Every cyclist knows the intense feeling in the starting block before the race begins: a mixture of anticipation and excitement makes your pulse rise, the music from the speakers flows through your whole body and you can hardly keep your legs still. Nina Helbig and Oliver "Obi" Lüs from Halle an der Saale have been excited for days. "You ask yourself what the weather will be like, what will I pack, will I manage it, will I be able to regenerate well and perform well," says 39-year-old Nina, describing what has been worrying her a little. The start has already impressed both of them - they have never practised their sport on such a large scale.
Start of the TOUR Transalp in Lienz
Lienz in East Tyrol provides a worthy stage for the start of the TOUR Transalp 2024: the large starting arch stands directly on the main square, tourists sit in the cafés behind the barriers and watch the spectacle with interest. Lienz describes itself as a sunny town, and this characterisation fits perfectly today: the sun shines warmly over the 400 or so starters. Spectators stand to the left and right of the barriers and the course announcer counts down the time to the start over the loudspeaker. The race is finally underway - a long period of preparation is coming to an end.
It is thanks to TOUR and sponsor Diasporal that Nina and Obi are starting as a mixed team in Europe's best-known stage race for amateur athletes. They won the competition and will be competing as "Team Diasporal-Alpen-Challenge". The project was clearly outlined: A complete package of performance diagnostics, training support and a starting place as a prize, accompanied by the TOUR editorial team during preparation and on the ride across the Alps. The only requirement was that the applicants had not previously taken part in the TOUR Transalp. The fact that the two amateur athletes from Halle would master the Transalp challenge was foreshadowed by their application. Not only do they both have many kilometres under their belts, they also enjoy cycling long distances. Both have a lot of experience in long-distance cycling - fast, short races, on the other hand, are new territory. Seven days of cycling lie ahead of them - or in figures: 788 kilometres and 16,600 metres of intensive racing experience.
Into the race at the limit
When they set off at nine o'clock on 16 June, the many thoughts are replaced within seconds by a single one: keeping the group together. For the first 25 kilometres in the flat Drautal valley, Nina and 42-year-old Obi race along the road at more than 40 km/h in a group. Because they don't want to lose the good slipstream, they ride at full speed for a long time. Obi realises that his heart rate has been in the maximum range for far too long. This doesn't change when the road starts to rise: Between 12 and 19 per cent gradients now stretch the field. "I always need something to get me going," says Obi and lets Nina go - only later do they ride together again.
Even though they are travelling far above the comfort zone, they soak up the beautiful impressions: "The Pustertal Valley high road had fabulous views for us and we should have stopped more often." When they reach the finish line after 73 kilometres and around 2100 metres in altitude, they are both happy and relieved: "The mood and the legs are good."
Their strong legs are no surprise: Nina and Obi love long-distance cycling and cycle more than 30,000 and 20,000 kilometres a year respectively. However, they have no experience in Alpine marathons or bike races: "We sometimes cycle 300 kilometres, which is fast for us," Nina said before the start, "but that's the kind of thing where you don't know what it's going to be like." They were in the mountains in 2023 to ride the Triple Stelvio on their own - in other words, all three ascents to the Stelvio Pass in a row. In 2022, they cycled through Germany with 20 kilograms of luggage in ten days. This also explains why they have large seatpost bags on their bikes for the TOUR Transalp. "People always ask us what we have in there. Rain jacket, wallet, my drinking bag," explains Obi. They want to be prepared for everything.
But not everything in cycling life can be planned. Before the start of the second stage, Nina and Obi have no idea what will happen in just a few minutes. In tranquil Silian, they push their bikes into the start area and hand in their day bags to be transported to the finish. They chat to their fellow riders from yesterday's stage and look at the elevation profile: today's route takes them via Passo Cimabanche, Passo Falzarego and Passo Pordoi to Moena in Val di Fassa. The stage starts at 9 a.m. and it could be a relaxed day - but at 8.59 a.m. Obi discovers that he has a flat front tyre. Nina frantically searches for the technical service, but they are already on the track. The track announcer's countdown sounds and, like in a bad film, Obi and Nina watch the starters slowly drive off. Is the stage race already over on the second day?
In pursuit of the peloton
Will a stupid hole in the tyre shatter the Transalp dreams? Obi starts to change the tyre, four minutes later he is ready to ride. Four minutes of lost time doesn't sound like much, but of course the Transalp peloton has long since disappeared. Not having a slipstream is bad enough - to make matters worse, the two are now stuck in the convoy of vehicles that has formed behind the peloton, intersections are no longer secured. Their Strava recording captures what is happening now: hard interval training. Accelerating to 37 km/h, then slowing down again and accelerating again shortly afterwards. They fight their way back into the race in an exhausting chase. After around 16 kilometres, the road turns left at Toblach. In the Höhlenstein valley, the route now climbs steadily and the Diasporal duo gradually catches up with the slowest riders at the back of the field. Obi continues to fight his way forwards and waits for Nina at the first refreshment station. "The first part took a lot of energy due to the chase to catch up," Nina reports later.
The Falzarego and Pordoi passes are two more tough challenges on the programme. After the exhausting chase to catch up, they have to bite hard and hold their nerve once again before the end of the stage: On the descent to the finish, Obi's front tyre goes flat again and he has already used up his spare tube. Fortunately, a service vehicle is nearby and supplies him with a new inner tube. When Nina and Obi cross the finish line together that day, they are delighted to have survived the stage.
Even though Nina and Oli are riding the Transalp as a mixed team, they don't cycle together the whole time. Obi is faster downhill, Nina has the advantage uphill. They each cycle at their own pace and wait for each other at predetermined points. A common method: many teams meet at the refreshment station, for example. You can also ride to the finish alone - but the slower team rider is then counted. And since 2019, individual starters have also been able to take part in the Transalp. They now make up more than 40 per cent of those registered. Even those who start alone quickly get to know fellow riders of equal strength. Participants of a similar ability level meet up again and again along the route. The TOUR Transalp is also a social event: cyclists are constantly coming up to Nina and Obi at the finish, high-fiving them and commenting on the stage they have completed together.
Respect for the royal stage
Whether individual starters or team starters: everyone has respect for day four, the queen stage of this year's Transalp over 3000 metres in altitude. Like every morning, Nina and Obi line up in starting block B. Obi already realises on the first mountain that he has strong legs today. He climbs the Passo Brocon together with Nina, after which they continue separately - Nina deliberately takes a defensive approach to the descents. One of the most beautiful and strenuous climbs of the entire route awaits: Monte Grappa is a real heavyweight with 1580 metres of altitude in one go. Shortly after the start behind the small village of Caupo, the road begins to climb with a gradient of more than ten per cent.
The sun is blazing down from the sky, the thermometer will soon read 30 degrees, and the climb starts at five to six per cent. The half-faded lettering on the road is reminiscent of the Giro d'Italia. The road now winds along the bare slope and offers a view of the plain. The descent from Monte Grappa becomes a ride into a glowing cauldron. The heat of the day builds up in the low-lying, densely populated region. The destination is in the small municipality of San Zenone degli Ezzelini, not far from Bassano del Grappa. The local community has set up a tent to provide shade in a large, undeveloped area. The thermometer has climbed to around 34 degrees.
In the months leading up to the Transalp, Nina and Obi trained specifically for the first time in their racing bike lives. This was unusual for both of them, as the training plan included significantly fewer kilometres but intensive intervals. Nina welcomes the change: "I like it when I can really push myself. I think we'll keep it up somehow," she says. Because there are no mountains around Halle an der Saale, they did a lot of intervals on the rollers. "We've decided that it's important to stick to the guidelines and that's easier indoors." Their good training is paying off, and the skilful use of slipstreams also helps. "We had a great group," says Nina at the finish of the sixth stage. With eight people, they pushed the wind away on the flat sections.
While Nina and Obi's top priority before the start was getting through, their sporting self-confidence is now growing day by day - and the ranking list is awakening their ambition. So they set off from Kaltern an der Weinstraße not only with great anticipation, but also with great motivation for the final stage. The first few kilometres are still neutralised, but as soon as the race begins, Nina and Obi start pedalling hard. "We rode full throttle today - everything we could. We set a 39 km/h pace on the first climb," explains Obi at the finish. His Strava entry is titled "GEEIIILLL!!!". He had agreed with Nina to ride at the front with the fast group - while she had decided to ride the last stage defensively. The time for the stage is not taken at the finish in Riva del Garda, but after 87 kilometres on the last mountain for safety reasons. The arrival in Riva is then a double premiere for the Diasporal team: they see Lake Garda for the first time and they receive their first TOUR Transalp finisher jersey.
Proud at the finish
The excitement from the start: long forgotten. Both are flooded with a firework of emotions at the finish. Joy at having made it, pride in their own achievement and also a little melancholy that it's already over. Obi liked the "Giro d'Italia feeling" when people stood at the side of the road in the towns and applauded. "It was a dream come true. We had great weather, met lovely people and are extremely proud to have finished 11th in the mixed classification as long-distance athletes in a stage race!" This was certainly also due to the targeted training, which has permanently changed the pair's view of cycling. "It was good to see that you can be fit even with less training," summarises Nina. The performance comparison with a few hundred other women and men has shown: Nina and Obi can not only go long, they can also go fast. "It's really fun to race," Nina sums it up.
Kristian Bauer
Editor
