Spectacular MTB routes, fantastic panoramas, overwhelming passes, beautiful stage towns and participants from over 40 countries make this stage race an absolute highlight of the worldwide mountain bike scene. In seven days, approximately 500 kilometres and more than 18,000 metres of altitude are conquered. Pure adrenaline!
From 03-09 July 2022, around 1,000 cycling enthusiasts will once again set off for the BIKE Transalp - the most important and spectacular mountain bike stage race in the world!
Two stages lead the participants to the Kronplatz with start and finish in Brunico and St. Vigil in Enneberg:
Stage 2 | Sillian - Brunico| 72.01 km | 2,513 metres altitude difference
Stage 3 | Brunico - San Vigilio di Marebbe | 38.20 km | 1,918 m difference in altitude
Stage 4 | San Vigilio di Marebbe - Caldaro | 109.44 km | 3,090 m difference in altitude
Stage 2: Sillian - Brunico
Like no other stage of the Transalp, the second one builds up tension over most of the route, which is released in a "big bang" at the end. The altitude profile also resembles an oscillation that builds up slowly and reaches its peak at the end. Thus, from Sillian over the Italian border, the route initially rolls out briskly, then from Vierschach via Innichen to Toblach it tackles the first hills. And on a section of the Dolomiti Superbike, for example, you ride down a beautiful forest path with good flow to Innichen. As the route continues, it plays with the edge of the forest on the shady south side of the „Hochpustertal“ and collects some altitude metres and fun points. Behind Olang a valley cut opens up to the south towards the Furkelpass. From now will it go steadily uphill for only one more time. The Furkelpass is an intermediate destination, which only on the last few metres is climbed on the pass road. Before that, a quiet forest path offers the opportunity to climb the pass far away from the traffic. From the Furkelpass, you have to climb another 500 metres before you reach the extensive crest of the Kronplatz, including a 360-degree panorama with the Dolomites to the south or the Riesenferner group to the north. This is where the „Herrnsteig“ starts, a real trail monster that has laid out the tips of its longest tentacles 1,300 metres further down. Actually, it should be called "Herrnsteige", because this trail offers many variations and interpretations all the way down. And all trail fans among the Transalp starters can look forward to one interpretation. Just this much: despite calmer forest path passages in the descent, you still need a good portion of strength, endurance and concentration at the end. But if you tackle this descent cleverly, you can have a lot of fun here.
Stage 3: Brunico - San Vigilio di Marebbe
Stage 3 continues to play with the possibilities offered by the Kronplatz. The motto is "stay here", not "move on quickly". And that is worthwhile. Both stage towns are valley towns of this 2275-metre-high hilltop, which is the centre of a famous ski area in winter and now also has a lot to offer bikers in all directions in summer. At the top, guests will also find the Mountain Museum of mountaineering legend Reinhold Messner and the very contemporary Lumen Museum for mountain photography. It's quite something up there. But the starters of the Transalp won't have time for that when they pass the peace bell at the summit and look for the fastest way to the start of the Gassl Trail. Although it has to be said that a short break after the 1400 metres of altitude in one piece from Bruneck up there would be quite appropriate. After all, this is the longest climb of this year's Transalp. The following Gassl Trail is even longer than the Herrnsteig, but easier in terms of technical demands - rounder, more fluid. The panorama in which it was built in the upper section is in no way inferior to the landscape experience on the Herrnsteig. At some point, after endless bends, the trail crosses the Furkelpass road and the next climb to this pass - after the second stage - can begin. On day three, however, the route is chosen a little differently: first on the road, later on a trail that leads quite steeply and uncompromisingly up to the pass. Once the Furkelpass has been conquered, it’s just going downhill on forest paths and small roads to St. Vigil.
