This weekend the second edition of the UCI MTB Marathon World Championships will take place in Bad Goisern, Upper Austria. The reigning World Champions Thomas Frischknecht (SUI) and Maja Wloszcowska (POL) won't be at the start to defend their title.
However the entire world elite in marathon racing has registered for the Worlds in the Salzkammergut to fight for the rainbow jersey - and perhaps secure a last minute ticket to the Olympic Games.
Hot favourites are, for example, Marathon Vice World Champion and Olympic Champion Cross Country 1996, Bart Brentjens (NDL), bronze medallist in Lugano, Carsten Bresser (GER) as well as the top five of the World Series race in Oisans, African Champion and Cape Epic winner Mannie Heymans (NAM), last year's Trophy Champion Thomas Dietsch (FRA), Austrian Marathon Champion Alban Lakata (AUT), Frederick Ericsson (SWE) and Pascal Cattin (SUI). Endurance specialists Tinker Juarez (USA), who won the 200 kilometre distance of the Salzkammergut Trophy two years ago, and Transalp/Cape Epic Champion Karl Platt (GER) will also race at the Marathon Worlds. Furthermore, the German national team is sending Lado Fumic, currently on ninth in the overall World Cup standings Cross Country.
Top riders are also represented in the women's field: Record World Cup Champion Gunn Rita Dahle (NOR), who has not been defeated at a single World Cup this year, will start side by side with her team colleagues Irina Kalentieva (RUS), winner of Schladming, and European Marathon Champion Birgit Jüngst (GER). Also at the start is the Marathon bronze medallist of the European and World Champs 2003, Sandra Klose (GER). Since the world rankings are the sole decisive criteria for the Olympic nominations in the US, the two Americans Mary McConneloug and Susan Haywood will not only fight for gold, but also for the women's only US start place in the Olympic XC Race. Despite the fact that McConneloug has an advantage of 56 points, there is still a chance that Haywood can beat her one day before the nomination process, which will take place on July 12th, because a victory in Bad Goisern will be awarded with 200 points, a 25th place yet with 60. The people of Bad Goisern have set high expectations in their local hero Martina Deubler, who placed second in the first race of the UCI World Series, the World Cup of endurance mountain bikers, and thus achieved the best result of an Austrian female rider ever in the Marathon World Cup.
While his team mates race in the gruelling Tour de France, German cycle pro and time trial specialist Michael Rich of team Gerolsteiner is looking for a different challenge and thus participates in the MTB Marathon Worlds. With eight victories in 2003, Michael Rich was leading the ‘virtual' team ranking of Gerolsteiner. In 2004, the reigning German Single Time Trials Champion already won a stage of the Bavarian and the German Tour, respectively.
The UCI MTB Marathon World Championships attract top athletes from around the World. Participants from over thirty nations compete in the Worlds or the Salzkammergut Trophy on Saturday. Neuseeland is represented by Kashi Leuchs, the Americans have sent a ten person national team to the race and the top six South African elite mountain bikers have already arrived in Bad Goisern.
Alternative route in the area of HütteneckalmDue to heavy rainfalls in the month of June and many training rides and route inspections, one very technical part of the course has become unrideable. This concerns the section below Hütteneckalm (between point V and W on the map). Organisers will change the signing within the next days and redirect in this part onto the 2003 course. The 24 kilometre test marathon will also be alleviated to make it more manageable for beginners. Details will be presented at the riders briefing on Friday at 7 p.m..
Tipp for tires by Martina DeublerMartina Deubler from Bad Goisern, Austrian Marathon Champion 2003, knows the new World Championship course, consisting to 70 per cent of gravel roads, single trails and forest paths, by heart and recommends the Vapor ProTection by Continental. 'For me this is the perfect tire in both, wet and dry conditions. The traction and performance in curves are excellent and to have a resistant tire on this course is a prerequisite if you don't want to risk a puncture. The side protection of the Vapor ProTection helps to ride the rough Rettenbach trail and the steep Downhill on the old sledge path to Rathluck´n Hütte safe and without a flat.”
www.salzkammergut-trophy.at
