Balaton Gravel Derby 2026: 371 Tough Kilometres in Pictures

Badacsony lies on the northern shore of Balaton, nestled between the lake and vineyards. That was where the weekend really began the day before, as the Kenda Leg Loosener offered one last chance to get the legs moving properly before the next morning’s initially relaxed spin got serious rather quickly.

There’s no huge expo, miles of crowd barriers or event circus here. Kenda, Shimano, a food truck, race number collection – done. Simon describes the organisation as “small but perfectly formed”, with good communication and everything running smoothly. Stefan, who only just made registration at 19:45 the evening before, was equally happy with the organisation. You can tell that the Balaton Gravel Derby is run by the same people behind the Hungarian Divide.

Anyone expecting a flat cruise along the shore at the sight of Lake Balaton is quickly taught otherwise. At 6 a.m., the route heads out of Badacsony and practically straight into the vineyards. Stefan talks of wonderful 20% ramps and delightful leg openers for the remaining 360-plus kilometres. Alternatively, of course, you could simply kick-start your system with an espresso...

Simon and Markus had meticulously studied the route beforehand: checked the elevation profile, combed through Komoot photos, done all their homework. It only helped so much, because the climbs were considerably tougher in the flesh than the profile suggested: steep, often well into double-digit gradients and frequently paired with loose surfaces for good measure.

At least the sunrise, vineyards and recurring views of the lake gave the eyes something in return; the legs had other things to worry about at that point.

Stefan describes those same sections south of Balaton as incredibly exhausting to ride. Then there were the long, exposed straights and the wind. An interesting mix: fast in principle, but in practice constantly interrupted by sections where the course showed its teeth.

The organiser calls it a mix of Champagne Gravel, open roads, loose, steep climbs, technical sections and the now infamous Sand Pit. The description is accurate – although when it comes to Champagne Gravel, it is probably best not to dwell on the champagne for too long.

At around kilometre 100, Stefan and Kirin reached the first of three feed stations. For an event conceived as fundamentally unsupported, that may initially seem odd, but in practice, given the sparse infrastructure along the route, the stations were anything but a luxury. Later, they even found a café. Espresso, ice cream, cola and – according to Kirin – probably the best cake in the world.

After several hours in the saddle, however, culinary objectivity is a rather flexible concept.

Despite everything, a time under 20 hours was still within reach for Stefan and Kirin. Slowly, the finish was taking on a concrete time.

Further up the road, Simon and Markus had long since been left to their own devices. Their group had kept shrinking over many kilometres until, after around 250 km, the two of them finally continued alone.

What had started as race tactics had by now become a pretty simple routine: pedal, eat, drink, pick a line, repeat.

Shortly before 10 pm, they reached the third feed station. Kirin had already completed his longest ride to date, with around 100 kilometres still ahead of them. At least the heat disappeared with the sun – and, conveniently, darkness also hid just how long the next climb would drag on.

Deer, foxes and badgers now replaced the spectators. Tarmac remained in short supply.

After 350 kilometres, every Garmin warning of an approaching "unpaved road" began to have a certain psychological effect. Palms, wrists and backsides apparently agreed on their assessment of the situation. The fact that, even at this stage, the organisers had still managed to find rough, off-camber washboard sections heading uphill at least shows consistency.

At some point, Badacsony emerged from the night once more. At 1:30 am, after 19 hours and 33 minutes, Stefan and Kirin crossed the finish line: 31st overall and fifth in the team category.

A few high fives, a little chat with the organisers – and then? Hotel, shower, bed?

Not quite.

The pair decided to set off immediately on the roughly two-and-a-half-hour drive home to Graz. By then, they had been awake for around 26 hours but, after 371 gravel kilometres, were apparently still sufficiently wired. Some decisions do not need explaining. You just need to survive them.