Celebrities and heat at the first stage

The Crossing of the Alps adventure has begun today for hundreds of motivated cyclists. From 3rd to 9th July, the athletes will have to deliver their best physical and mental performance. Their efforts will be rewarded with unforgettable panoramas, great emotions and a unique community experience. On the very first day, the athletes had to face a challenging stage. The heat made the conditions even more difficult.

Lienz: In 2005, the town hosted the BIKE Transalp stage for the first time. The route last passed through here in 2015. Today, however, a BIKE Transalp premiere was celebrated: for the first time, the eastern Austrian town was the starting point of the legendary mountain bike stage race across the Alps.

But the first stage had even more to offer: Participants were able to race down the new trails named after prominent professional cyclists - the Peter Sagan Trail and the Alban Lakata Trail - from high up to the city limits of Lienz. We continued westwards along the sunny meadow slopes of the Puster Valley. From a mountain bike perspective, this idyll was certainly less flattering, as the varied ups and downs meant that a considerable amount of altitude had already been gained. Before reaching the finish in Sillian, the bikers climbed up to the highest viewing platform of the first stage: the alpine pasture between Fronstadlalm and Tessenberger Alm. On any other day, the unobstructed view over the Gailtal and Pustertal valleys, the Lienz and Sexten Dolomites invites you to linger - but not today. As soon as they had passed the summit, the participants plunged down a fast descent on a forest track. Continuing via Tessenberg and Heinfels, they finally reached the finish in Sillian. This most demanding stage not only showed the bikers the beauty of East Tyrol, but also the challenges of a BIKE Transalp.

"That was a very demanding stage right at the start," says former mountain bike pro and seven-time winner of the BIKE Transalp Karl Platt. "3,130 metres of elevation gain over 66 kilometres: it was all up and down. The heat also took its toll." Olympic snowboarding champion Benjamin Karl, who spontaneously decided to take part in the first stage, also cited today's heat as the hardest part. "When you ride up a climb in the sun, you immediately drop down a performance level," laughs the athlete, who lives in Lienz. But both Platt and Karl emphasise the great community experience at the BIKE Transalp, which is also what makes this race so fascinating for them.

The fastest of the day

The fastest riders mastered the challenge particularly well today. Carlos Arroyo and Luis Sanchez Mejia from Team 7C-ECONOMY-WILIER secured victory in the men's team classification with a time of 3:06.43.9h, followed by Team KMC consisting of Teus Ruijter and Tim Smeenge with a time of 3:11.41.4h. Third place went to Michael Wohlgemuth and Philip Handl from Team Texpa Simplon/MC Racing powered by Casa in 3:23.02.1h.

Irina Krenn and Martina Deubler from Team Bikeworld Bad Goisern/Salzkammergut dominated the women's teams today with a time of 4:35.28.1h. Lorenza Menapace and Evelyn Sulzer from Team Val di Sole Bike Land secured 2nd place with a time of 4:44.22.6h. Theresa Gassner and Lea Kremsreiter from SRT Protective Factoryteam Women took third place. They needed 4:46.18.1h for the first stage.

In the mixed category, victory went to Alexander Stöckl and Claudia Vötter from Team Intersport Patrick 1, who crossed the finish line in Lienz after 4:04.43.8h, followed by Team r2-bike.com MTN CREW consisting of Marc and Andrea Böttger, who needed 4:06.28.9h for today's stage. Third place went to Spela Skrajnar and Iztok Dogsa from the GANESHA TEAM with a time of 4:31.04.1h.

Next up is a somewhat more vigorous 2nd stage from Sillian to Bruneck. The route profile covers 72 kilometres and 2,510 metres in altitude. All information about the race and a detailed route description including altitude profiles can be found at https://bike-transalp.de/

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