More starters and more emotions made the granite marathon a sports festival

2023-05-28 16:00:00

If there were a catalog from which the organizers of mountain bike events could order their ideal conditions, the organizing team of the Granitmarathon would have ordered exactly what happened around Kleinzell on the Pentecost weekend: Around 23 degrees, sunshine, dry ground conditions, a frenetic audience and a significantly larger starting field compared to last year. A total of 220 children and 600 adults took part on Saturday and Sunday. This represents a significant increase in the number of participants compared to last year.

“A very pleasing development. After the compulsory Corona break in 2020 and 2021, we had to put up with a damper on registrations last year. The fact that things are going uphill again is a nice signal and a great reward for the work of the OK team and the around 400 volunteers in Kleinzell and our partner communities Altenfelden, Lembach and Putzleinsdorf.”

Already on Saturday the young bikers were in the center of interest at the ASVÖ Junior Granite Challenge. In the U13, U15 and U17 classes, the “technology sprint powered by PopaFlo” initially required a feel for the bike. The youngsters had to complete eight obstacles with the bike on time. The reward for a faultless and fast drive was front grid positions on the grid – just like in qualifying in Formula 1.

Around noon it was the turn of the young bikers at the ASVÖ Junior Granite Challenge. Starting with the U7 (about 1 kilometer, 15 meters in altitude), the route length to be covered increased via the U9, U11, U13, U15 and U17. A total of 220 young bikers swept through the mountain bike arena in Kleinzell. The U17s have already completed 15 kilometers with 540 meters in altitude. The fact that the ASVÖ Junior Granite Challenge was again part of the Austrian Youngster Cup this year not only made many kids happy, but also those responsible for the young talent competitions: Participants from all over Austria as well as from the Czech Republic and Hungary were at the start.

As usual, the classic granite marathon distances got down to business on Sunday. The organizers had prepared five competitions – with the “Raiffeisen Xtreme” over 90 kilometers and 3100 meters in altitude as the supreme discipline. Last year’s national champion, Daniel Geismayr, was also at the starting line. Geismayr did full justice to this role as a favourite. With a time of 3:54:56, he was a good two minutes ahead of his closest pursuer, Alexander Stadler. Third place went to Finland with Toni Täthi. Local hero Caroline Neumüller secured victory for the women. With a time of 5:19:16 she clearly prevailed over the Italian Bianca Morvillo.

There were the usual large starting fields for the other distances: the “Intersport Pötscher Classic” over 60 kilometers and 2,000 meters in altitude, the “Lang:Bau Small” over 49 kilometers and the “Granitland Light” over 26 kilometers. “Thanks to these different routes, there is something for every mountain biker in Kleinzell year after year. It is very important to us that we do not hold a purely elite event here. Beginners should get their money’s worth with us just as much as ambitious amateurs,” says Jürgen Scalet, head of the OK team, explaining the “philosophy” of the granite marathon.

Every year there is also the “Energie AG mountain sprint”, in which the fastest mountain time riders are determined. 2 track sections are measured separately. The fastest can look forward to a juicy prize money treat. It is the same route sections that are evaluated for the e-bike challenge. For the second time, the booming e-bike scene will also be offered a race. 26 kilometers have to be completed. The time is only measured on the two long uphill passages.

• Raiffeisen X-Treme, 90 kilometers, 3,100 meters in altitude: Caroline Neumüller / Daniel Geismayr
• Intersport Pötscher Classic, 60 kilometers, 2,000 meters in altitude: Clara Sommer / Raphael Hammerschmid
• Long: Bau Small, 49 kilometers, 1,500 meters in altitude Nadja Heigl / Martin Schätzl
• Granitland Light, 26 kilometers, 700 meters in altitude Lea Krempl / Jan Dirisamer
• High-Voltage E-Bike-Challenge Christoph Guba