Big turnout at the LINES schneefraesn series.
It’s a very satisfied look on the faces at the Austrian mountain bike magazine LINES, as they look upon what was once called “off season”. Five venues spread over the country, 200 riders and a very close fight for the overall crown made for the best ever winter downhill racing season.
Vali Höll makes it two in a row.
After 2016, the young gun Vali Höll is again the big winner of the winter series. She secured the title with victories in the toughest races at Lienz and Saalbach. Paula Zibasa, another up-and-coming talent, was just a few points behind, with a win in Innsbruck to her name.
Multi-talents for the win.
Looking at the men’s category, it was a fierce fight, that was even taken to an international level. “Team North”, Marcel Ziegler and Thomas Rieger from Germany, made several hour-long drives to take part in three, respectively four races of the cup. “Team South”, the Carinthians Matija Mischkulnig and Florian Lerchbaumer, even made the trip to all five events. And it payed off. The multi-talent on a bike (he rides trials and downhill) Florian Lerchbaumer succeeds 2016’s winner Fabio Wibmer. He puts a 25 point margin between himself and Thomas Rieger. In a last moment effort, Matija Mischkulnig snatches the third place on the podium from Marcel Ziegler.
Pure diversity.
Variety is king throughout the entire schneefraesn series. It’s not only the changing snow conditions – from icy world cup skiing slopes to super soft spring snow. The race organizers choose their own formats, which makes for an interesting mix. In Lienz, for example, riders were staring at a proper downhill track with jumps, step downs, berms and an “ice garden”. Whereas in Saalbach Hinterglemm organizers decided to marry the bike race with a freeski contest – “GlemmRide meets GlemmBang”. It’s a real mix up in the starting field too: hobby racer enjoy the soft crash area, whereas world cup riders like Fabio Wibmer and Andreas Kolb use the unusual surface to improve their bike handling skills.
2018
Skiers and snowboards, who gaze in disbelief, are guaranteed again in 2018. LINES schneefraesn will be back with new venues and new ideas, but a remaining priority: having fun in the “off season”.
You can find all infos and results at lines-mag.at/2015/schneefraesn.
LINES
LINES Magazine is the first Austrian gravity mountain bike magazine. A real optical delight: 100+ pages, 850 grams, epic pictures, humorous stories and a clean layout. Available three times a year in spring, summer and fall.
—
Photo credits: Hannes Berger, Stefan Voitl