With more than a hundred professional athletes at the start, CHALLENGE ST.PÖLTEN is gearing up for a spectacular race this weekend in which it is difficult to predict who will win. One thing is for sure: with all these athletes at the start, we can count on an exciting battle and fast times for sure.
In the men’s race, the biggest favourites seem to be Thomas Steger and Sebastian Kienle. Two weeks ago Steger was the strongest at CHALLENGE RICCIONE thanks to an exceptionally strong run and this weekend Steger – an Austrian – also has the home advantage. Sebastian Kienle will also be at the start: the former World Champion was also very strong at CHALLENGE RICCIONE, where he ran from an almost impossible position to a third place. This weekend, Kienle – who has often indicated that he would like to race at CHALLENGE ST.PÖLTEN – will do everything he can to claim first place.
In addition, many eyes will be on Magnus Ditlev, among others – the Danish athlete is perhaps the revelation of this season and shows himself to be inimitable, especially on the bike – and Pieter Heemeryck. The Belgian didn’t have a strong season so far, but is always an athlete to be reckoned with. Athletes to be taken into account include Pablo Gonzalez Dapena, Frederic Funk, Maurice Clavel and Ruedi Wild. Dozens of outsiders will also do everything in their power to make a good surprise.
Big battle expected between Anne Haug, Imogen Simmonds, Maja Stage-Nielsen and Lisa Norden
In the women’s race, the biggest battle seems to be between Anne Haug, Imogen Simmonds, Maja Stage-Nielsen and Lisa Norden. Haug will be keen – after missing out on CHALLENGE MIAMI due to corona – to beat her rivals and race as hard as she can. Lisa Norden, who finished third during ANFI CHALLENGE MOGAN-GRANCANARIA, won’t want to let that happen will and would love to be on the highest step of the podium herself.
Unfortunately, it has proved impossible for British athletes to travel to Austria this week and so Indian Lee and Lucy Hall, among others, will not be racing CHALLENGE ST.PÖLTEN. Some of the women who should also be considered for the podium include Italy’s Margie Santimaria, Germany’s Laura Zimmerman and Germany’s Lina-Kristin Schink.
CHALLENGE ST.PÖLTEN will start this Sunday – May 30 – at 6:30 a.m. (CEST). You can follow a live timer and all important race updates via challenge-family.live and our social media channels. In Austria the race will be live broadcasted by ÖRF
MALE PRO:
1 Sebastian Kienle GER
2 Thomas Steger AUT
3 Magnus Ditlev DNK
4 Pieter Heemeryck BEL
5 Tom Davis GBR
6 Maurice Clavel GER
7 Pablo Dapena Gonzales ESP
8 Frederic Funk GER
9 Michi Weiss AUT
10 Jan Stratmann GER
11 Franz Löschke GER
12 Albert Moreno Molins ESP
13 Marc Duelsen GER
14 Ruedi Wild SUI
15 Andreas Böcherer GER
16 Paul Ruttmann AUT
17 Kenneth Vandendriessche BEL
18 Paul Schuster GER
19 Stenn Goetstouwers BEL
20 Christian Jais GER
21 Markus Thomschke GER
22 Adrian Haller SUI
23 Christian Birngruber AUT
24 Michael Raelert GER
25 Lukas Kocar CZE
26 Julian Erhardt GER
27 Maximilian Hammerle AUT
28 Philipp Bahlke GER
29 Per Van Vlerken GER
30 Victor ALEXANDRE BEL
31 Kacper Adam POL
32 Thomas Angerer AUT
33 Leonard Arnold GER
34 Sebastian Aschenbrenner AUT
35 Stephan Benedikt AUT
36 Daniel Besse SUI
37 Jean-Claude Besse SUI
38 Samuel Böttinger GER
39 Silvan Bruhin SUI
40 Mark Buckingham GBR
41 Joan Colino ESP
42 Christophe de Keyser BEL
43 Matthew de Vroet NLD
44 Theo Debard FRA
45 Lorenzo Delco SUI
46 Patrick Dirksmeier
47 Fabian Dutli SUI
48 Marc Eggeling GER
49 Julien Eloi FRA
50 Georg Enzenberger AUT
51 Christian Grillitsch AUT
52 Fabian Günther GER
53 Felix Günther GER
54 Timo Hackenjos GER
55 Luca Heerdt GER
56 Jesse Hinrichs GER
57 Matthias Hohlrieder AUT
58 Pavel Hradil CZE
59 Lasse Ibert GER
60 Erwan Jacobi FRA
61 Daniel Jakimiuk POL
62 Florian Kandutsch AUT
63 Silas Köhn GER
64 Marchelo Kunzelmann Loza GER
65 Christoph Ladits GER
66 Philippe Lamberty LUX
67 Nicolas Mann GER
68 William Mennesson FRA
69 Tom Mets BEL
71 Pawel Miziarski POL
72 Markus Mlinar AUT
73 Sebastian Neef GER
74 Baptiste Neveu FRA
75 Tristan Olij NLD
76 Pamphiel Pareyn BEL
77 Zoltan Petsuk HUN
78 Dejan Popovic SRB
79 Ivan Rana ESP
80 Elias Schipperges GER
81 Jan Sneberger CZE
82 James Teagle GBR
83 Strahinja Trakic SRB
84 Christian Trunk GBR
86 Kristoffer Visti Graae DNK
87 Pavel Wohl CZE
88 Petr Soukup CZE
FEMALE PRO:
101 Anne Haug GER
102 Imogen Simmonds SUI
103 Maja Stage-Nielsen DNK
104 Lisa Norden SUI
105 Laura Siddall GBR
109 Gabriella Zelinka HUN
110 Laura Zimmermann GER
111 Margie Santimaria ITA
112 Leanne Fanoy NLD
113 Simona Krivankova CZE
115 Anna-Lena Best-Pohl GER
116 Saleta Castro ESP
117 Corina Hengartner SUI
118 Lina-Kristin Schink GER
119 Lena Berlinger GER
120 Lisa-Maria Dornauer AUT
121 Melanie Baumann SUI
123 Marjolaine Pierre FRA
124 Ewa Bugdol POL
125 Margrit Elfers GER
126 Ilona Eversdijk NLD
127 Lisa Gerß GER
128 Elena Illeditsch GER
129 Laura Jansen GER
130 Anne Kelly USA
131 Hana Kolarova CZE
132 Simone Kumhofer AUT
133 Zeljka Saban Milicic HRV
134 Gabriele Obmann AUT
135 Annika Timm GER