Posts

,

Cross-country in Trieben

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.

/0 Comments/by
,

Cross-country Lockenhaus

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.

/0 Comments/by
,

Double victory for Chase in Schwarzenbach

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!

Pics (c) by Ernst Teubenbacher

Results

/0 Comments/by
,

3 Könixcross St. Pölten

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!

Pics (c) Ernst Teubenbacher

 

Ergebnisliste

/0 Comments/by
,

Positive overall result of the cross-country season 17/18 for Manfred

 

Auch wenn das letzte Rennen nicht nach Wunsch verlaufen ist, beende ich die Querfeldein-Saison 2017/18 insgesamt dennoch…

Gepostet von Manfred Zöger – Radsport am Mittwoch, 10. Januar 2018

/0 Comments/by
,

After the positive result in the cross-country season we start in MTB season

/0 Comments/by
,

Second win in a row @Wien Energie Cross

 

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

Summary ÖRV

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

 

/0 Comments/by
,

Austrian championship Cyclo-cross

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!

Results

/0 Comments/by
,

Dual victory for Team Chase at cross-race in Lockenhaus

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.

 

Results

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!

Results

/0 Comments/by
,

First Cyclo-cross victory for Chase in Ternitz

The 21st and 22nd of October, two cyclo-cross events in Ternitz took place. Manfred participated in both competetions and showed high performances. From the beginning of the national race at Saturday, he was part of the leading group. This consisted of four cyclists, later reduced to three athletes. Manfred was able to keep this position and maintained all fast acceleration parts. He decided not to cycle in the first position but as second or third cycler. In the round prior to the final round he started to attack – and it was too strong for the opponents. In this round he was the only one who managed to stay on the bike during the uphill part. His combatants had to get off the bike and carry it for some meters. There was a small gap but Manfred did not give away this lead. He strived hard for victory, used all his energie and succeeded to be the first crossing the finish line.

This success was the highlight in this successful season start for the 27-years old cyclist till now. In the first two competitions in Traun and Langenzersdorf, he reached the second place. In his third cross-race he succeeded to win – at the same time it’s the first victory for our Chase Mud-rim.

At Sunday, there was an international race of the C2-world ranking list. Fighting against european elite athletes was a tough challenge for Manfred. Additionally, rain started and conditions got more and more demanding. For his success from the precedent day, Manfred’s legs have already been suffering. He finished as 12th and narrowly missed the Top-10. Nevertheless, with this perfomance he was the best Austrian in the international biker surrounding.

/0 Comments/by