REVIEW

BRIGHT WINNERS IN THE FOG AT THE 28TH ISCHGL IRONBIKE MARATHON

The winners of the 28th Ischgl Ironbike Marathon have been announced: Hansueli Stauffer from Switzerland and Milena Kalasova from the Czech Republic beat off the competition in one of the toughest mountain bike marathon races in Europe.

From 4 to 5 August, 632 mountain bikers battled for valuable seconds at the 28th Ischgl Ironbike. Licensed men and women were free to choose between the Hard and Extreme courses this year. All other riders could choose from all four routes. The Ironbike Eliminator on the 1,000 metre circuit through the village and the "Kids & Juniors Trophy" provided thrilling head-to-head races that gave both riders and spectators goosebumps.

"632 enthusiastic cyclists, despite the current weather conditions, show us that our race concept has established itself in the international race calendar after 28 years of the Ischgl Ironbike and that participation is still very popular with licensed and amateur cyclists," says Alexander von der Thannen, Chairman of the Paznaun - Ischgl Tourist Board, confirming the success of the event. "Of course, we were also particularly pleased this year that our Ischgl-branded TEXPA Simplon bike team won the Extreme course in the licence class and the Hard course in the men's master class with the fastest times," reports von der Thannen proudly.

Gold for Hansueli Stauffer and Milena Kalasova at the 28th Ischgl Ironbike Marathon

502 masters, elites and amateurs were able to prove their personal best on 5 August 2023 at the 28th Ischgl Ironbike Marathon on four differently challenging routes. There was a choice of Extreme (71.0 kilometres / 3,200 vertical metres), Hard (58.3 kilometres / 2,580 vertical metres), Medium (44.7 kilometres / 1,890 vertical metres) and Light (24.9 kilometres / 670 vertical metres) routes. While licence riders could only get their ultimate adrenaline rush on the Hard and Extreme routes, amateur riders were able to choose from all four possible routes - including burning thighs for everyone. The men's and women's categories were divided into Masters and Elite: the Extreme course was won by Hansueli Stauffer from Switzerland with a time of 3:56:33.1 and Milena Kalasova from the Czech Republic with a time of 4:58:58.3. Markus Kaufmann from Germany took the lead in the master class with a time of 4:02:23.8. The winners in the licence class on the Hard course were Mattia Longa from Italy with a time of 3:15:27.4 and Debora Piana from Italy with a time of 4:06:04.3. In the Hard Masters category, Uwe Hardter from Germany took the podium with a time of 3:30:41.0. In the medium distance, David Sambale from Germany took first place with a time of 2:17:04.8 and Anna Schmidt from Germany with a time of 3:30:41.0.

Ironbike Eliminator

New in 2023 and immediately well received: A total of 32 participants took part in the new Eliminator. The starting signal was given early on Friday morning for the qualification in the individual time trial, in which the participants battled their way through Ischgl on the 1,000 metre long circuit without differentiating between classes at intervals of 30 seconds. The time achieved was used to allocate the four-rider heats and thus the corresponding opponents. The first two riders in each group progressed to the next heat. The first and second of the two semi-finals contested the final, the third and fourth the small final. Women and men were judged separately. Daniel Federspiel from Austria took the well-deserved victory in the men's race and Antonia Daubermann from Germany in the women's race.

Silvretta MTB King and Queen 2023

Once again this year, there was a battle for the seat on the royal mountain bike throne. To determine their Majesties Silvretta MTB King and Queen as well as Prince and Princess 2023, the times achieved at the M3 Montafon Mountain Bike Marathon on 29 July and the Ischgl Ironbike Marathon on 5 August 2023 were added together to form a total time. The fastest men on the "M³ extreme and Ironbike Extreme" routes and the fastest women on the "M³ extreme and Ironbike Hard" routes were crowned King and Queen in the respective Pro and Amateur classes. The Prince and Princess titles went to the fastest riders on the M² Demanding and Ironbike Medium courses. This year's Silvretta MTB Kings are Sebastian Gesche and Claes Frans. The MTB Prince is Wolfgang Pfister. Milena Kalasová was crowned Silvretta MTB Queen.

Strong young mountain bikers

Just like the grown-ups: At the "Ironbike Kids & Juniors Trophy" on 4 August, 86 kids and juniors aged 5 to 16 proved that they are definitely a force to be reckoned with in the future.