenggrieser also made it onto the podium three times (2nd hillclimb, 2nd time trial, 3rd short track), but by the final day he was a good two and a half minutes behind.

Seewald invincible in the marathon

Correspondingly nervous, Seewald rolled to the starting line.

"I was afraid that he would paint me again on the mountain like he did on a hillclimb." But in his special discipline, the Lenggrieser only had to fear one opponent: Leon Paez - who, however, was out of the question for overall victory.

“Right after the first real climb up to the Salaaser Kopf at 2,700 meters, I hit a hard tempo, and soon it was just a duel,” reports Seewald.

While Paez was a bit better uphill, the world champion, as the better technician, kept making big gaps on the descents.

"I was able to easily manage the lead over the last few kilometers," said Seewald, who was happy about the overall victory.

Paez was a respectful distance of about two and a half minutes, Lubomir Petrus,

who lost almost 20 minutes to the winner in the marathon still finished seventh overall.

"These were extremely varied and exciting racing days," summarized Andreas Seewald, visibly satisfied.

"And it was a matter of honor that I got the day's win as the reigning world champion."

Christoph Köck wins the Extreme Masters

A second Lenggrieser was also able to enter the list of winners in Ischgl: Christoph Köck from the Isarwinkler Radsportfreunde.

The 38-year-old hobby driver also completed the Extreme Marathon in the Masters class, which is also counted for the Ritchey Challenge hobby series.

"It went surprisingly well considering that I mostly withdrew from the racing circuit." The numerous steep ramps worked well for the uphill specialist. "I was able to show my strengths to the full." Köck finished the Richey Challenge as fourth overall.

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