On 21 September, up to 1400 cyclists will race on closed roads around Lake Attersee at the ASVÖ King of the Lake. Europe's biggest time trial offers the fight against the clock as an individual starter or in a team. Ex-professional Marcus Burghardt starts in the team time trial. The event will be accompanied by a livestream, an extensive expo area and an award ceremony in the marquee, as well as the Marina Autumn Festival.
47.2 kilometres of time trial fun along the lakeside roads of Lake Attersee are a dream come true for every time trialist. On 21 September at 13:00 sharp, the starting gun will be fired for the 14th edition in Kammer/Schörfling. Thanks to the complete road closure around the Salzkammergutsee from 12:15 to 18:45, the race offers ideal conditions. The start from the large start ramp and the tight start intervals create an atmosphere of pure competitive excitement and give all cyclists the feeling of riding under "professional conditions".
Team time trial
The starting signal for the 10-man team time trial will be given at 1 pm. A total of 21 teams will start in this category, including the winning team from the two previous years, Team Magnesium Pur. The best seven team members will be categorised, i.e. seven riders must also reach the finish in Kammer/Schörfling.
Directly afterwards, 105 registered teams, including the winning quartet from 2022 and 2023, Team Radsport Gaimersheim 1, will battle it out for victory in the popular KOTL 4-man team time trial. Former professional Marcus Burghardt will also be competing in a 4-man team, which is sure to be among the front runners.
KOTL: Battle for the crown
The battle for the crown of King of the Lake powered by Specialized will be particularly exciting. Both the 2019 and 2022 "King", Felix Hermanutz and Alexander Lemp, will be aiming for another title. They have some strong rivals, such as local heroes Daniel Hochstrasser (Austrian amateur time trial champion) and Wolfgang Götschhofer (Austrian masters time trial champion). Multiple Race-Accross-America winner Christoph Strasser, who finished second in 2021 and sixth last year, would also like to have a say in the race. "Since my first participation, the time trial around Lake Attersee has been a fixed point in my season calendar and also a highlight of the season. I may be a specialist in ultra-distance races, but the challenge of competing with the best time trialists on a long, completely closed and beautiful course is simply incomparably brilliant. After riding the 4000km Transcontinental Race at the end of July/beginning of August, I didn't start my time trial-specific training until the end of August. But I hope that it will be enough for a fast time. My mark would be 1 hour again, so we'll see what works out. In any case, I'm really looking forward to the KOTL 24," says Strasser, looking forward to his renewed participation in the ASVÖ King of the Lake.
New classification for professional riders
In the women's race, too, everything points to a showdown in the battle for the coveted title of Queen of the Lake powered by Lenzing AG. The aim here is to beat the course record of 1:03:51.03 set by last year's "Queen", Anna Kofler. This year, for the first time, there will be a separate classification for professional riders with the "Elite Queen of the Lake" category. The 2023 queen Anna Kofler will be competing in this category.
Fan zones at the KOTL
Four fan zones along the Lake Attersee offer the opportunity to cheer on the riders and encourage them on their way to the finish line. Attersee-Schifffahrt offers a special timetable on this day with additional routes in "all weathers". Lines 22, 32, 33, 34, 35 & 36 will be running on the north circuit and 14 & 15 on the south circuit.
For all those who cannot be there, the race will once again be broadcast via livestream. The live times of the individual riders, 4-man and 10-man teams can also be followed at www.livetiming.at.
Kristian Bauer
Editor
