Saalfelden Leogang was also a stage destination. A warm welcome awaited the delegation in Leogang, which included sporting greats such as Benni Raich, David Kreiner, Georg Totschnig, biathletes Dominik Landertinger and Julian Eberhard and World Championship ambassador Tommy Rohregger, who were following in the footsteps of the cycling World Championships that have been held in Austria to date. Today, the prominent riders will continue on to the finish of the tour, to the World Championship venue in Innsbruck.
Over the past seven days, numerous World Championship and Olympic medallists, as well as representatives from business and tourism, cycled across Austria in the service of a good cause and to promote the 2018 UCI Road Cycling World Championships. Their mission: to provide information about the World Championships and to get sports fans and media representatives in the country in the mood for the exciting race days in Tyrol in September. The biking region of Saalfelden Leogang also played a special role as the destination of the queen stage over the Grossglockner: Tired and sweaty, the high-calibre peloton arrived in Leogang on the penultimate day of the tour. "With 240 kilometres, today was definitely the queen stage. The day before, we even briefly considered whether we should pull out after all. We are all the more proud now that we have completed the Glockner stage. We are simply a great team that has supported each other over the last few days and given it our all," says head of delegation and World Championship ambassador Thomas Rohregger.
The celebrities will have covered no less than 1,247 kilometres across Austria and over 13,000 metres in altitude at the finish of today's final stage through Tyrol - all for a good cause. All the more reason to celebrate on the eve of the grand finale at the SalzburgerLand evening at the Hotel Kirchenwirt in Leogang and to mobilise some last-minute energy, says biathlete Julian Eberhard: "It was a really cool experience with lots of cool people and good athletes. Landi and I picked up the group in SalzburgerLand. Now we can really enjoy ourselves at the Kirchenwirt, which was a great motivation in between."
The cycling and biking region of Saalfelden Leogang is also delighted to have played its part in promoting the major event under the motto "We are the World Cycling Championships", explains Marco Pointner, Managing Director of Saalfelden Leogang Touristik: "We are delighted that our Tyrolean colleagues have chosen Saalfelden Leogang as the destination for the royal stage of this special tour. We hosted the social evening and were also able to present our 2020 Downhill World Championships. A perfect evening all about cycling."
Starting in Leogang, the celebrity troupe will travel via the Tyrolean World Cycling Championship starting points of Kufstein and Rattenberg to the finish in Innsbruck. The World Championship delegation will also be carrying Bettini's original rainbow jersey from 2006, which was received as a baton at the start of the tour last Friday in Salzburg, the host city of the 2006 World Cycling Championships, and will be symbolically handed over to the representatives of the Innsbruck World Cycling Championships today.
Text: smpr.at
Photo f.l.t.r.: Managing Director TirolWerbung Josef Margreiter, Managing Director Saalfelden Leogang Touristik Marco Pointner, World Cup ambassador Tommy Rohregger//credit: smpr.at
