Route and field of competitors
The Carinthia200 event had been sold out for weeks – officially, “just under 2,000” starting places were allocated. A glance at the results table reveals that just over 1,400 men and women actually took part. During the race, participants decided which distance they wanted to ride. After the first loop in Villach, they could either cross the finish line or add a second loop via Bad Bleiberg and back over the Windische Höhe. At the finish of the short distance, 861 women and men were recorded in the results list, whilst for the long distance the figure was 539. Strikingly, there was not a single DNF entry among the women on the long course – all female starters reached the finish line. The finish rate was also very high among the men, with only a few failing to cross the finish line. Austria provided the most participants, followed by Germany, Slovenia, Hungary and Italy.
174 participants came from the eleven municipalities along the route, more than 100 of them from Villach. The route ran from the Drau Bridge in Villach via Matschiedl, the Windische Höhe, Zlan, Feistritz an der Drau, Bad Bleiberg and Labientschach to Kerschdorf. Those who weren’t lining the route followed the action via live tracking.
Winner from Austria at Carinthia200
Wolfgang Krenn emerged victorious in the inaugural Carinthia200. The Austrian won after a tactically contested race in which the leading group was whittled down on the second lap. Over the final 30 to 40 kilometres, a group of three remained, from which Krenn emerged as the strongest. In the women’s race, the Austrian Carina Ziegler took the honours, having tackled the demanding route over the Windische Höhe and through the Drau Valley the fastest.
Carinthia200 results
In the men’s race, Wolfgang Krenn was followed by a tightly bunched field. The race was only decided in the final kilometres. In the women’s race, Carina Ziegler won by a clear margin. After the race, the winner highlighted the special atmosphere along the route, where crowds were cheering on the field at every key point.
Carinthia105 results
Arno Kaspret from Team Special Bike Pörtschach won the shorter 105-kilometre race in the men’s category in a time of 2:45:09.6 hours. Michael Kanduth from BSG Bike Syndikat Graz followed in second place, just 0.3 seconds behind. Michael Rieger from sv-doellach completed the podium, 1.4 seconds behind the winner.
In the women’s race, Franziska Zuder from SC Mirnock won in a time of 2:51:16.9 hours. Anna Bäuchler from ZONE 2|5 crossed the finish line in 2:51:18.7 hours, missing out on victory by 1.8 seconds. Marlies Feichtenhofer from BSG Bike Syndikat Graz took third place in 2:53:44.4 hours.
Carinthia’s cycling coordinator, Paco Wrolich, and former biathlete Julian Eberhard took part in the Carinthia105. Sports ambassadors Nici Schmidhofer, Elisabeth Görgl, Andreas Goldberger, Christoph Sumann, and Sabine and Alexander Payer also completed the race.
Organisation and Safety
From the early hours of the morning, 600 volunteers manned the start and finish lines, the refreshment stations and 16 road crossings. Volunteer fire brigades, sports clubs, village youth associations and mining societies from all eleven municipalities along the route were stationed at junctions and key locations. The emergency services worked alongside the police, ambulance services and local authorities. The event took place without any serious incidents.
Thousands of spectators lined the streets at eight official spectator hotspots along the route. Fire brigades, inns and local clubs organised food, music and commentary. Race director Patrick Schörkmayer highlighted the exemplary cooperation during the preparations and along the route.
Significance for tourism
The organiser emphasises the economic significance of the event for the region. According to a press release, the event weekend generated around 6,000 overnight stays in the region. Guests from the key source markets spent several days in the region and took part in social rides, the expo and the Ambassadors’ Evening in Villach town centre. The region has been promoting mountain biking through its lake.bike brand for ten years. With the Carinthia200, it is expanding its profile to include road cycling. Managing Director Georg Overs sees the event as the first major step towards developing road cycling under this brand. For Kärnten Werbung, the competition is a strategic building block in positioning the region as a cycling destination.
Kristian Bauer
Editor