Bikester Magazine EN Summer 2021

Many at Votec HQ have looked south
longingly over the years – would it be possible
to ride non-stop from Stuttgart to the Stelvio
Pass? The launch of the new Votec VRC,
an all-road bike with serious long-distance
capability, provided the perfect opportunity
to accomplish this dream. The idea was
simple: put together the right team and just
go for it.
Knowing the riders, it was clear that even
390 kilometres with 7,250 metres of altitude
weren’t going to cause too many problems.
One of the riders, Marion, said it would be “a
piece of cake” in the run-up – and this wasn’t
just an idle boast! Like teammates Maren and
Raphael, she’d already completed numerous
long-distance tours like this, some of them
over considerably longer distances. So, all
three approached the challenge with the
calm confidence of riders who had very little
doubt they could pull it off. Things were a bit
different for Lukas. Although he’s retained a
lot of the fitness from his professional cycling
career, he had no experience of similar rides:
“I’d always thought I cycled a lot, but once I
heard the stories from the rest of the group, I
panicked. I’m completely inexperienced when
it comes to ultra-long-distance stuff, and the
rest of them do stuff like this all the time.”
The ride started in Stuttgart, went to Lake
Constance via the Swabian Alb, took in the
Flüela and Ofen Passes in Switzerland, and
finished at Stelvio after climbing the Umbrail
Pass. Looking at the elevation profile, the first
250 kilometres seem relatively flat. They’re
not, of course, but the Swabian Alb almost
resembles a series of gentle hills compared
to the proper mountain stages later. The ride
really got going at Lake Constance. To get the
most daylight, the team planned to start at
midnight and reach the Stelvio Pass by sunset
– ambitious but not impossible.
BIKESTER