His last name is actually hardly suitable for him. Especially not when he mounts his mountain bike so successfully every year in Upper Austria. The Swiss Konny Looser celebrated the fifth victory over the extreme distance of over 213 kilometers and 7059 meters in altitude at the legendary Salzkammergut Trophy, which was held for the 25th time this year. The classic was once again good ground for women’s winner Barbara Mayer.
Looser has been among the world class in the MTB discipline marathon for years. Recently becoming national champion and also taking part in a desert race in Namibia, the Salzkammergut has long since become his second home. So it was no wonder that he put his knowledge of the course to good use in the fight against this year’s rivals Matthias Alberti and Philip Handl, reigning European marathon champion.
Attack on the Salzberg
“The race really starts in Hallstatt, until then you have to make sure you don’t waste any energy. On the climb up the Salzberg I noticed that my two competitors had to slow down a bit,” said Looser about his strategy for success. The attack sat. He crossed the finish line in Bad Goisern in 9:34:59.1 hours and then threatened the competition: “I’ll definitely be back.”
Mayer is also a good friend. In 2018 at her Salzkammergut premiere, the mother of two crossed the finish line hand in hand with Sabine Sommer as the winner. The record time of 11:29.51 hours still stands today. A year later she had to give up prematurely in the rain and cold, completely exhausted. This year, after 12:16.16 hours, she made the next entry in the prestigious Trophy winners list.
On the B route over 121.6 kilometers, Michael Holland prevailed in front of Daniel Federspiel. Third place went to Michael Kampelmüller from the Mühlviertel. In the women’s category, victory went to the Czech Milena Kalasova.
A total of 2450 participants from 30 different nations competed this year on the seven distances of different lengths. A strong exclamation point after two Corona years.
Read more about the Salzkammergut Trophy here:
Source: Nachrichten
