E-Bike World Championship 2024 Review

The popular event, where everyone has the chance to snag a world championship title, took place for the fourth time in Ischgl and Galtür this year.
Under dreamlike conditions, more than 1,300 e-bikers from 29 nations, including several well-known professional athletes, started on September 7th. Among them were snowboard world champion Andreas Prommegger, who completed the race with his daughter Laura, as well as former national football player Walter "Schoko" Schachner and Super-G Olympic champion Sigrid Wolf, who were enthusiastic participants.

The E-Bike Fox Hunt took place on Thursday. The role of the bio-biking foxes, pursued by over 50 e-bikers to the Idalp, was taken on this year by ÖSV stars Teresa Stadlober and Andreas Prommegger.
Additionally, an expo with more than 30 exhibitors from the cycling scene, a fun challenge with skill exercises, and a large raffle, where the main prize was an e-bike from the company Simplon, the bike partner of the Paznaun - Ischgl region, ensured entertainment.

Simplon provided us with two e-fullys for the purpose of course inspection and race participation. By the way, this was by no means a press bonus. Rental bikes are available at the E-Bike World Championship for anyone who registers their needs in time.
Paul was riding the Rapcon Pmax Pinion in size XL, and Vanesa rode the Rapcon Pmax CX in size S. And honestly, the technology, especially the Pinion gearbox, blew Paul away! How brilliant is it to shift while standing without having to lift the rear wheel? Just stop, downshift, and off you go. This was a real relief, especially on steep climbs.
And then the wide range of gears! The smallest gear was really small, but the largest gear was huge. Whether uphill or downhill – the gearing was always sufficient. Admittedly, there were these loud shifting noises that initially irritated me because it sounded like something was breaking. But no worries: We were able to take a closer look at the gearbox at the expo area, and it seems thoroughly robust; nothing breaks easily.

We really put the e-bikes to the test during the course review and thoroughly strained the battery. Vanesa rode the scenic race course of 28 km/760 m for a test run using everything the specific Bosch Race Motor on her Rapcon Pmax CX had to offer, with very little of her own effort. It was noticeable that the motor ran very smoothly and gave a decent push again at the end of steep sections to get over the edge of the slope.
Towards the end, we added a few trails from the elite course and a small tour up to the Ischgl's local mountain, the Idalp. At the end of the tour, the Bosch battery still shone with about 45% range. The Pinion battery was consumed much faster, but there is also a 24 kg weight difference between the test subjects.
Nevertheless, Vanesa knew: Completing the race at full motor power would not be a problem. Additionally, her bike was superbly equipped, with high-end Fox Racing Shox suspension and a retractable Fox Racing dropper seat post, both featuring the distinctive gold-colored Kashima Coat look. A true race beast!

On race day, we started around noon. The elite had already started in the morning, with a rather solitary race for the South Tyrolean Barbara Oberhofer - she won with a lead of over five minutes - and also an early decision among the men: The Swiss Linus Gerber quickly pulled away from co-favorite Daniel Klemme from Germany in the internationally strong field and increased his lead to over 2 minutes, before he was able to celebrate a superior victory after 1 hour and 16 minutes.
At this point, we were, of course, primarily curious about how the amateur race would go. One thing in advance: The organization was top-notch! QR codes for the race number distribution, a great expo with everything a biker's heart desires, and contacts everywhere to answer questions.

When the starting shot was fired, the shock came: Paul's battery was not fully charged! No, not the one from the e-bike. The power meter display signaled "low." That really hurt him because one of his motivations behind the race was the opportunity to precisely analyze how his own performance compares to motor performance.
His race became all the more a real tactical affair. The performance question becomes particularly interesting around the 25 km/h limit: If it is exceeded, one must invest exponentially to be minimally faster than the competition, who are still comfortably riding with motor assistance just below the limit. Despite the faltering power meter, Paul tried to maintain consistently high performance and spent most of the time without a motor over 25 km/h - for devastatingly small advantages. At least: He came back from the race with an astonishingly full main battery.

At the end, we both ended up in first place in the general category. This was something Paul, in particular, did not expect, especially since he hasn't trained intensively for a long time.
But the race made one thing clear to us: E-MTB races are about much more than just muscle power. It's about the right strategy, which should match your own rider type, and about finding the sweet spot between motor assistance and your own power output, especially since the 25 km/h limit, which Simplon's race machines also have to adhere to, is quickly reached, and every kilometer per hour above that comes with an exponentially higher watt investment from the legs. And then every second counts, perhaps even more than in bio-bike races, because the differences due to the drive only really show among the frontrunners.
In this respect, an E-bike race is not much different from a conventional race – the best wins here in any case.

The event itself? Top organized. The entire open course was perfectly signposted, as were the elite trails, well spread throughout the entire round were marshals, and the expo was very well attended by cheerful bike enthusiasts from various countries. From the elite to the amateurs, everyone had their fun.
All in all, the E-bike race in Ischgl was a real highlight for us. A perfect mix of fun, sporting challenge, and technology. Our conclusion: Anyone who has never participated in an E-MTB race should definitely try it – it is truly an experience!

The event was organized by the E-Bike World Federation and the Paznaun - Ischgl Tourism Association.
Alexander von der Thannen, chairman of the TVB and himself an elite racer at the start, was pleased afterwards about a successful event: "Once again, it has been shown that the Paznaun - Ischgl tourism region is an excellent e-bike destination. At the E-Bike World Championship, participants were especially challenged on the demanding trails. Congratulations to all finishers."

Next year, the E-Bike World Championship for Everyone will take place from September 4th to 6th, 2025. If you need more motivation to participate besides our warmest recommendations: An e-bike worth 7,199 euros will be raffled among the first 333 registrations!