Day four saw some big moves and amazing flights from all athletes. Christian Maurer (SUI1) maintains his lead but the likes of Gaspard Petiot (FRA2) and Nelson De Freeman (FRA3) were hot on his tail. Pal Takats (HUN) makes a huge leap up the rankings too. Follow the action live at win.gs/LiveTracking
Day 3 was action packed! From big flights to sore limbs, the adventure continues with Christian Maurer (SUI1) reaching Turnpoint 3 – Aschau Chiemsee in first place! Follow the athletes live at win.gs/LiveTracking
Christian Maurer (SUI1) arrived at Turnpoint 4, Lermoos Tiroler Zugspitz Arena, just after 2pm this afternoon, once again touching down on Austrian soil. Lermoos is in the shadow of the famous Zugspitze (2,962m), Germany’s highest peak, which he flew around on his way towards the turnpoint.
En route to Lermoos, Chrigel had to battle a strong west wind and spent much of the time flying in the lee. He sped up on the approach, however, reaching over 60km/h on his final glide. After landing, he said: ‘It was the most difficult flight of my Red Bull X-Alps career.’ When asked how he controlled his glider in such tough conditions, he joked in high spirits: ‘I pull this line for right and this line for left.’
He is now flying again, just south of Lermoos, and is 76km ahead of his nearest rival, Gaspard Petiot (FRA2).
He is being chased by the French pairing of Gaspard and Nelson de Freyman (FRA3). Petiot is 74km away from Turnpoint 4, while Nelson is 95km away, with a ground speed of 35km/h. Paul Guschlbauer (AUT1) is also on his way to Turnpoint 4 with 105km to go.
This follows the elimination of last place athlete David Liano Gonzalez (MEX) at 6am this morning.
The next elimination will take place at 6am on Friday, adding pressure to the athletes at the back.
Duncan Kotze (RSA) is battling with the Argentinian at the back. Duncan has 995km to go to Monaco, while Claudio Heidel Schemberger (ARG), who used his Ledlenser Night Pass last night, is 8km behind.
Race officials have announced that Stephan Gruber (AUT2) is out.
He has hurt his ankle through wear and tear. He was in 23rd position before he was forced to withdraw, 8km from Turnpoint 2.
Gruber said: ‘It’s both my ankles. I can’t walk and I can’t fly with them. It’s really hurting and has been hurting since Monday morning. I’ve never had it before, and I put it down to the cold, wet weather.’
Day 3 of the race ends with Maurer back where he’s happiest – up in front with the wolf pack desperately chasing him down.
Well, he hung with the pack while it was not possible to fly. But as soon as those warm pockets of air started to materialise, everyone knew he’d do what he does best. And that’s a talent for finding himself at the right place at the right time and flying epic lines.
As of 20:00, Maurer had reached Turnpoint 3, Aschau-Chiemsee and had his sights on Lermoos Tiroler Zugspitz Arena, Turnpoint 4.
He spiralled down from a clear blue sky and landed next to the sign-in board where he was greeted by crowds of cheering fans. He started early this morning on the southern side of the Alps, and had hiked and flown for 12 hours, landing shortly before 7pm.
Meanwhile, behind him the French athletes Gaspard Petiot (FRA2) and Nelson de Freyman (FRA3) are enjoying the race of their lives, both completing epic flights over the main alpine chain.
For Petiot, his day began with an 1,300m ascent up Mangart’s northern flanks with Toma Coconea (ROU) to bag Triglav, Turnpoint 2. They arrived with time to spare before the thermals started. While Coconea signed t-shirts and agreed to fans’ requests for selfies, Petiot was swapping base layers and towelling himself off. “I feel like a tennis player,” he joked.
And the mental pressure was not far off a centre court either. As he agonised at the take-off over whether to fly, he confided to feeling the pressure with everyone watching. Both he and Coconea were playing the waiting game hoping for clouds to clear. In the end, they could wait no longer and launched into the mist. Unfortunately for Coconea, his flight did not last so long and his time at the front is most likely now over.
Throughout the day, most of the pack cleared the turnpoint. Of particular note was Aaron Durogati’s (ITA) rise through the rankings. Yesterday it looked as though he might be forced to retire with a painful knee, but then he got into the air and also showed what he is capable of. He was lying in fifth place with still an hour of flying left in the day, an heroic comeback from the back of the field.
Unfortunately it was not such a happy ending for Stephan Gruber (AUT2) who has retired with severe pain in both ankles. “I can’t walk and I can’t fly with them,” he said.
Meanwhile at the back, Claudio Heidel Schemberger (ARG) must take the award for dogged determination. He spent a very uncomfortable and cold night in the mountains and was close to hypothermia and in a bad state by the time his supporter found him at 2am.
But he’s determined not to be eliminated when the axeman comes down tomorrow and has pulled his Ledlenser Night Pass to fight on through the night – even though he only got three hours sleep last night.
The battle at the back is now between him, David Liano Gonzalez and Duncan Kotze. One of them will be out tomorrow.
The axeman has arrived and the eliminations have begun.
This morning has seen the first elimination of the race. David Liano Gonzalez (MEX) was officially cut from the back at 6am. From now until the end of the race one team will be cut every 48 hours.
Gonzalez has been suffering from a leg injury sustained in an ultramarathon a month ago and knew yesterday he couldn’t continue.
However, with the elimination looming he elected to sit and wait it out rather than retire from the race. ‘I knew if I quit then the next athlete in front of me would be eliminated, I didn’t want that’ he said this morning.
‘As part of my training for the Red Bull X-Alps I did ultra races, including a 250km race in South Africa. From that I got tibial tendonitis. I thought I was recovered but after the Leatherman Prologue I felt it was not quite right.
‘Then with the first day all walking I could feel it being aggravated. On Day Two we walked again and by that afternoon I had decided to stop and take care of it.
‘Yesterday I had two flights, with 2,500m ascent. Even in the air pushing the harness with my leg was painful. I landed and I knew I couldn’t continue.’
He could have retired then, but he knew if he did the athlete in front of him would be eliminated instead. ‘I would like to think if I had been in that position the person behind would do the same thing,’ he said.
Being eliminated was definitely disappointing he said. ‘But I have been around adventure races and racing all my life, so I know injury is part of the game. Sometimes you make it through, sometimes not.’
He said he would head to Monaco in a few days and meet the race at the end.
Gonzalez has climbed Everest, the highest mountain in the world, six times. How does that compare with the Red Bull X-Alps?
‘It’s definitely been very, very tough with all the running and movement on the ground. I think both are big challenges. They are both physically and mentally demanding.’
He added. ‘Pilots who come back year after year have my full respect.’
Reference/Quelle with thanks to redbullxalps.com
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Athletes enjoy favourable flying conditions at Red Bull X-Alps 2017 – but only after brutal climb to 2,000m.
They waited and gazed longingly at the sky, hoping for a magical window when the weather gods would allow them to escape. The clouds swirled in, the sun disappeared, but in the end they could wait no longer. At 10:15am Gaspard Petiot(FRA3) and Toma Coconea (ROU) took to the skies in hot pursuit of Chrigel Maurer (SUI1) and Turnpoint 3, Aschau Chiemsee, some 179km to the north. The fight was on as day 3 of the Red Bull X-Alps adventure race unfolded.
Petiot and Coconea had begun the day early with a 1,300m gruelling ascent up the northern flanks of Mangart. Petiot, whose brother and sister were both there to support him, said yesterday’s flight in which he put in 100km in the air, was amazing. “You always hope for a big flight,” he said during a brief rest to change clothes. “But you never know.”
Not far behind lay Paul Guschlbauer (AUT1) and Nelson de Freyman (FRA3). Guschlbauer was in the air for the second time at 11:00am and swiftly caught them up, having tagged Turnpoint 2 in the air. He was followed by de Freyman and by lunchtime the pack was chasing Maurer, who had established a 40 km lead after tagging Triglav the night before and heading past the Großglockner, Austria’s highest mountain.
“It’s possible Maurer could pass Aschau Chiemsee,” Turnpoint 3, said race organiser Ulrich Grill. “The Drau valley is a famous long distance flying zone.”
Tomorrow, Wednesday 5th, the team lying in last place at 6 am will be automatically eliminated. To avoid that fate, Claudio Heidel Schemberger (ARG) has announced he is pulling his Ledlenser Night Pass. He was the first to be eliminated in the 2013 edition of the race so will be looking to avoid the same fate.
The battle at the back has begun, and it could be nervous times for David Liano Gonzales (MEX), Duncan Kotze (RSA), as well as Che Golus (AUS), Stephan Gruber(AUT2) and Richard Brezina (CAN), who were all lying within 40km of each other early afternoon. Follow all the action on Live Tracking on www.redbullxalps.com
Reference/Quelle with thanks to redbullxalps.com
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Red Bull X-Alps 2017 Race Report: Day 2 Highlight Video
The athletes push on towards Triglav on day 2 of their epic journey to Monaco. The poor weather conditions remain and Antoine Girard (FRA1) sustains an injury which forces him to leave the race. Follow the action live at win.gs/LiveTracking
Red Bull X-Alps, the world’s toughest adventure race is returning July 2, 2017 for its eighth edition. Starting in Salzburg, 31 Athletes of 20 nationalities will race a straight-line distance of 1,138km across the Alps to Monaco via 7 turnpoints in 7 different countries, including a turnpoint in Slovenia for the first time in Red Bull X-Alps history.
Over the years, the race has attracted some of the world’s top adventurers and has pushed them to their limits. It demands not only expert paragliding skills but extreme endurance, as some athletes will hike over 100km a day and gain 1000’s of meters in altitude while flying.
Travelling only by foot or paraglider, their every move is monitored by advanced Live Tracking technology and broadcasted to an audience of millions. With constantly changing weather conditions, tactical planning is as important as the extreme endurance required to participate. For this reason, each athlete has a supporter to help with strategy, nutrition and everything in between. The role of the supporter is hugely important – they truly are the unsung heroes of the race.
Before the main event, the one-day Leatherman Prologue race took place in SalzburgerLand. Sebastian Huber, Aaron Durogati and Benoit Outters, the top three finishers, each won an additional Ledlenser Night Pass, allowing them to race through the mandatory rest period. On day two of the main race, the usual 5:00am start will be delayed for each athlete by the time in which they finished the Leatherman Prologue race behind the prologue winner.
“The Red Bull X-Alps is the definition of true adventure.” Gavin McClurg (Team USA1).
The 2015 edition saw 19 of the 32 athletes make the goal – a record number since the first race in 2003. Incredibly, 12 rookies crossed the finish line in Monaco, including athletes from Korea, New Zealand and elsewhere for the first time in history.
Swiss athlete Christian Maurer however, won the Red Bull X-Alps 2015 race in a time of 8 days, 4 hours and 37 minutes. It was his fourth successive win and a new record. Could 2017 see athletes like Sebastian Huber or Paul Guschlbauer end Maurer’s reign as Red Bull X-Alps champion? Only one thing is certain – anything could happen!
Quelle: with thanks to Redbullxalps.com
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