Last weekend, the GlemmRide celebrated its 10th anniversary. Saalbach Hinterglemm once again served as the venue for the legendary bike festival, featuring the spectacular Masters of Dirt Big Air Show, an exciting Rookies Cup race, a large expo, cool bands, and a diverse lineup of side events.

The Rookies Cup has been a staple of the program since the second edition of GlemmRide in Saalbach Hinterglemm. Over the past ten years, the bike festival has become a must-attend event on the international biking calendar. What once began as a new event format is now an established and distinctive all-around experience for the biking community, featuring an expo, live concerts, and plenty of action. And, of course, no such program would be complete without the downhill discipline. Saalbach made a conscious decision to host the junior series and has thus been offering young racers the perfect setting for an exciting race since 2016.

This year, over 300 riders from 30 countries participated. For those who traveled to the event, Friday officially began with the track walk, which was something special this time around because, due to construction work on the gondola that had been used previously, the Proline could not be ridden, resulting in a completely new course. The race was moved to the outskirts of Hinterglemm, and the Westgipfelbahn was used to transport participants up to the middle station.

The course was completely unfamiliar to all participants, so neither locals nor frequent visitors to Saalbach had an advantage. None of the existing trails from the bike park’s vast selection were used for the competition; instead, a course was specially prepared for the event on a former hiking trail. The course was the subject of some controversy, at least initially, but above all, the organizers deserve great credit for offering an alternative route. The course was very root-strewn and featured several hairpin turns that posed serious problems for some participants. In the end, it was a challenge for everyone, and the overall feedback on Sunday was overwhelmingly positive.

Results

It was definitely worth taking a look at the results from the most recent age groups. In the Kids U11 category, which drew a large field of 27 competitors, Pacifico Sarmiento Montero (PER – BikeShop Lima) won with a time of 2:53.472 minutes. The fastest girl of the U11 was Mia Staals (GER – Leoganger Bikeclub). In the Boys U13 category, Noah Mangano (ITA – Team Black Crew) secured his first victory of the year. The fastest rider in the Boys U15 category was Codrin Pop (ROU – NH velo) with an incredible time of 2:29.259 minutes. In the Girls U13/U15 category, Valerie Gigele (AUT – URC Ötztal) took the win.

The 10th edition of the GlemmRide Bike Festival shows that, over the years, we've managed to get even more people excited about cycling and to steadily grow the community. Whether you're a beginner or a pro, in Saalbach Hinterglemm, the focus is on sharing the joy of the sport.

Marlene Krug, Bike Marketing Tourismusverband Saalbach Hinterglemm