Earlier than setting off on the best journey of his life, 30-year-old Lukas Kaufmann summed up his targets: “I need to attain the end line wholesome and, if doable, end underneath 9 days.”
He managed each impressively. The Kronstorf rider additionally prompted a shock for a very long time, as he led from the primary to the third day till simply earlier than the midway level, forward of the Swedish ex-professional bike owner Jimmy Rönn.
What adopted was a thriller lasting a number of seconds, however the Swede was in a position to draw back decisively as time trialist on the limitless expanses of Kansas. The final day was robust once more, as crew boss Thomas Hölzl stories: “The Appalachian mountain vary within the finale was extraordinarily robust for Lukas, though he is a wonderful climber. However the final 9 days are displaying indicators of damage and tear on him. It was simply up and down, typically up 20 p.c steep ramps. That price him the final little bit of power.”
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Lukas Kaufmann: “It was a lot softer than I imagined”
Kaufmann: “Mentally, it was insane.” Prior to now 9 days, the Higher Austrian recorded a web sleep time of simply 10:15 hours.
“The sleep deprivation and the hallucinations had been excessive. However I discovered it simply as dangerous that I hadn’t eaten something stable for the final 9 days, solely high-calorie liquid meals. The longer you sit on the bike, the more serious it will get. The psychological pressure was actually robust. After which it’s important to drink 15 to twenty liters of liquid day by day. It actually drives you loopy,” says Kaufmann in Atlantic Metropolis. On the end, Lukas was solely 5 hours behind the winner Ronn. Dominik Meierhofer from Salzburg was about two hours behind Kaufmann on the final time station earlier than the end.
The six-time RAAM document winner Christoph Strasser is aware of the race throughout the USA like no different and is smitten by Lukas’ efficiency on his first participation: “Nice respect and heat congratulations for this second place. Lukas rode an extremely sturdy race as a rookie. On the finish he reared up towards Dominik Meierhofer once more. His power within the mountains – that stood him in good stead over the Appalachians. I did not attain the end line in my first RAAM, so I fee his efficiency even larger. Above all, he caught to the sleep technique like an skilled ultra-cyclist. Congratulations additionally to the experience of his crew. They’re the linchpin in retaining downtimes to a minimal. They usually did that higher than anybody else, as a result of Lukas had the shortest downtime of all of the finishers. I used to be hooked for 9 days – thanks for that.”
