Photo Report Graz Bike Festival Stattegg

The Graz region is known for hosting its own cycling festivals: Four Austrian National Championships took place within four weeks on and around the Schöckl. And in all competitions, there were world-class local athletes, Olympic and European or World Championship participants at the start. Of course, there were also some local heroes from Styria and the Graz region, as well as the complete Stattegg youth armada.

The first station, the Schöckl Downhill including National Championship, and the second, the Graz Bike-Opening Stattegg, are already history; the Graz Bike-Festival Stattegg took place last weekend as the last major event with double National Championships and a generally large cross-country affair. After all, the competitions were considered a dress rehearsal for Austria's Olympic candidates!
And here it must be acknowledged without envy: They came, they saw, and they conquered. Laura Stigger twice, Max Foidl and Mona Mitterwallner each once. But step by step ...

The three days of pure mountain bike action started on Friday afternoon with the Short Track discipline. In the Höllbach Arena, which offered perfect visibility for the audience, the youth classes started at 3:00 PM in the sweltering heat, followed by the elite competing for the national championship titles in this thrilling sprint discipline.

Laura Stigger celebrated a clear start-to-finish victory after her biggest competitor, Tamara Wiedmann, fell at an obstacle in the first lap and lost several positions. However, the Tyrolean delivered a great comeback, ultimately rewarded with silver in a duel with Katharina Sadnik from Carinthia.

Barely had the women's race - wisely rescheduled - concluded in dry conditions, it got wet in the Höllbach Arena. A thunderstorm swept over the track in Stattegg, so severe that the men's competition had to be postponed to the next day. Almost 24 hours later than planned, the title went to Alexander Hammerle, who prevailed in an exciting battle by a few seconds over Julius Scherrer and Lukas Hatz. Favorite Foidl finished fourth ahead of junior Hofer.

Fortunately, all other categories had already gone off as planned.

Michael Hettegger won in the U17, and in the girls' category of this age group, Johanna Piringer took the victory. Sandra Pink and Lorenz Galli won the U15 races. And in the U13, Galli's sister Lena and the Carinthian Moritz Glaboniat were successful.

New day, new mission: Triple the race duration and course length, and compete on a storm-soaked track instead of in the Short Track, now in the Olympic Cross Country for the medals.
With Laura Stigger and Maximilian Foidl, elite gold fittingly went to an athlete and a competitor who will be starting in Paris in two weeks. The third Olympian in the group, Mona Mitterwallner, had a flat tire and had to settle for second place instead of her fourth national championship title after initially leading. Tamara Wiedmann completed the Tyrolean podium in third place in the women's category.

In the men's elite category, Foidl secured the title with a clear lead ahead of Daniel Eichmair and Armin Embacher. That the Tyrolean still crossed the finish line with a bloody knee had less to do with boundless effort than with a mishap: Despite a comfortable cushion over his competitors, the KTM racer crashed in the penultimate lap.
The U23 men also left a strong impression, with Julius Scherrer prevailing over Lukas Hatz and Alexander Hammerle. In the juniors, the title stayed in Styria: Anatol Friedl won ahead of Valentin Hofer and Maks Barret Maunz. In the junior women's category, local hero Antonia Grangl triumphed over Leyla Höfer and Nicole Sommer.
The youth classes had their appearance on Sunday morning. From U13 to U17, the youngsters showed that they are more than just to be reckoned with in the coming years.

On the same course as the XCO State Championship, UCI points were contested last but not least on Sunday.
This last race before the Olympics was won by Mona Mitterwallner among the women, with the rest of the podium sounding like a blueprint from Friday: Tamara Wiedmann ahead of Katharina Sadnik. Stigger was no longer at the start.
"I tried some new things on the bike and was able to win confidently. Now the final preparations for the Olympic Games in Paris begin for me,“ said the victorious Tyrolean.

The Styrian Lukas Hatz secured 60 world ranking points among the men and thus his first UCI Elite victory. For the 22-year-old KTM racer, it was more than just a redemption, as a flat tire and a crash had kept him off the top podium spot in the two U23 National Championships. Behind the Slovenian Rok Naglič, another Austrian, Julius Scherrer from Vorarlberg, proved that the red-white-red youngsters handle multiple stresses excellently. Max Foidl, on the other hand, did not compete in the final showdown.

And the fastest in the youth classes were already accustomed to winning in Graz: Anatol Friedl and Maks Barret Maunz ahead of Filip Utranker (SLO) among the juniors, Antonia Grangl and Nicole Sommer among the junior women, with a Czech in between: Lucie Bořánková.