Tough slab: Willingen surprises world champions, Huber wins

The sporting highlight today was the SCOTT BIKE Marathon, which was attended by well-known mountain bike pros. Among the 1,500 registered participants was the reigning UCI Marathon World Champion Andreas Seewald (Canyon Northwave MTB Team), who had to settle for second place today.

Urs Huber from Team BULLS won today's challenging 119-kilometre course, which is particularly demanding due to the fragmented distribution of the 3,333 metres of elevation gain, with a time of 5:05.20.6 hours. "The course is very tough. It's constantly up and down. There is no passage to recover," explained the Swiss athlete at the finish. "I saved my strength well. I knew that when I set off, I had to do it right."

He finally really got going in the last few kilometres and used this powerful attack to break away from the six-man lead pack. The result: victory. With a lead of over a minute over the reigning world champion Seewald. But Seewald is by no means dissatisfied. "I didn't have the best day today," admits Seewald. "I had already seen at the start that Urs is incredibly strong. It was very hard to follow in the final. Overall, though, I'm very happy with my performance today and my current form."

Third place was secured by Simon Schnelleralso from Team BULLS, who is particularly pleased with his podium finish. Before the start this morning, he had said that he was still unable to assess his form. With third place, the former BIKE Junior Team rider once again proved his world-class performance. "The start was faster than expected. I had to fight hard for the first half hour to keep up. That's why I'm very happy with my position," said the BULLS pro.

Katrin Schwing (KS Trek Team) from Freiburg won the women's long course with a time of 6:51.28.8 hours. Second place went to the Belgian Sara Michielsens (COSMIC SPORTS). Third place went to Rozanne Slik (KMC Mountainbiketeam) from the Netherlands.

The 3 laps of the Scott BIKE Marathon 2022

The Scott BIKE Marathon in Willingen consists of three laps, which are ridden one after the other. Exit or continue? Everyone decides for themselves after each lap.

The distances of the marathon in Willingen:
You can decide spontaneously how far you want to travel. Round 2 closes at 1 pm, round 3 at 2 pm:

• Short (lap 1): 53 km & 1463 m elevation gain
• Medium (lap 1 + 2): 88 km & 2463 m elevation gain
• Long (lap 1 + 2 + 3): 120 km & 3333 m elevation gain

Round 1: 53 km, 1463 m elevation gain

After the tried-and-tested 233 metre ascent, the first fast trail descent follows immediately. And before the refreshment point at Diemelsee (km 26), a short technical trail section awaits. This is followed by the longest climb of the first lap with 377 metres in altitude. Afterwards, strength and technique are required: on the tricky root trail uphill at km 43, and the last kilometres to the finish are also typical Willingen ups and downs.

Round 2: 35 km, 1000 m elevation gain

Round 2 is a challenging section with 1000 metres of elevation gain that has everything to offer: Nature trails at Alter Hagen, flowing paths along the Grundwasserbach stream, trails and nature paths in the Kahler and Hoher Pön nature reserve, which is also visually stunning. Once you've savoured these fun sections, you have to knead a nasty ramp over the old church path into your legs at km 21. This is where the marathon proves its calibre.

Round 3: 32 km, 870 metres altitude

Now the renewed climb up the Ettelsberg, which you had to tackle at the start of lap 2, really hurts. It only gets fun again when it goes over the Hochheide at Neuer Hagen to the Bigge Downhill. After a final climb to Borbecker Platz, there are only six slightly undulating, comparatively fast final kilometres to the finish at the Expo area.

U15 / U17 route: 37 km, 1015 m altitude difference

There is a special race track for the youngsters. It's a tough one and demands a lot from the girls and boys. As with the adults, the starting ascent to the Hoher Eimberg is a challenge. To spice things up, there are trails that require good riding technique.

Further route information can be found at: willingen.bike-festival.de

The sponsors of the BIKE Festival in Willingen

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