Well prepared I start on Pentecost Sunday at the new highlight of the extreme marathons, the Supergiro Dolomiti in Lienz/East Tyrol! The route leads over the Gailbergsattel, Plöckenpass, Lanzenpass, the Nassfeld and in the final through the Lesachtal to the Kartitscher Sattel and from there back to the start in Lienz. Although I drove the route in autumn, the decision has now been made to cycle the loop through Carinthia and Italy the other way round. A very good decision in my opinion!
Together with my team, I will now look at the track again and report back on the conditions. The last snow has just been removed and everything is ready for the premiere of the Supergiro Dolomiti over 232 kilometers and almost 5000 meters in altitude! It will be a real challenge for me - especially since I haven't been able to complete any really long training sessions this year. In our common Short training camp in Alta Badia during the Giro d'Italia I was finally able to ride the first longer mountain units and come to Lienz with a good feeling! Thank you to the team at Melody del Bosco all about Klaus Irsara - we'd love to come back!
After the curl up So the Supergiro Dolomiti at Lake Achensee is also the first showdown in the mountains for my team riders. After numerous wet races, it will be really warm for the first time over Pentecost - the weather could hardly be better! This is not the only reason why the anticipation and motivation of the team drivers for the first long race of the year knows no bounds! With more than 15 starters we are again one of the strongest teams and want to have a say in the end result. With the men everything is at the start that has rank and reputation – with the women there will certainly be one or two surprises in the starting line-up.
At this point I would also like to express great praise to the organizer Franz Theurl, who set another milestone in the history of cycling in Osttriol with the Supergiro. As chairman of the East Tyrolean tourist region, Theurl has brought the Tour of Austria, the Giro del Trentino and even the Giro d'Italia to his home country on several occasions! Now the strongly booming amateur and mass sport has been taken into account and with the Supergiro Dolomiti a new highlight for the marathon freaks has been created in addition to the traditional, classic tour of the Dolomites. Thank you, dear Franz – keep it up!