“World’s Toughest One Day Cycle Race” Coming This August

On 26 August 2017, what is being billed as the world’s toughest one-day cycle race for pros will be held in Austria’s Ötztal Valley, the Pro Ötztaler 5500.

UCI, the International Cycling Union, has been thinking about an international cycling race for professionals in addition to the already existing cycle marathons for amateur sportsmen and women. Among the most popular examples ranks the Cyclassics of Hamburg. Now also the Ötztaler Cycle Marathon belongs to this international series of top races.

Ernst Lorenzi, head of the OC and initiator, explains: “One day before 4000 amateur sport fans take part in the Ötztaler Cycle Marathon, the 2017 “Pro Ötztaler 5500″ will be scheduled as a pro cycle race. International top cyclists of the world’s most renowned teams conquer exactly the same race course as the amateur teams one day later. A great challenge for everyone in the true sense of the word.”

There is already a long list of major events held in the Ötztal – be it the yearly men’s and women’s Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup Opening or the queen’s stage of the Deutschland Tour and, recently, the Tour de Suisse with superb stage finish events on Rettenbach Glacier.

Pros Show Some Respect

The race routes of both the “Pro Ötztaler 5500” and the Ötztaler Cycle Marathon are sure to attract the attention of the professional cycling elite. A competition comprising 238 kilometers and 5500 meters of altitude gain has never been part of the UCI Series before.

Cycling via Kühtai, Brenner, Jaufen pass and Timmelsjoch pass will push even the pros to their limits.

Thomas Rohregger, former pro cyclist involved in the race’s preparation said.

“I think that this race has a big chance to become one of the world’s most difficult one-day cycle races in the Pro Calendar. It sounds like an absolute must to win it at least one time: the ultimate “Pro Ötztaler 5500″ makes a perfect blend of all Alpine landscapes cyclists and fans can dream of.”

Besides challenge there’s also beauty as the race course winds its way through picture-book side valleys in Austria’s Tirol and Italy’s South Tyrol: Ötztal, Sellraintal, Wipptal, Jaufental and Passeiertal – traveling from Ötztal’s glacier world towards the Tirolean mountain ranges, across South Tyrol’s vineyards and back again to the eternal glacier ice in Sölden.

The route also takes in the same switch-backing mountain road with 66 turns that featured in the last Bond movie, Spectre.

“Together with huge investments in a mountain bike network including the Bike Republic Sölden, a valley-wide cycle trail and the highly renowned Ötztaler Cycle Marathon, this new UCI Race on the tracks of the original “Ötztaler” represents a milestone when it comes to the development of Ötztal as a prime cycling sports destination in the Alps,” said Oliver Schwarz, Managing Director of Ötztal Tourismus.

Course facts for Pros and Amateurs:

238 kilometers

5500 meters of altitude gain

4 Alpine passes: Kühtai 2020 m; Brenner pass 1377 m; Jaufen pass 2090 m; Timmelsjoch 2509 m

Start and finish in Sölden / Tirol