Dozens of professional athletes will be at the start at Challenge St Pölten this Sunday, 29 May. In the men’s race, most eyes will be on the Germans, Jan Stratmann and Maurice Clavel, who finished second and third respectively last year and will now be aiming for victory. A very strong field of participants will start in the women’s race as well and the biggest favorites for victory seem to be Lucy Buckingham and Grace Thek, both fresh from this weekend’s The Championship where Buckingham got third and Thek eighth.
Of course, you never know in advance what will happen during a race, especially on a spectacular course like Challenge St. Pölten, which is anything but flat on the bike. In addition, Stratmann and Clavel will not have won the battle for the podium easily, as there are many more very strong world-class athletes racing. Andreas Böcherer and Nils Frommhold are fine examples, as is Caleb Noble, who was recently on the podium at the first edition of Challenge Malta, and Giulio Molinari.
The same goes for the women’s race, where Britain’s Lucy Buckingham and Australia’s Grace Thek are among the biggest favorites. Last year’s top three – Anne Haug, Imogen Simmonds, Maja Stage-Nielsen – will not be there on 29 May, which offers prospects for a host of other top athletes. Chantal Cummings for example who was also on the Challenge Malta podium, will undoubtedly want to show herself up front.
Challenge St Pölten will take place on 29 May. You can follow live streaming and updates via www.challenge-family.live.
MALE PRO:
1 Stratmann Jan GER
2 Clavel Maurice GER
3 Böcherer Andreas GER
4 Frommhold Nils GER
5 Noble Caleb AUS
6 Molinari Giulio ITA
7 Davis Tom GBR
8 Mann Nicolas GER
9 Storch Kieran AUS
10 Weiss Michi AUT
11 Hollaus Lukas AUT
12 Hohlrieder Matthias AUT
13 Enzenberger Georg AUT
14 Aschenbrenner Sebastian AUT
15 Ladits Christoph AUT
16 Birngruber Christian AUT
17 Ferreira João POR
18 Draper Will GBR
19 Mantell Ernest USA
20 Thomschke Markus GER
21 Erhardt Julian GER
22 Van Hemel Tim BEL
23 Jais Christian GER
24 Wohl Pavel CZE
25 Lehmann Bence HUN
26 Seifert Lukas GER
27 Günther Fabian GER
28 Lucena Antonio ESP
29 Butters Hannes GER
30 Peitersen Bastian DEN
31 Junghans Raphael GER
32 Gosnjak Tim SLO
33 Tutukin Ivan KAZ
34 Nagy Gergely HUN
35 Kardos Géza HUN
FEMALE PRO:
51 Watkinson Amelia NZL
52 Buckingham Lucy GBR
53 Thek Grace AUS
54 Jedrzejewska Aleksandra POL
55 Obmann Gabriele AUT
56 Dornauer Lisa-Maria AUT
57 Falcaro Nicole USA
58 Santimaria Margie ITA
59 Kleiser Daniela GER
60 Bonde Line DEN
61 Schönfelder Sarah GER
62 Baumann Melanie CHE
63 Kleiner Valeria GER
64 Ahrens Johanna GER