Jacob Zurl

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Jacob Zurl Road cycling
Jacob Zurl in the Himalayas 2014
Jacob Zurl in the Himalayas 2014
To person
Date of birth May 15, 1988
nation AustriaAustria Austria
discipline Road , mountain bike
Driver type Randonneur
height 178 cm
Racing weight 72-74 kg
To the team
Current team RC Raaba
Societies)
since 2008 RC Raaba
Most important successes
Ultra bike marathon

• Glocknerman 2014 (World Champion)

World records

• 48h altitude record 2012 (28,788.56 m)
• Manali-Leh-Highway 2014 (38 hours 40 minutes)
• Crossing Cuba in 2017 (58 hours 48 minutes)

Last updated: April 23, 2017

Jacob Zurl (born May 15, 1988 in Deutschlandsberg , Austria ) is an Austrian extreme athlete and long-distance cyclist . His most outstanding achievements include the 48-hour altitude difference record from 2012 as well as the Himalayan crossing on the Manali-Leh Highway in 2014 and the crossing of Cuba in 2017.

biography

At the age of eight, Jacob Zurl learned to sail from his father . Then he began to sail for the Nautic Club Austria in the boat class Optimist regattas . At 16, he switched to the laser class and took part in the European championships once. Towards the end of his school years, he turned his back on sailing and began cycling after inheriting an old steel model, a half-burner, from his deceased great-uncle. In 2008 Zurl joined the Raaba cycling club and gained first experience in club races . Two years later he started long-distance driving by intensifying his training and taking part in various brevets . His first success was the 24-hour race in Fohnsdorf , where he finished fifth after 130 laps and 646 kilometers.

In 2011, Zurl first took part in the Glocknerman , the official world championship in the ultra cycling marathon . After more than 1,000 kilometers and an altitude of 16,000 meters, he reached the finish in fourth and also became the youngest finisher in the history of the competition. In the same year he graduated as the best and so far the youngest Austrian long-distance race Paris-Brest-Paris and tried in the Salzkammergut Trophy in mountain biking .

48-hour altitude difference world record

In 2012 Jacob Zurl was able to enter himself in the Guinness Book of Records for the first time . In his home town of Weinitzen at the foot of the Schöckl , between April 20 and 22, 2012, he climbed 28,789 vertical meters ( rounded upwards) within 48 hours - that's more than three times the height of Mount Everest - and outbid Wolfgang Mader from Tyrol , who had previously been in 2011 had set a world record. For the new record, Zurl needed 164 driveways of 1.8 kilometers each over a road with an average gradient of 9.8%. After every ascent and every subsequent descent, Zurl turned across the street. Part of the time he drove in pouring rain.

On the same Rinneggerstraße, which is officially closed, but on a 2.1 km longer section (Gasthaus Windischhansl, Weinitzen to Gasthaus Paar, Rinnegg ) with 206.7 m and an average gradient of 9.9%, the "cycling twins" had Horst and Gernot Turnowsky from Raaba near Graz previously set a 24-hour world record with 20,049.9 meters in altitude from June 30th to July 1st, 2007.

Zurl's record was broken in August 2015 by Craig Cannon from and in California with 29,623.3 m.

In May 2017, Thomas Mauerhofer improved his record on a circuit in Anger (Styria) with 31,138 m.

In June 2018, Stefan Wagner from Waidhofen an der Ybbs on the Sonntagberg (Amstetten district) reached even more with an altitude of 31,891 meters.

By July 28, 2019, 33-year-old Patric Grüner from Längenfeld in the Ötztal had made a good 161 (162?) Ascents and thus 36,900 on the Ötztal Glacier Road in Sölden, specifically a stretch of 1.87 kilometers in length and 227 meters in altitude up to the junction to Hochsölden Altitude.

Endurance racing

After his successful altitude record, Zurl turned back to endurance racing. In 2013 he finished third as a rookie behind Joachim Ladler and Severin Zotter in the Race Around Austria . He followed up with a second place in the Glocknerman and, as the best placed U30 participant, was crowned ultra cycling marathon world champion, after having retired the previous year with pulmonary edema . In 2014 he even topped this result and won the prestigious race for the first time.

Himalayan crossing

Level passage at around 4000 m between Leh and Sarchu

In August 2014, Zurl realized an idea from his extreme sports colleague and mentor Rudi Stangl . He was the first person to overcome the Manali-Leh Highway by bicycle , one of the highest roads in the world in the style of long-distance races with a support vehicle and supplies. He needed a total of 38 hours and 40 minutes for the 500-kilometer route through the Indian region of Ladakh . He crossed eight mountain passes and climbed 13,500 meters in altitude before he reached the goal at Khardung La ( 5360  m ). The average altitude of 4000 meters above sea level turned out to be a particular physical challenge and made itself felt by the fact that Zurl's oxygen saturation temporarily fell below 70 percent. Nevertheless, he refrained from supplying additional oxygen. Another problem for Zurl and his team was the typical traffic jams on the route, which was considered particularly dangerous, and made it difficult for the refreshment vehicle to move forward. In the few breaks, the enormous psychological stress became apparent.

Cuba Coast to Coast

Jacob Zurl in Cuba 2015

Zurl was motivated by reports and a trip to Cuba to drive along the main island of Cuba.

In December 2015, Zurl had to cancel his next project, crossing Cuba (Coast to Coast) in less than 55 hours, due to a dengue fever infection shortly before the start. After it had taken him a year to get fit again, he caught up with the venture in April 2017. Zurl narrowly missed his time target, but completed the 1,450 kilometers from Maisí in the east of the country to the lighthouse on the western tip of Cabo de San Antonio in a first record time of 58 hours and 48 minutes. The shortest possible route of about 1250 km was denied him by a damaged bridge on the north side of the eastern part of the island. In April Cuba has higher and more stressful temperatures than in December.

While crossing the Caribbean island, he burned about 30,000 calories, only took two short massage and sleep breaks, and battled muscle pain, microsleep and hallucinations . 150 km from the finish he had to pass . On October 17, 2017, Zurl showed a picture and video presentation of the ride for the first time. He was filmed by a friend using a tablet , while Jacob's girlfriend and his parents also drove in the eight-seat escort bus. Mother and girlfriend prepared the liquid food on the bus, based on potato dishes cooked in Cuba. The high humidity and temperatures above 30 ° C proved to be particularly stressful.

The frame and fork were made of carbon fiber , the racing bike with a plug-in mudguard was chain- shifted , and both wheels were hydraulically disc- braked . On the particularly mountainous route in the eastern part, the brake pads wore out in the dirt and rain and had to be replaced, the brakes had to be adjusted repeatedly, as well as the handlebars (with trailer), which repeatedly turned downwards in its clamp, as impacts were introduced through potholes . Uneven road surfaces and holes demanded full concentration. Jacob Zurl himself acted as the main mechanic on his bike. He fell once - on a railway track laid in concrete, on a hole, without being able to remember the exact cause. A laceration on the side of the chin had to be sewn with several stitches . During the journey, Zurl listened to music to stimulate himself - often a single song in a loop.

The bike ride was supported by the Cuban ambassador in Vienna. The Republic of Cuba provided an escort with two police officers on the motorcycle, and through streets in cities were kept clear for the cyclist for a short time with barriers. An ambulance with a doctor accompanied the tour medically.

other activities

Since 2015, Jacob Zurl has been one of the organizers of the Schlossbergman , an individual time trial on the Graz Schloßberg , which is considered an unofficial prologue to the Glocknerman. He also studies geodesy and surveying at the Graz University of Technology .

Jacob Zurl has been offering the organization of bike rides on the high mountain route over the Himalayas that he travels since 2017.

successes

The list contains a selection of the most important achievements of Jacob Zurl.

2010

2011

2012

  • 48-hour altitude difference world record (28,788.56 m, 590 km)

2013

  • Glocknerman: 2nd place, U30 world champion (1015 km, 16,000 m ascent in 37 hours 3 minutes)
  • Race Around Austria : 3rd place, Rookie of the Year (2158 km, 28,000 m ascent in 99 hours 33 minutes)

2014

  • Glocknerman: 1st place, ultra cycling marathon world champion (1010 km, 17,000 m ascent in 38 hours 46 minutes)
  • Manali-Leh-Highway : World record (540 km, 13,500 m ascent in 38 hours 40 minutes)

2017

  • East-west crossing of Cuba ( Coast to Coast ): World record (1450 km in 58 hours 48 minutes)

Web links

Commons : Jacob Zurl  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Profile of Jacob Zurl. Jacob Zurl, accessed April 2, 2016 .
  2. ↑ a b c d e successes. Jacob Zurl, accessed April 2, 2016 .
  3. ↑ Cycling - most vertical meters in 48 hours. (No longer available online.) In: Guinness World Records. Archived from the original on May 9, 2016 ; accessed on May 9, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.guinnessworldrecords.com
  4. ↑ Compare Everesting by endurance cyclists : Everesting> The Rules Hells 500, accessed May 30, 2017.
  5. ↑ Three times to the top of Mount Everest - in 48 hours. ORF , April 20, 2012, accessed on April 6, 2016 .
  6. ↑ Twins set a world record in altitude. ARGUS Steiermark, July 1, 2007, accessed on May 30, 2017 .
  7. ↑ 24 hour altitude difference world record 2007. radzwillinge.at, 2007, accessed on June 1, 2017 .
  8. ↑ Cycling - most vertical meters in 48 hours (male). Guinness World Records , accessed May 30, 2017 .
  9. ↑ Extreme cyclist set a world record in altitude. ORF , May 28, 2017, accessed on May 28, 2017 .
  10. ↑ New world record in altitude meters set orf.at, June 17, 2018, accessed June 21, 2018.
  11. ↑ Patric Grüner - 48 H world record attempt (bike) balancer.pentek-timing.at, via: https://www.patric-gruener.at/ueber-mich.html
  12. ↑ Ötztal cyclist sets world altitude record orf.at, July 28, 2019, accessed July 29, 2019.
  13. ^ The High Road. HENX Film und Video GesbR, accessed on April 6, 2016 .
  14. ^ The High Road - Nonstop Across the Himalayas. Documentary film , HENX 2015 Director / Editor / Book: Nils cold Schmidt & Vincent Seidl, in the March 26, 2016 ORF SPORT + broadcast ( trailer ).
  15. ↑ With the cross bike non-stop through Cuba. Update: Jacob Zurl falls ill - record attempt canceled. (No longer available online.) Our newspaper - Die Demokratische, December 14, 2015, archived from the original on April 6, 2016 ; Retrieved April 6, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.unsere-zeitung.at
  16. ↑ Extreme cyclist Zurl rode through Cuba in two days. ORF , April 22, 2017, accessed on April 23, 2017 .
  17. ↑ Record ride: Extreme cyclist crosses Cuba in two days mik / dpa, spiegel.de, April 22, 2017, accessed April 24, 2017.
  18. ↑ a b c Presentation by tour operator el mundo in the UCI Kinocenter Annenstraße, Graz on October 17, 2017.
  19. ↑ Schlossbergman. (No longer available online.) RC Glocknerman / LRV Steiermark, archived from the original on April 6, 2016 ; Retrieved April 6, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.glocknerman.at
personal data
SURNAME Zurl, Jacob
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian extreme athlete
DATE OF BIRTH May 15, 1988
PLACE OF BIRTH Deutschlandsberg , Austria