Cycling marathon (road)

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A bike marathon is an organized long-distance bike ride that takes place over a day or several days without stages. They are often referred to as Velothon , such as B. the Velothon Berlin .

Cycle marathons are held as cycle races , public races or even without competition. If they are held as a cycle race, they cannot be entered in the international racing calendar of the World Cycling Federation , but only in the calendar of the national associations.

International cycling marathons

Well-known international cycling marathons are the Austrian Ötztal cycling marathon over four Alpine passes or its Swiss counterpart, the Alpenbrevet .

An extreme variant is the Race Across America (RAAM), which is over 5000 km long and takes the form of a race from the US west to the east coast. A qualification for RAAM in Europe, for example, offers the Swiss cycle marathon .

Since 2013, the discharged Transcontinental Race (TCR) leads over from 3200 to 4200 km from London and Flanders over the Alps to Istanbul or Meteora . In 2019 the start was in Burgas and the finish in Brest . The route is not specified, but defined route points have to be passed. In 2015, for example, these were Mont Ventoux - Strada dell'Assietta - Vukovar - Mount Lovćen . The 2019 race was won as the first woman ever, Fiona Kolbinger .

Cycling marathons in Germany

In German road cycling, bike tours for hobby riders are called a bike marathon, according to the definition of the BDR , if they are at least 200 kilometers long. There is no timekeeping. Well-known events are for example the Black Forest Ultra Radmarathon (SURM) in Alpirsbach, the Rhön-Radmarathon in Bimbach, the Siegerland-Radmarathon in Krombach, the 3-Seen Radmarathon in Korbach and the Mecklenburg Lakes Tour near Neubrandenburg.

In Germany there are several cycling marathons that are run across countries. For example, the Gardaman covers 620 km from Nuremberg to Lake Garda. The FichKona is also known nationwide , with 601 km from the Ore Mountains to the Baltic Sea being driven every year.

Cycling marathons in Austria

Participants in the Wachau Bicycle Days 2018 shortly after the Danube bridge in Melk

The so-called Wachau Cycle Days have been held annually in Austria since 1999. At the first edition of the cycling event in 1999, only a few hundred participants started the race in the Krems city ​​park . Today up to 2000 people take part in the various competitions every July. The Wachau Cycle Days are now one of the largest and best-known popular cycling events in Austria. As part of the Wachau Cycle Days, three different routes (approx. 50 km, 100 km and 150 km) through the UNESCO World Heritage Site Wachau and the Waldviertel are offered. All three competitions start simultaneously in Mautern on the Danube , creating one of the largest pelotons in Austria. On the longest of the three routes has the Jauerling , the highest mountain in the Wachau be defeated. The mountain queen and mountain king are determined by means of a mountain rating. The former Austrian cyclist Bernhard Rassinger acts as race director at the Wachauer Radtage. For several years the cycling event was also the venue for the ÖRV Radmarathon Austria Championship, the official state cycling championship for amateur cyclists. In 2014 the event was awarded the Event Award by the state of Lower Austria as one of the leading events in the state. Since 2016, a children's bike race has also been held as part of the Wachauer Radtage, which is organized by the Union cycling team Pielachtal . In 2018 internationally known professional cyclists will be invited due to the 20th anniversary of the sporting event.

From 2014 to 2016 the Gran Fondo Giro d'Italia Vienna took place every year. This was an official event of the Giro d'Italia amateur racing series and Austria's only city bike marathon. In the race, you could choose between two distances - the Medio Fondo and the Gran Fondo. Both routes ran through downtown Vienna and Lower Austria . The start and finish was in front of the Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna's Prater . In 2017, the Gran Fondo Giro d'Italia Vienna was not approved by the competent authority of the City of Vienna ( Municipal Department 46 ) and could therefore not take place. A continuation of the cycling event is planned from 2018. The In Velo Veritas , a race for everyone, has also been taking place in the Weinviertel since 2013 .

Brevets and Audax in France

The so-called brevets (also randonnées ) from France , which have their origins in some traditional professional one-day races , are popular worldwide . The best known and most popular brevet with more than 6000 participants is the 1200 km long classic Paris-Brest-Paris , which takes place every four years. Even Bordeaux-Paris km 600 was popular.

The Audax trips, which also come from France and take place in a closed association , are less common . The highlight of the Audax trips is the 1200 km long classic Paris-Brest-Paris , which only takes place every five years.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ cf. www.velothon-majors.com accessed on April 11, 2014
  2. ^ UCI regulations for road cycling, there 2.9.001 "Other Races". (pdf) uci.ch, November 1, 2015, accessed on November 22, 2015 (English).
  3. ↑ From Flanders to the Bosporus - Probably the toughest cycling race in the world. Deutschlandradio Kultur, August 9, 2015, accessed on August 11, 2015.
  4. ↑ TransContinental Race announces 2015 checkpoints. road.cc, October 28, 2014, accessed on August 11, 2015. (English)
  5. ↑ dpa: Fiona Kolbinger leaves all men behind. In: Spiegel Online. August 6, 2019, accessed August 7, 2019 .
  6. ↑ Wachauer Radtage - participation information. In: www.wachauer-radtage.at. Wachauer Radtage, accessed on January 25, 2018 (German, English).
  7. ↑ Wachau cycling days - tender. In: www.wachauer-radtage.at. Wachauer Radtage, accessed on January 5, 2018 (German, English).
  8. ↑ Wachau Cycling Days - Krone Champions Cycling Marathon. In: www.wachauer-radtage.at. Wachauer Radtage, accessed on January 25, 2018 (German, English).
  9. ↑ AMI Promarketing - Wachau Cycling Days. In: www.amipro.at. AMI Promarketing, accessed on January 25, 2018 (German).
  10. ↑ Wachauer Radtage - children's bike races. In: www.wachauer-radtage.at. Wachauer Radtage, accessed on January 25, 2018 (German, English).
  11. ↑ Kristian Bauer: No approval for Granfondo Vienna. In: www.tour-magazin.de. Tour Magazin, April 11, 2014, accessed on January 25, 2018 (German).
  12. ↑ Update Granfondo Vienna. (No longer available online.) In: www.granfondovienna.com. Granfondo Vienna, archived from the original on January 26, 2018 ; accessed on January 25, 2018 (German). 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 / granfondovienna.com