Photos: Ischgl Ironbike Kids & Junior Trophy + Short Track 2026
10.08.26 09:04 32026-08-10T09:04:00+02:00Text: Pressetext, Erwin Haiden (translated by AI)Photos: Erwin Haiden, Lukas SalzerBefore the blue-riband distance calls on Saturday, Friday belongs to short, fast fun - and to the youngsters. Two German wins in the Short Track right in the middle of the village, a bitter crash for serial winner Daniel Federspiel, and around 150 kids at the start: the Ironbike need not worry about its future.10.08.26 09:04 432026-08-10T09:04:00+02:00Photos: Ischgl Ironbike Kids & Junior Trophy + Short Track 2026
10.08.26 09:04 432026-08-10T09:04:00+02:00 Pressetext, Erwin Haiden (translated by AI) Erwin Haiden, Lukas SalzerBefore the blue-riband distance calls on Saturday, Friday belongs to short, fast fun - and to the youngsters. Two German wins in the Short Track right in the middle of the village, a bitter crash for serial winner Daniel Federspiel, and around 150 kids at the start: the Ironbike need not worry about its future.10.08.26 09:04 432026-08-10T09:04:00+02:00
Five years old. At that age, other kids still have training wheels sitting in the cellar - at the Ischgl Ironbike, there's already a race number hanging off the handlebar. Around 150 young participants lined up this year for the Ironbike Kids & Juniors Trophy - a new record according to the organiser, and a rather heartening one at that.
Because before the adults later in the day set about elbowing each other around in the Short Track, the course belonged to the youngsters. No entry fee, and therefore as low an entry barrier as possible, as Thomas Köhle, managing director of the Paznaun-Ischgl tourism board, points out. The youngest participant was just five years old.
We definitely don't need to worry about the next generation, and therefore about the future of mountain bike sport.
Thomas Köhle, managing director of the Paznaun – Ischgl tourism board.
Short Track women
After the youngsters, the pace then predictably changed gears. In the women's Short Track, German rider Luisa Daubermann came out on top. Behind her, though, one rider provided a small surprise: Franziska Ehrenreich took second place on her MTB debut.
Ehrenreich actually comes from the road and rides for Tirol Women Cycling. She apparently didn't need much time to get used to wide tyres, loose ground and the rather different rhythm of off-road riding. Behind her, Claudia Peretti rounded out the podium in third.
Just how well Ehrenreich really coped with the unfamiliar terrain, though, would only become clear a day later. At the big Ironbike marathon on Saturday she went one better still on the Hard distance - but more on that in our second follow-up report.
Short Track men
For a rider who usually knows exactly how winning works in Ischgl, though, the short working day ended roughly: Daniel Federspiel crashed shortly before the finish and thus missed out on the fight for the podium.
That's Short Track for you. Little time for tactics, hardly any chance to undo a mistake, and correspondingly plenty of action packed into a tight space. Great for photography, somewhat less relaxing for the riders.
With that, the first part of the Ironbike weekend was in the books. On Saturday, the short, intense laps turned into up to 83.5 kilometres and 3,400 metres of elevation gain. And a few names from Friday would go on to turn up right near the front there too.
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