Tour de Kärnten 2019 report - Experiences at the stage race for everyone in Carinthia

Living like a professional cyclist - at least for a week. Cycling, eating, sleeping and otherwise having a good time - that's what Jürgen Sandl had in mind when he was persuaded by a friend to register for the Tour de Kärnten 2019 late last autumn. The cyclists' race in May takes place over six stages and has a lot to offer: a total of 475 kilometres and a good 8,800 metres in altitude have to be completed - four tough mountain stages, each around 100 kilometres long, as well as an individual time trial and a mountain time trial. The special feature: all six stages begin and end in the small town of Ossiach and lead in a star shape to the region around the lake of the same name.

Sandl, a car mechanic by trade, has barely completed 2,000 kilometres of preparation this spring; the dark wind waistcoat over his white cycling jersey is suspiciously tight. "I've been on my bike earlier than in previous years," he says with a smile. In the hustle and bustle of the first start, where all around him people are still fiddling with jerseys and shorts, gears and wheels, the 52-year-old looks like a rock in the surf. Nervousness is not a problem for this tall, strong guy with a full beard flecked with grey - you can see that straight away. For Sandl, only one thing counts here: "Getting through is the goal" - accordingly, he has registered himself in starting block D, where the presumably weakest performers of the coming week will start the race.

Sandl knows full well that the majority of the other 400 or so starters have travelled to the race with far more preparation kilometres in their legs than he has. There is hardly anyone else to be seen in the start area who, like Sandl, is carrying around a few extra kilos on their ribs. This is where the everyman elite have gathered. After all, the Tour de Kärnten is an enormously demanding race with its tough profile - leisure cyclists have a hard time.

Sandl already felt this on the first stage. Completely exhausted, he sits in the finish area of the first stage in the early afternoon of 18 May. He has 119 kilometres and 2,280 metres of altitude behind him. Three tough mountains, most of them with double-digit gradients, took their toll on the riders on the very first day, a Saturday. Nothing works anymore - at least for Sandl. "Even harder than I thought," he stammers with a pained expression. Soon after the start in Ossiach, there was a climb of around 600 metres up the Zammelsberg. Even here, the field split into many groups. Behind a leading group of around 40 riders, many other smaller groups formed and worked together against the wind on the following 15-kilometre flat section.

But Sandl was soon left behind. And at the latest on the second difficult climb, again around 600 metres up the Prekowa with double-digit gradients, the last 50 riders, including Sandl, were on their own. He cranked up at just seven to eight kilometres per hour. An ordeal that was repeated a little later when he had to conquer the 1,400 metre-high Flattnitz. "I almost gave up on the last climb," says Sandl. But he didn't. He pushed on and was rewarded with a portion of pasta at the finish line in the market square of tranquil Feldkirchen after 5:24 hours. However, he has to eat it almost alone. The majority of the other starters have long since left.

The Tour de Kärnten has earned a good reputation in the scene - the starting places were already fully booked in mid-December. Amateur riders in particular with well-organised teams behind them have their sights set on the tour in the Eastern Alps. So while Sandl eats what's left, Daniel Debertin is already lying on his bed in his accommodation in Ossiach, eleven kilometres away. The 26-year-old needed 3:26 hours for the first stage - the reward is fourth place in the daily classification behind Team Strassacker rider Chris Mai, last year's winner Mathias Nothegger and the young Belgian Anthony Spysschaert. Even the professional Johnny Hoogerland, who was still active until 2016 and retired in Carinthia, had to let Debertin go on the last climb.

Debertin, who was born in Karlsruhe, is a late starter when it comes to ambitious cycling. As the son of a sports-mad family, he spent his youth mainly on the football pitch before discovering endurance sports at the age of 17. He started running, got on his racing bike and in winter he strapped on his cross-country skis. His training intensified and his performance improved. "I simply enjoy testing the limits of my body's performance. Sport is also a good balance to life at university," says the mechanical engineering student. For years, he trained "just by feel". This only changed in 2018 when, shortly before the "Ötztaler", he was approached by Corratec's Everyman team and signed up. Since then, he has been training according to a plan, measuring his wattage and being provided with equipment. He immediately achieved a strong 15th place in the bad weather Ötzi 2018 and has set his sights on the podium at the Tour de Kärnten. At first glance, the bite that lightweight Debertin shows, especially on the mountain, is not at all apparent in the rather shy, almost timid 62-kilo guy.

Debertin is therefore dissatisfied after the second day of the race, an individual time trial over around 30 kilometres. In 33rd place, he lost two and a half minutes to the favourite Nothegger. It was his first time on a time trial bike, which his team had made available to him without further ado. "I didn't really feel comfortable on it," he says, but announces: "I'll attack again tomorrow!"

Professional meets amateur rider

After recovering a little on the evening of the first stage, hobby cyclist Sandl is fully satisfied with his performance in the battle against the clock. The time of 51:36 minutes means that he only finished around 15 minutes behind the day's winner. And above all, everyone was somehow in the same boat this time: everyone had to fight against the wind alone. Sandl is already looking forward to his way of regenerating: "I'll have the hotel landlady switch on the sauna in a minute." And the 52-year-old doesn't want to miss out on the obligatory wheat beer either. "I want to enjoy everything here too," he says.
"Professional meets amateur rider" is how they advertise their tour in Carinthia. The aim is to be "professional", says chief organiser Bernd Neudert, while at the same time aiming to get every starter to the finish line. "We don't have a time limit," says the 61-year-old native of Düsseldorf, who travelled to the Alpine republic many years ago for work. When he approached Carinthian cycling idol and mastermind Peter "Paco" Wrolich eight years ago with the idea of a week-long stage race, he was initially advised against it. He should think smaller, one weekend would be enough, he was told. Neudert remained stubborn - and his race grew. While there were just 41 starters at the beginning in 2012, the field of participants grew by leaps and bounds. In 2019, Neudert and Co. set 350 starting places as the upper limit, eventually allowing 400 starters. Due to official requirements and restrictions, no more is possible. But even so, the tour, which costs each rider 399 euros in registration fees alone, has already developed into an important economic factor. The organisers count around 6,000 overnight stays around the race - which is very valuable for the region in May, when tourism is otherwise weak.

What can I endure?

However, the standard is so high that amateur riders like Sandl are now real exceptions. But they are much more popular with the local catering trade than competitive athletes who live spartanly - they leave more money in the region. Perhaps we will therefore have to do more to attract weaker leisure cyclists in the future. In general, organising a stage race is not easy. The Tour de Kärnten is still not an event with closed roads. The riders move within the flow of traffic and the road traffic regulations. "You stop at a red light," warns Neudert, knowing full well that this is a rather theoretical regulation. In any case, the race is now accompanied by so many helpers and marshals that they organise right of way for the majority of the peloton at short notice at tricky traffic points.

For Jürgen Sandl, the procedure of the first day was repeated on the third day: he was virtually isolated in the back of the field on the first difficult climb, pedalling alone against the elements. The Ingolstadt native first got on a bike at the age of 17, when he and two of his mates were able to buy a cheap bike from his teacher. When he started a family, the bike fell into oblivion. It wasn't until 2005 that he got the racing bike out of the cellar again. He had to cope with a divorce, and cycling helped him through it. Since then, it has been his indispensable hobby. He rides his laps two to three times a week. He has realised: "Cycling alone for hours on end is exactly my thing. I will never give up cycling again."

Sandl also uses the Tour de Kärnten as a personal experiment: "What can I endure?" In addition to the up to 20 per cent steep ramps, which take the last of his energy as a heavyweight, he is also tormented by his backside. After suffering a torn cruciate ligament in his right knee while playing squash years ago, he no longer pedals completely smoothly. With consequences: "I'm already wearing two pairs of trousers on top of each other, but the pain is getting worse," he says on Tuesday evening after the fourth stage. He still has two more stages to go. Another mountain stage on Wednesday, again around 100 kilometres long with 1,800 metres of climbing, before a mountain time trial over almost 50 kilometres and a whopping 1,530 metres of climbing on the final day will demand everything from him once again. "If I finish both, I'll be really proud," he says - as he almost always does - with a cheerful smile.

Daniel Debertin has also marked Wednesday in his road book. This should be the day on which he wants to put the two riders ahead of him in the overall standings, Nothegger and Mai, under pressure once again. Two difficult mountains in the course of the stage and, above all, the last ramp up the Magdalensberg with a gradient of up to 20 per cent should be good for an attack. But it was to be dramatic: after dominator Nothegger and Debertin had broken away from a 14-man leading group on the final climb and stormed up the last ramp in close succession, it happened: Debertin slipped on a gravel ridge and crashed. Completely exhausted, he is just able to get back on his bike and at least save second place ahead of Christoph Mai over the last few metres to the finish.

Sandl didn't notice any of the dramatic moments in the lead pack. He struggles stoically against the metres of altitude that pile up in front of him over a distance of several kilometres. But he keeps his cool. 15 kilometres before the finish, he even takes the time to take a photo of the picturesque Hochosterwitz rock castle enthroned in the landscape. Its access path with 14 gates is a tourist highlight in the region, but Sandl has to forego a closer look. We head in the other direction to our destination. He ultimately needs 4:06 hours for the day's 95 kilometres with their 1,810 metres of altitude. Daniel Debertin crossed the finish line after just 2:46 hours.

Both are satisfied in the end. Because even the final mountain time trial on the final day, which is tackled in a mass start, brings no more changes for them: while Debertin secures his third place overall, Sandl also manages the last double-digit climb percentages and crosses the final finish line with a happy smile: done. "My legs feel like railway tracks. They are tough as nails," says Sandl. "I've never achieved such an athletic feat before." An ordeal that, from his point of view, does not need to be repeated: "No, I won't be back next year. It's enough to have done something like this once in your life." As expected, the winner of the Tour de Kärnten was Mathias Nothegger ahead of Christoph Mai. Brilliant third place: Daniel Debertin.

Info
Six stages - including two time trials - around Lake Ossiach in Carinthia offer a performance comparison for everyone. All stages except for the mountain time trial start in Ossiach. The roads are not closed, but are secured with mobile safety equipment. There is a pasta party every evening. The time is measured by chip. The 8th Tour de Kärnten will take place from 16-21 May 2020.
www.tourdekaernten.at