The Salzkammerguttrophy, Austria's largest MTB event, is almost a fixture in the race calendar, and like every year I started on the "D route". The SKGT offers athletes the opportunity to test their strength on 7 different routes and distances (A = e.g. 210km).
For me as an Xterra specialist, only route D comes into question, as it is the route with the most single trail and less on the road or forest path.
The starting gun went off at 11 a.m. in Bad Ischl, a beautiful old town. Due to my performance in recent years, I was allowed to start the race with starting number 2, which motivated me to give it my all. I was able to put a lot of pressure on the first trails and up the first mountain. Halfway through the race I was in 3rd place overall. The weather was perfect and the temperature was around 20 degrees. My tactics and nutrition were good, but on the last climb I had to slow down a bit and slipped to 4th place. A route peppered with technical downhills, streams, slippery roots and stones, extremely steep uphills made it a really demanding day in the saddle.
When I got to the top, I was looking forward to the final downhill, which was only about 8km more or less flat towards the finish in Bad Goisern.
But then it happened like in 2023, cramps in my thighs forced me to stop because it was no longer possible to keep pedaling. As I tried to relieve the pressure on my legs at the edge of the track, 2 competitors passed me. I managed to get rid of the cramps and crossed the finish line in 6th place. As a reward, I was given first place in the M30 category.