Innsbruck-Salzburg   

Innsbruck to Salzburg is a tough one day race that will take the riders of division one over some of the hardest and highest mountains that the Alps can throw at anyone. The riders will enjoy the local cuisine and beer as they fill up the hotels and B&B’s across Innsbruck.

The race begins in the old town of Innsbruck, but the cobbled streets will not see any attacks, for the flag will not have dropped. Only once th...

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Innsbruck to Salzburg is a tough one day race that will take the riders of division one over some of the hardest and highest mountains that the Alps can throw at anyone. The riders will enjoy the local cuisine and beer as they fill up the hotels and B&B’s across Innsbruck.

The race begins in the old town of Innsbruck, but the cobbled streets will not see any attacks, for the flag will not have dropped. Only once they have left Innsbruck will the flag drop and the real racing begin. A small breakaway may form on the gentle ascension up to Achensee and maintain their lead through the densly wooded section to Walchsee. The first serious climb starts here on the narrow road up towards Geiglestein, with the hairpin bends reaching gradients of nearly 18% in the last few kilometers. At 1,750 meters, the road does not cross the summit, but the road will have hurt the weaker riders significantly and the peloton may begin to fragment, but a chase back to the main group is usually successful on the very tricky descent. They will descend all the way down to Ettenhausen at just 500m. This is the only hard climb in the first half of the race, and only short hills will be tackled in the next 20 kilometers. At Wohlmuting, however, the riders know that the race will begin to fragment. For it is at this point at the race where the first serious climb with a consistently high gradient will be tackled. The riders will have to cycle up to 3,200m, just below the Hefferthorn-Fellhorn-Sonnenberg summit, an ascent of nearly 3,000 meters. The 23 switchbacks are separated by long stretches of open road where initial attacks by weaker climbers will commence in earnest. Here, the original breakaway will be caught by a second group, while the teams of the favourites try to isolate the other riders. After this climb, the fragmented race will face a short descent down to the sides of the Weitsee before climbing up to the top of the Fenhorn. This brutal piece of tarmac leads them straight up with gradients approaching 15%. The five and a half kilometer climb will rise just over 800 meters in vertical height. At the top, the leading riders will almost certainly see all the other competitors strung out in distinct groups up the road if they looked back. This climb is followed by a long sweeping descent into the valley.
A very short ride across the valley will take the riders into the last 50 kilometers of the race, and more serious attacks by the favourites to dislodge those not as good at climbing will start on an odd passage of the race. The riders will begin a very tough climb up toward the Schmittenhöhe with 21 hairpin bends in under two kilometers and almost reach the summit. However, the path does not lead to the summit, rather a group of farmhouses. The riders descend as far a s a t-junction where they take the road back towards the Schmittenhöhe. Having crossed Inzell itself, the riders will tackle the penultimate climb, a 7 kilometer ascension of the Zweistielhorn which will see the formation of three groups that will be searching for the win; the breakaway, the favourites, and the few who were dropped at the top of the Zweistielhorn. These three groups will ride as fast as possible to prevent the groups joining. They will race through Salzburg and onto the final climb above the old city. At 1,222 meters, the summit is not the highest that the riders will have reached during the day, but the final climb up to the summit is extremely tough. At gradients nigh on 15% and with the lactic acid in their legs from previous climbs, almost everyone will hit the pain barrier. The climb, officially 14 kilometers long, does not really start until the final four kilometers. The previous kilometers are a measly 3-4% and will see the conquering of the smaller ridge.
The final climb will see desperate attempts by the breakaway to take the win, but the favourites will usually pass them as the tougher section starts. Here, the best climbers will attack one another, but a lead with one kilometer to go means nothing. The cyclists will climb right up to the finish line. The winner will see Salzburg from above first, and he will be crowned king of the Austrian Alps as the sunsets over the ancient town and the final riders struggle up the final few corners.