Posts
The electrity plant Donaustadt in Vienna is usually only known as orientation point on the way to Lobau if cycling on the danube island in Vienna. On Sunday, for the first time it was the location and beautiful scenery for a cyclo-cross race. About 100 starters did prefer cycling and competed in three different races instead of celebrating the last Sunday before christmas quiet at home. In the main competition lasting 60 minutes, there were even two Chase athletes participating.
A very exciting fight in the top of the cyclers field. Chase, handcrafted in Austria, Carbon, rims. Foto: M. Bihounek/martinbihounek.com.
The track was mostly flat but due to a lot of holes demanding for body and material. In combination with the partially heavy wind, it was a very strategic race. After the first half, you could watch the first really severe attacks. It ended very positively for Felix and with a third row for Manfred, only some seconds after him.
Results of Wien-Energie Kraftwerks-Cross
Manfred showed himself in his best form. Chase, handcrafted in Austria, Carbon, rims.
Having the Austrian cross-country championship in mind that will take place in January in St.Pölten, both athletes can be really proud of their performance so far and there is still time to work on the last fine tunings concerning their skills.
The fast course: Felix’ favorite. Chase, handcrafted in Austria, Carbon, rim. Foto: M. Bihounek/martinbihounek.com
The highlight of the cyclo-cross season and the final cross competition was the Austrian championship on January, 7th. The track next to the Traisen river in St.Pölten was quite muddy and due to many narrow curves it turned out being very demanding.
Championship Austria Cyclo-cross St.Pölten, handcrafted in Austria, Carbon, Felge, Grenzgasse 111 9/6/6, St. Gabriel, Felix Schneider, Peter Fröhlich, Chase, Manfred Zöger, Felix Ritzinger
Manfred started with some doubts about his physical condition, he had a bad cold during Christmas holidays and therefore had to pause for nine days. In the beginning he was surprised, but he had a good start into this race. After the first round he was in group fighting for position 5. He managed to hold this position for more than the half of the race, there were a lot of tough battles.
Closer to the finish line, the last three rounds Manfred lost his luck. He suffered all in all three punctured wheels, in the exact same place each time.
Thanks to the great and fast work by the Chase support team he succeeded in finishing the competition. Although the very last race was not what Manfred had hoped for, he can look back to a successful cyclo-cross season. In 10 competition participations, he reached the winner’s rostrum for 6 times and even won 3 races supported by Chase-mud rims!
Felix makes it to the U23 standings even on gold. We congratulate him most sincerely on this overall success.
Mit einem starken Auftritt hat Felix Ritzinger die Querfeldein Saison beendet und konzentriert sich ab sofort vermehrt auf die Strasse!
Posted by Team Chase on Mittwoch, 10. Januar 2018
On 9 December, the Pernitz Cycling Club organised the cross race with start and finish in the Alpenstadion. The conditions made high demands on the drivers. The temperatures were at freezing temperature and the gusty wind made them feel even harder, accompanied by light snowfall.
The course was mostly flat and the ground was mostly frozen. Some tight turns and obstacles made it a real cross-country course.
Manfred didn’t get his best day this time. Especially in the starting phase he didn’t make it into the race at all. In the first two laps he had already lost some positions and valuable time from eighth on the grid to the top.
In the course of the race, however, he was able to stabilize his performance and at least recover a few places.
At the end of the race he finished in a satisfactory 6th place after one hour of cycling.
On 4th and 5th November the MTB Club Lockenhaus organised a cross-country race taking place in Burgenland for the first time in a long time. Just a short distance from the Bucklige Welt, the event was so to speak a home race for Manfred. He used the opportunity and was already on site several times the week before for training.
The knowledge of the track has paid off. Manfred was in the lead during the first race on Saturday. For a long time it was an exciting fight between him, Michael Holland and Gerald Hauer. In the last two laps Manfred had the greater potential and so he could celebrate his second victory in cross-country after the race in Ternitz. Felix also showed a strong performance and finished 13th after 1:06 driving time.
The race on Sunday was similar at the beginning. Manfred was in the lead right from the start, his first pursuers were Tom Mair and Gerald Hauer. But even before the half of the race Manfred was able to put himself in the lead. He expanded his lead slowly and continuously. Every round there were a few more seconds. In the end he won by almost one minute, the Czech Jirí Krivanek and the experienced Tom Mair. Felix had to register a small slip and lost thereby a few places. Nevertheless, he finished 18th again in the top 20.
Finally a congratulation to the MTB Club Lockenhaus – it was a more than successful premiere event and the cross-country community would be very happy about a follow-up in the coming year in any case!