Ischgl Ironbike 2023 Photo Report

From August 4th to 5th, a total of 632 mountain bikers competed for precious seconds at the 28th Ischgl Ironbike. Licensed women and men were free to choose between the Hard and Extreme courses this year. All other participants had the choice of all four courses.
The Ironbike Eliminator on the 1,000-meter circuit through the village and the "Kids & Juniors Trophy" provided thrilling head-to-head races that gave goosebumps to both riders and spectators.

On August 5, 2023, 502 masters, elite, and amateur athletes were able to prove their personal bests at the 28th Ischgl Ironbike Marathon across four different demanding distances.
Participants could choose from the Extreme (71 km/3,200 meters of elevation), Hard (58.3 km /2,580 meters of elevation), Medium (44.7 km /1,890 meters of elevation), and Light (24.9 km / 670 meters of elevation) courses. While licensed riders could only seek their ultimate adrenaline rush on the Hard and Extreme courses, amateur class riders could choose from all four available courses - burning thighs included for everyone.
The women's and men's categories were scored in the Masters and Elite classes, respectively.

In the licensed riders category, 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. In the Masters class, Markus Kaufmann from Germany took the lead with a time of 4:02:23.8.
The winners in the licensed 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, Uwe Hardter from Germany reached the podium with a time of 3:30:41.0.
On the Medium distance, David Sambale from Germany with a time of 2:17:04.8 and Anna Schmidt from Germany with a time of 3:04:15.9 prevailed.
Gold on the Light course was fought for and won by Dominik Guggenberger from Germany with a time of 1:02:31.4 and Paulina Spindler from Germany with a time of 1:10:27.3.

The Eliminator was well received with a total of 32 participants. The starting signal for the qualification in the individual time trial was given early on Friday, where the competitors, without class distinction, fought through Ischgl on the 1,000-meter circuit at the Palio at 30-second intervals.
Based on the achieved time, the four-person heats were assigned and thus the respective opponents for the actual race. The first two riders of each group advanced to the next round. The finals were contested by the first and second of the two semi-finals, while the third and fourth placed contested in the consolation final. Men and women were scored separately.
Daniel Federspiel from Austria earned a well-deserved victory among the men and Antonia Daubermann from Germany among the women.

Also already in action on Friday were “the little ones”. At the “Ironbike Kids & Juniors Trophy” on August 4, 86 kids and juniors aged 5 to 16 proved that they will definitely be a force to reckon with in the future. And not just because they once again had to brave cool weather to complete their laps on the age-appropriate adapted courses.

And last but not least, this year the battle for the seat on the royal mountain bike throne was fought again. In order to determine their Majesties Silvretta MTB King and Queen as well as Prince and Princess 2023, the times achieved at the M3 Montafon Mountainbike Marathon on July 29 and at the Ischgl Ironbike Marathon on August 5, 2023, were added together to a total time.
Crowned as King and Queen were the fastest on the courses “M³ extreme and Ironbike Extreme” for the men and “M³ extreme and Ironbike Hard” for the women in the respective classes Pros and Amateur. The titles of Prince and Princess went to the fastest on the courses “M² challenging and Ironbike Medium”.
This year's Silvretta MTB Kings are Sebastian Gesche and Claes Frans. The MTB Prince is Niklas Gathof. Milena Kalasová was crowned Silvretta MTB Queen.

Here are the results
More information at www.ischglironbike.com.