{"id":270836,"date":"2025-08-31T18:16:46","date_gmt":"2025-08-31T16:16:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/presse.tirol.at\/?p=270836"},"modified":"2026-02-17T14:47:45","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T13:47:45","slug":"tirolean-double-victory-and-german-heroine-at-the-otztaler-cycle-marathon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/presse.tirol.at\/en\/tirolean-double-victory-and-german-heroine-at-the-otztaler-cycle-marathon\/270836\/","title":{"rendered":"Tirolean double victory and German heroine at the \u00d6tztaler Cycle Marathon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The 44th<\/sup> edition of the \u00d6tztaler Cycle Marathon (\u00d6RM) brought sporty highlights and emotional stories: Daniel Federspiel fulfilled a lifelong dream at the age of 38, celebrating his first victory in this historic race while Germany’s Janine Meyer once again beat her own course record of the previous year. Local hero Jonas Holzknecht, just 20 years old, impressed with a fierce performance and secured a podium finish as the youngest second-place finisher in \u00d6RM history. These great sporting successes were made possible thanks to the tireless commitment of the \u00d6RM Dream Team with over 1,300 volunteers who ensure the smooth organization of the event every year. Additionally, 80-year old Martin Strobl provided a very special moment as he took on the challenge for the 35th<\/sup> time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Start in S\u00f6lden © \u00d6tztal Tourismus – Johann Groder<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

44th<\/sup> victory thriller at the \u00d6tztaler Cycle Marathon<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The unrivaled 44th<\/sup> \u00d6tztaler Cycle Marathon, covering 227 kilometers and 5,500 altitude meters, once again offered cycling at the highest level in glorious weather. Local hero Jonas Holzknecht caused quite a sensation early on when he left the others behind together with Belgium’s Sieben Devalckeneer and dominated the race for long stretches. While the favorites started to take it really serious for the first time at Jaufen Pass, Daniel Federspiel took the initiative at Timmelsjoch: the MTB Eliminator World Champion attacked decisively, overtook Jack Burke and reached the first position with impressive strength. In a truly thrilling finale, the 38-year-old left nothing to chance, continuously extending his lead and celebrating his long-awaited first victory after 6:48:55 hours in S\u00f6lden. Burke had to admit defeat while young star Holzknecht fulfilled his dream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With an overall time of 6:48:55.8 hours, Federspiel missed Mathias Nothegger’s course record of 6:47:02.3 hours by just under two minutes, but the joy prevailed: “This victory has been my big goal for so long. That it has now become a reality is hard to believe. The emotions when I reached S\u00f6lden with cramps were indescribable. At Jaufen Pass, I cycled at my own pace. That was perhaps a good decision, because at Timmelsjoch I was able to really push hard. When I saw Jack, I got some extra watts.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Holzknecht takes sensational second place – youngest runner-up in history<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the descent towards S\u00f6lden, Jonas Holzknecht, Matthias Reutimann and German Andreas Isele overtook Stefano Cecchini, who had previously been in second place. A few hundred meters before the finish, Holzknecht started a sprint and achieved second place: “Indescribable, I can’t put this second place into words. The podium was my biggest dream this year. I had a great day, so I went for it right from the start.” Third place went to Swiss Matthias Reutimann. Hans-J\u00f6rg Leopold, the third-best Austrian, finished sixth while Alban Lakata, who had a rather bad day, took eighth place. Last year’s winner Jack Burke also had a less than perfect day: “The attack on Jaufen Pass was a mistake. I pretty much struggled on Timmelsjoch. Things are just not going well this year.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Women’s power at the \u00d6RM<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Janine Meyer once again delivered an outstanding performance this year, crossing the starting line alongside 391 other women. Given the demanding marathon course, it is particularly remarkable that more and more women are taking on this ultimate challenge. The percentage of women has increased by 50% over the past 10 years and will reach a new record number of female participants in 2025. “We are really delighted to welcome all female participants as the performance of the women at the \u00d6tztaler is particularly impressive,” states Heike Klotz, head of OC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Janine Meyer achieves the triple<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year, German Janine Meyer put on a fantastic show, setting a new course record. This year, she achieved what was essentially a start-to-finish victory. From K\u00fchtai onward, she was untouchable and gradually pulled away from her competitors. Her official passage times show the strength of her performance today: she crossed Brenner Pass just a few minutes behind all the top male favorites! She took the lead over Jaufen Pass and Timmelsjoch, setting another new course record with her third victory. The 47-year-old from Cologne finished in 7:22:32.4 hours, four minutes faster than in 2024: “It’s unbelievable, I was on my own for so long. The first victory at the \u00d6tztaler Cycle Marathon was definitely the best, because my parents were there too. But I wouldn’t trade any of my three victories for anything else.” Meyer won 17:14 minutes ahead of her compatriot Eva Schien. Local hero Belinda Holzer came in third with a time of 7:51:37.8 and she was really overjoyed. The strong performances of the top three female athletes clearly demonstrated the power of women at the \u00d6tztaler Cycle Marathon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Countless celebrities back at the start<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u00d6tztaler Cycle Marathon makes fierce dreams come true. Not just for thousands of amateur athletes from 40 nations. Also many celebrities were at the start again, enjoying a fantastic day of cycling in \u00d6tztal. Ski Mountaineering Vice World Champion Sarah Dreier celebrated her debut with a time of 9:11 hours: “Ski mountaineers are getting fit in the summer while training a lot on the bike. But I never cycled such long distances as today. The \u00d6tztaler Cycle Marathon was simply amazing, I had this huge smile on my face all day long. Reaching the finish line was something truly special. It is incredible what the organizers have achieved here in \u00d6tztal.” Winter stars Benjamin Karl, Werner Heel and Manfred M\u00f6lgg were also part of the starter field – just as “old hands” like UEFA CEO Martin Kallen, former professional cyclists Thomas Rohregger and J\u00f6rg Ludewig or famous wine taster Aldo Sohm from New York. As in the previous year, the best of the celebrities was Manfred M\u00f6lgg. In 2025, he finished in 7:46 hours while today he was ten minutes faster! “It was such a fantastic setting with incredible spectators. Cycling together with so many colleagues and friends was a dream again. It was really tough at Timmelsjoch where I got cramps. But my overall time is really great!” Benjamin Karl also delivered a strong performance, achieving his target time of under eight hours in 7:57:38, despite weighing 88 kilograms. Sarah Dreier also made a great \u00d6RM debut in 9:11 hours!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sustainability, thanks & preview<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 44th<\/sup> \u00d6tztaler Cycle Marathon thrilled the crowd also with a 15-hour live broadcast on \u00d6RM TV with over 10,200 viewers watching simultaneously. As a partner of Green Events Austria, the organization is committed to consistent sustainability – from avoiding waste and recycling to e-mobility and travel by public transport. OC members Heike Klotz and Dominic Kuen: “Heartfelt thanks to our dream team of over 1,300 dedicated helpers and volunteers, loyal sponsors and partners, supportive authorities and the understanding local community along the marathon route. They all contribute to keep the myth of the \u00d6tztaler alive in a sustainable way year after year: once again at the 2026 \u00d6RM taking place on 30 August 2026.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More details: <\/strong>https:\/\/www.soelden.com\/en\/events-leisure-tips\/events\/oetztaler-cycle-marathon<\/a>
Pictures:\u00a0<\/strong>https:\/\/media.oetztal.com\/pinaccess\/pinaccess.do?pinCode=I7b1s7X0U5c0<\/a>
The use of our pictures is free of charge for advertising purposes regarding \u00d6tztal. It is absolutely required that you indicate the copyright and the name of the photographer!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 44th edition of the \u00d6tztaler Cycle Marathon (\u00d6RM) brought sporty highlights and emotional stories: Daniel Federspiel \u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":270830,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":true,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"region":[99],"coauthors":[195],"class_list":["post-270836","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","region-oetztal"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTirolean double victory and German heroine at the \u00d6tztaler Cycle Marathon - Presse.Tirol<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/presse.tirol.at\/en\/tirolean-double-victory-and-german-heroine-at-the-otztaler-cycle-marathon\/270836\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tirolean double victory and German heroine at the \u00d6tztaler Cycle Marathon - Presse.Tirol\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The 44th edition of the \u00d6tztaler Cycle Marathon (\u00d6RM) brought sporty highlights and emotional stories: Daniel Federspiel \u2026\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/presse.tirol.at\/en\/tirolean-double-victory-and-german-heroine-at-the-otztaler-cycle-marathon\/270836\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Presse.Tirol\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-08-31T16:16:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-17T13:47:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/presse.tirol.at\/app\/uploads\/2025\/08\/EXPA-GRO-250831-5003-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Anna Katharina Pony\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Anna Katharina Pony\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/presse.tirol.at\/en\/tirolean-double-victory-and-german-heroine-at-the-otztaler-cycle-marathon\/270836\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/presse.tirol.at\/en\/tirolean-double-victory-and-german-heroine-at-the-otztaler-cycle-marathon\/270836\/\",\"name\":\"Tirolean double victory and German heroine at the \u00d6tztaler Cycle Marathon - Presse.Tirol\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/presse.tirol.at\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/presse.tirol.at\/en\/tirolean-double-victory-and-german-heroine-at-the-otztaler-cycle-marathon\/270836\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/presse.tirol.at\/en\/tirolean-double-victory-and-german-heroine-at-the-otztaler-cycle-marathon\/270836\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/presse.tirol.at\/app\/uploads\/2025\/08\/EXPA-GRO-250831-5003-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-08-31T16:16:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-17T13:47:45+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/presse.tirol.at\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/0760b388b0070873655d7401063981ae\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-EN\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/presse.tirol.at\/en\/tirolean-double-victory-and-german-heroine-at-the-otztaler-cycle-marathon\/270836\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-EN\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/presse.tirol.at\/en\/tirolean-double-victory-and-german-heroine-at-the-otztaler-cycle-marathon\/270836\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/presse.tirol.at\/app\/uploads\/2025\/08\/EXPA-GRO-250831-5003-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/presse.tirol.at\/app\/uploads\/2025\/08\/EXPA-GRO-250831-5003-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"30.08.2025, S\u00f6lden, AUT, \u00d6RM, \u00d6tztaler Radmarathon 2025, im Bild \u00dcbersicht Start \/\/ \u00dcbersicht Start during the 44th OeRM, Oetztal Radmarathon. 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