MTB cycling: The opening race for this year's Protective Bike Four Peaks ended with a big surprise. Team Scott driver Juri Ragnoli clinched victory on the circuit around Bad Kleinkirchheim. The Italian relegated top favorite Christoph Strasser (Specialized Racing) to second place with a lead of 4.43,1:XNUMX minutes.
Ragnoli showed a lot of bite right from the start and was able to gain a considerable lead of almost 20 seconds on the first climb to the Kaiserburgbahn mountain station. The 26-year-old Italian, who completed his first stage race, also proved his driving skills on the descents. In the field of 800 starters, he was able to continuously increase his lead and thus confidently won the first stage. Uwe Hochenwarter (Team Bikearena Obertraun) took third place behind Christoph Strasser, who started despite a broken rib.
Sanne van Paassen (Specialized) from the Netherlands also won the women's category with a margin of 3.58,1:XNUMX minutes. Austria's Angelika Tazreiter (SV Kürnberg), who was leading up to half of the race, was second, third fastest of the day was Swiss Cornelia Hug (Crazy Velo Shop Scott).
The second stage of the Protective Bike Four Peaks will take participants from Bad Kleinkirchheim to Hermagor. The varied mix of trails, cart tracks and farm tracks promises high excitement again. On the second day, the participants have to cover a total of 91,05 kilometers and 1.969 meters in altitude.