RACE AROUND AUSTRIA BEGINS TOMORROW In the five years since its inception the Race Around Austria (RAA) has to being one of the most highly regarded UltraCycling events in Europe and many say that this RAAM Qualifying event is also the toughest. Solos and teams take on a 2,200 km course the starts in St Gerogen and follows a clockwise route along the Austrian border with 30,000 meters of altitude gain. Along the way are beautiful yet challenging Alpine passes—Grossglockner, Kühtai, Gerlos Pass, Silvretta High Alpine Road or Faschinajoch. Only two riders have ever completed the course in less than four days; Eduard Fuchs, the 2012 winner, and last year’s winner Joachim Ladler who now holds the course record at 3 days, 21 hours and 6 minutes. Targeting that record in this year’s edition will be 3-time RAAM winner Christoph Strasser (Austria). Strasser, who just a few days shy of two months ago completed RAAM in a record time of 7 days, 15 hours and 56 minutes had this race on his mind during his long months of winter training, “I know that the recovery after RAAM isn’t just physical, it’s also mental. If you have no goals after RAAM you can fall into a mental and physical hole.” Strasser reports that he’s feeling good and is ready for this next challenge, “I feel that my body is conditioned for RAAM year to year. This year I have recovered better and faster than after my first and second RAAM. “He’ll be joined by fellow RAAM veterans Julian Sanz-Garcia (Spain) who finished 4th in RAAM 2012 and Franz Preihs (Austria) who was 4th in 2008. There are also a couple of shorter options at the RAA. Strasser’s friend/photographer/crew member and sometime training partner Lex Kar Elly was slated to race in the RAA 1500km, that is until a few days ago when he had a close encounter with a car while on a training ride. Lex will recover, having suffered only bruises and abrasions and will soon resume his quest to some day do RAAM. The shortest race is the RAA Challenge held on a 560 kilometer course that the fast riders complete in around 24 hours. 9-time RAAM starter Gerhard Gulewicz is entered as his first competition since withdrawing from this year’s RAAM due to a bout with the dreaded “Shermer’s Neck.” The organizers expect to host about 200 racers in this year’s edition. To see the racer’s progress visit racearoundaustria.at/news/en/
Posted on: Tue, 12 Aug 2014 10:05:00 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015