Image: (Peter Maurer)
Walter Ablinger started the 2023 handbike racing season with a good performance: At the World Cup in the Italian municipality of Maniago (Friuli-Venezia Giulia region), the man from Rainbach took seventh place in the road race among a total of 44 participants with a time of 1:47:01 hours Place. In the race, which was hectic from the start, a leading group of nine riders formed relatively shortly after the start, clearly breaking away from the main field. The 53-year-old from Rainbach im Innkreis showed a strong race on the 68-kilometer, hilly route and was only beaten by five seconds against the winner Vico Merklein from Germany. With an average speed of 38.2 km/h, the race was extremely fast.
In the individual time trial, Ablinger finished 14th in difficult conditions with constant rain. “I’m very satisfied with the performance at the start of the season. I was able to play to my strengths, especially on the climbs, but there’s still room for improvement on the fast descents,” Ablinger analyzed the first World Cup station.
From May 4th to 7th, the Paralympic champion will continue with the World Cup in Ostend, Belgium. The World Cup takes place in Glasgow in August.
Source: Nachrichten
