On December 8th and 9th the ARBÖ RC Pernitz organised two races within the ÖRV-ZMS-cross-country-cup 2018/19.
On saturday chase-teamrider Manfred proved that he is one of the best local crossers this season.
From the beginning he was at the top together with street professional Andi Hofer, from the half of the race on he took the lead alone and didn’t let it be taken anymore. He celebrated his 7th victory in the current cross-country season. Felix Ritzinger won the 4th place in his first race of the season.
During the night it rained heavily and so the track turned into an extremely demanding circuit for the second race on sunday. Soon after the start a leading group consisting of Manfred Zöger, Robert Gehbauer, Felix Ritzinger and Philipp Heigl formed. The lead changed several times and the race remained extremely exciting until the very end. Philipp Heigl won the race, but Felix Ritzinger and Manfred Zöger were very close behind, Robert Gehbauer got the 4th place. Chase’s technical director Felix Schneider also took part in the race and occupied the remarkable 21st place in the national starting field.
Ternitz in the Neunkirchen district was the venue for two exciting racing days in the cross-country sport on the 20th and 21st October of 2018.
Chase-driver Manfred once again showed his current top form. At the race on Saturday, he got his third victory in a row after a thrilling fight. Two laps to go, he already had a small advantage over his pursuers, but then he had a self-inflicted slip-up in a corner.
Although he was back on the bike quickly, his advantage was ruined. Thus, the race was completely open again and there was a three-men leading group in the last round. But Manfred once again proved to be the currently strongest driver in austria. With an attack he managed to shake off his rivals and successfully drove through the finish line as winner!
At the international C2 race on sunday he unfortunately had bad luck right at the beginning. At the start, a competitor got into his front wheel which caused one of the spokes to break. Manfred was one of the last to get back on track. Although he managed a good catch-up he was nowhere near the top places that day. The winner was the belgian Braam Merlier, after him came the czech Paprstka and another belgian. Manfred got the 17th place in the international field as the second-best austrian.
On the 26th and 27th October of 2018 two races of the ÖRV-ZMS-Cross-Country-Cup took place in Trieben, Styria. On the national holiday, the first day of the race, the weather was beautiful and the temperatures were pleasant.
On the flat circuit a fast race developed and for a long time there was a large leading group at the top. Due to the rather easy circuit no driver could get the lead alone.
In the second to last round Chase-teammember Manfred attacked and was able to split the six-men leading group decisively. Only the carinthian Robert Gehbauer managed to follow Manfred for a long time. During another try in the last round he could not keep up and Manfred drove to his fourth win in the current cross-country season.
Overnight, a change in the weather created completely new conditions for the second day of the race. The course turned into a slide due to the rain and cool temperatures of only 5°C combined with heavy rainfall caused very difficult conditions. Manfred sadly did not get to “operating temperature” that day.
For a long time he drove in a larger group but in the end he had the least reserves left and had to settle for 6th place. Given his great achievements in the past weeks this place almost seems a bit disappointing. But for Manfred it was always clear that his winning streak cannot last forever, since the other athletes are also in very good shape. Even the 6th place is still a considerable achievement in the quite large national driver field.
On the 3rd and 4th of November, 2018 the MTB-Club Lockenhaus once again organised a cross-country double event following the successful premiere of last year. The first day of the race awaited the participants with a muddy, slippery and therefore extremely demanding route. Chase-teammember Manfred didn’t have any problems with these conditions, since he is an excellent driver.
At the beginning Zsolt Bür from Hungary was able to keep up at the front, but even before the half of the race was over Manfred slowly but unstoppably got to the top. After an hour of racing he had almost a minute ahead of the reigning hungarian champion, the third place went to Gerald Hauer with another minute behind.
The second day of the race the weather was much better. The track had already dried up in the morning and until the start of the main race even the sun came through the fog. This made the circuit a lot easier to drive. The competition itself did not get easier. There were over 50 participants, drivers from a total of five nations were standing at the starting line.
Manfred had a great start and immediately took the lead. With a quick first round he tried from the beginning to force the competitors onto the defensive. This tactic seemed to work, after the first round he was already 10 seconds ahead. In the second round, however, the young Moran Vermeulen from the Tyrol Cycling Team managed to close the gap. Together, the two completed the next round as the lead. Additional tension was given to this duel, as it was not only the day’s victory, but also the overall lead in the ÖRV-ZMS-Cup. In the fourth of the eight laps the exciting bike-to-bike duel was over again. Vermeulen made a minor mistake and his rival took advantage of the opportunity.
Manfred, who cycled from Kirschlag to the racetrack that day as a warm-up program, continued to build up his lead from round to round, winning again at the end. Vermeulen took second place, Carinthia’s former junior-world-champion Robert Gehbauer won the third place.
On the 15th & 16th December 2018, the last austrian cross-country races took place before christmas. On Saturday the SK Voest organised a race at the Oedtsee. Chase-teammember Manfred did not get off to a good start in wintry conditions and light snow on the ground. After the bad start he had to fight hard to get to the top. However, he succeded and from this point he was fully back in the race for victory. The initially large leading group was continuously getting smaller. Three laps to go, there were still three men battling for victory. In the end, Manfred was narrowly beaten but with rank two he got the next podium place!
Just a day later, the international C2 World Ranking Race was on the program at the horse center Stadl-Paura. Manfred’s goal was to be among the top 10. For such a rank in the high-profile international starter field everything has to fit together. Unfortunately that was not the case for Manfred that day. He never really got into his rythm and had to settle for the 16th place with some disappointment.
/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/handcrafted-01-vergrößert-280x300.png00Manfred Zöger/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/handcrafted-01-vergrößert-280x300.pngManfred Zöger2019-07-01 12:55:132019-07-01 13:17:06Cross-country in Traun and Stadl-Paura
At the last austrian race in the calendar year 2018, the two Chase-teammembers Felix Ritzinger and Manfred Zöger ensured a double victory with the Chase mud bikes.
Manfred took over the command right after the start and led the field of riders in the long climb. Behind him, Felix came quickly to the front and at the end of the first lap the two were already ranked 1st and 2nd. This constellation remained throughout the whole race. Felix drove consistent lap times, Manfred was always just a few seconds behind on 2nd place. The rest of the drivers followed within a considerable distance. Therefore, it was a very successful end of the year with two podium places!
/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/handcrafted-01-vergrößert-280x300.png00Manfred Zöger/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/handcrafted-01-vergrößert-280x300.pngManfred Zöger2019-07-01 12:26:092019-07-01 12:29:02Double victory for Chase in Schwarzenbach
The area around the “Seedose” in St. Pölten has been the site of the traditional 3-Könixcross-cross country race for many years.
The competition was also the first official race in the new calendar year. Chase team member Manfred got off to a good start and took the lead from the beginning along with Philipp Heigl. During the race the lead switched several times between the two athletes. On and on, the two set themselves apart from the other pursuers. Approximately at the half of the race Manfred had a small lead, but the few seconds were quickly closed again and so the duo was once again on the road together. The preliminary decision fell only in the second to last round. Manfred changed his bike and at the same time Heigl attacked. That small gap was enough to decide the race. Heigl won the race after 60 minutes, Manfred ranked second. Thus, the new year starts very successfully and exactly as the old one has ended – with a second place!
Völkermarkt and Diex were this year’s venues for the Austrian Mountain National Championship in road cycling. Nearly 100 starters started at the main square of Völkermarkt on August 18th to determine the fastest climber in the country. After 3.5 laps or approx. 60 kilometres around Völkermarkt the final 9-kilometreclimb up to Diex follows. The initial phase of the race was marked by several attacks, but no rider was able to distance himself decisively. Thus, the elite field entered the final climb almost closed. The ascent to Diex has an average gradient of 8%, but mainly includes steeper passages at the beginning and end.
At the foot of the mountain, the pace was immediately picked up at the top and the field broke up into several groups. Chase team rider Manfred managed to stay just behind the leading group and drove a strong race. He completed the climb in about 25′ and was able to catch up another group of drivers shortly before the finish. With the Chase-Up wheels and the Chase seat post he also had optimal material at his disposal to bring his bike as close as possible to the regulated 6.8 kg minimum weight. In the Austrian Championship scoring Manfred just missed the top 10 and finished with a strong 11th place!
As every year, Sankt Georgen in Attergau became the centre of the ultra-long distance cycling scene again this year. The Race Around Austria will host the first Austrian Championships in this discipline in 2018. Champions are determined both on the extreme distance (2200km – 30000m of elevation gain)in singles, doubles and quad events, as well as on the faster 560km course around Upper Austria, the so called “Challenge“. The Austrian topography with countless altitude meters, high Alpine passes and the unstable weather give the Race Around Austria the title of Europe’s toughest cycle race.
Team Chase started at the RAA Challenge with Felix Schneider and Bernhard Weis, after the participation in the 2016 (2nd) and 2017 (6th) team competition, now for the first time with solo starts on the big stage at the market place of Sankt Georgen. On Wednesday 15.08 they started at 17:05 in the race around Upper Austria. The time predictions were between 19 and 21 hours of racing. The multiple RAAM and RAA winner Christoph Strasser was also at the competition.
Team Chase at the RAA Challenge
The first quarter clockwise along the borders of the province was marked by few climbs, but all the faster country roads and even some tailwind. The time trial specialists were able to set the pace here. With the new Chase Me aero wheel and the Chase AeroPerformanceSystem cockpit, Felix was able to keep an average of 37.5 km/h up to 160 km of the race, just before the Danube bridge near Niederranna, and thus the second place.
The following section through the Mühlviertel held a considerable amount of altitude meters ready and went from hill to hill over crests and valleys. Rollers made up for time here. This strenuous section extends into the night until Freitstadt.
Mental Strength – From Freistadt, a high degree of concentration and resistance to emerging fatigue is required. The route offers hardly any variety, the night is dark and the energy level after 340km with an average of 32 km/h (after 11 hours) has dropped significantly. Here it was also where the support team had to act at short notice. Felix became suddenly tired and could not keep the track despite high speed – a dangerous game. A treatment break of about 8 minutes by the phyiostherapist brought momentum back into the last kilometres of the approach to the Hengstpass.
The race entered its final phase. With 140km to-go the Hengstpass stands in the way of the starters, not an unsolvable task, since the road does not rise above 7%. But exactly here it was the duty to be able to make up for the lost positions by the forced break. Only a few minutes separated the places 3 to 8, the RAA Challenge is an individual time trial, which is always exciting to follow due to the small time intervals. After the first flat kilometres at the base of the Hengstpass, Felix changed to his Rams Cycling road bike with the mountain-suited Chase Up wheels. With 250 watts it went towards the sun, up to the summit. In the meantime, the night regulation, which according to the regulations lasts until 6:30 a.m., was abandoned. In this increase alone, the team was able to drive two places well thanks to the perfect use of the material and mobilisation of the reserves. Starting situation after the Hengstpass: 6th place.
Race Around Austria Challenge – Chase – Foto: Peter Maurer
Arrived at the top the descent was tackled with the time bike. The following flat piece by Windischgarsten Felix unwound in the usual aero-position. Unfortunately, a rail crossing at Steinbach am Ziehberg stopped the rapid race to catch up. The collected experience of the last years let the supervisor crew react quickly and they postponed the change to the racing bike by 1 km, got rid of the superfluous nightwear and provided the athlete with necessary food and drink. The loss of time was limited to about 2 minutes. In the same rhythm Felix attacked the upcoming Ziehberg, again followed by a fast descent on the time bike. Now there was only one ascent to Gmunden, short and up to 12% steep. With gels, caffeine and all available reserves Felix fought his way up the ramps towards Attersee. Ranking after the last obstacle with 270W cut: 4th place.
Arrived at the summit the usual scenario: Changing to the time bike to hide deep in the aeroposition. The distance to 5th place had to be kept constant, not to take any risks on the last 30 kilometres past Mondsee, heading for the starting and finishing place Sankt Georgen in Attergau.
The last painful waves were attacked with euphoria and the incessant cheers of the crew from the support vehicle.
Race Around Austria Solo Challenge 2018 – Ziel – Foto: Peter Maurer
The town sign marked the finish: At 11:26, after 18 hours 20 minutes with an average of 30.7 km/h Felix finished 4th at the first Austrian Ultra Long Distance Championships. Click here for the results.
/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/handcrafted-01-vergrößert-280x300.png00Felix Schneider/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/handcrafted-01-vergrößert-280x300.pngFelix Schneider2018-08-16 13:49:402018-08-21 10:29:13Race Around Austria Solo Challenge
On August 11th Kirchschlag in the Buckligen Welt was the venue of the Schlossberg XC. The traditional event was held for the 17th time this year. For Chase team rider Manfred, this race is always something special, as he comes from the town and was already at the start of the very first edition of this event in 2001, at that time still in the student class.
He won each of the last three races and was therefore again the favourite this year. The track was very deep and muddy due to heavy rainfall the night before the race, which made it extremely exhausting for all participants. Nevertheless, Manfred took the lead of the field immediately after the start and set the pace. Only one rider was able to follow him for a fairly long time, but on the ascents it quickly emerged who was the stronger of the two on this day. After 1 hour and 9 minutes Manfred crossed the finish line as the winner and thus lived up to his role as favourite.
