Photo Report: KitzAlpBike Festival 2023

Pouring rain at the start, a mud battle on the Choralpe, dense fog during the climb to the Mausefalle: The 27th edition of the KitzAlpBike Marathon turned out to be a real endurance test.
The Lower Austrian Michael Holland coped best with the difficult conditions, managing to prevail on the ultra-distance of 86 kilometers and 3,600 meters of altitude in a time of 4:22:08.1 against the German Matthias Alberti and the Styrian Manuel Pliem: "In winter, I much prefer watching the Mausefalle on TV from the couch than riding it on the bike today," joked Holland at the finish.
The Lower Austrian managed to pull away from his pursuers already on the first ascent to the Choralpe. But also for the ninth-placed and thus best Austrian of the recently concluded Alpentour, who knows the KitzAlpBike from his youth days, it was a real endurance test: "Today was certainly one of the tougher races. But I really enjoyed the last descent over the Fleckalm trail. Ten years ago, I competed here in the youth races in Cross Country, and that naturally reminded me of it," said the ultra-winner.

In the women's category, German Gloria Baier-Hänsel celebrated a commanding start-to-finish victory, with over a 13-minute lead over the runner-up Bianca Sommavilla: "The KitzAlpBike is my absolute favorite race. I've also been able to win here before and have nothing but good memories. Today was spectacular, emerging from the fog and seeing the spectators on the Choralpe and at the Hahnenkamm."

A noteworthy success was achieved by Marion Aufinger from Westendorf, who reached the finish line of the Ultra distance at the Fleckalmbahn in Kirchberg as the third lady.

Despite the whims of the weather, the organizers can also draw a positive conclusion. Included in the program of the four-day bike spectacle in the Brixental valley were familiar events such as the Vaude HillClimb Brixen and the highlight Mountainbike Marathon, as well as some new faces.
With the Funduro Kirchberg, the festival expanded its repertoire this year to include a fun-focused competition in the enduro format, which is a mix of timed stages and non-timed transfer sections. In the women's category, Fabbris Livia took the victory, and in the men's, Ladstätter Günther won.
Furthermore, the youth made their comeback at the KitzAlpBike Festival with the KitzAlpBike technical Kids Race and a bike skills course in Westendorf. The latter was held as part of the Schau Zuichi market, where trial ace Stefan Eberharter also demonstrated his extraordinary skills during a show.

"A big thank you goes to our 300 volunteers, the over 80 landowners, the SkiWelt mountain railways, and the Kitzbühel mountain railway. They all support us every year in an unprecedented way. Without their help, such a series of events would never be possible," explained Christoph Stöckl, Managing Director of TVB Brixental.

To the results