Red Bull X-Alps
Mauer Makes His Magic Move
Press Release / 22.06.2021
Day three of the Red Bull X-Alps and the reigning champion Chrigel Maurer (SUI1) began the day where he likes to be – up front, after an inspired 'magic move' the previous evening. In the final hour of flying time, he managed to gain 20km on his nearest rivals. But if he was hoping it would be easy from here on, he was to be disappointed.
After hiking 1,000m to the top of Grasköpfel, a small peak on German-Austrian border, he waited for an hour, hoping for conditions to improve before launching. He summed up the dilemma: “It is good to wait until the thermals and it’s possible to fly, but if there are no thermals, it’s not good to wait.”
He launched, landed, launched again and then battled to stay aloft before landing and climbing up the next mountain on foot. Behind him lay 11 athletes all within 40km (potentially an hour’s flight). But all athletes were experiencing similar conditions as they battled through the heat, humidity and sticky conditions.
At the front, the focus was Turnpoint 5, Lermoos, in the Tiroler Zugspitz Arena. Maurer was first to arrive at 1:20PM, followed by Patrick von Känel (SUI2) 20 minutes later. Conditions were turbulent and rough for arriving athletes as they met strong valley winds. Benoît Outters (FRA2) arrived in third place on foot.
Further back, the mid-pack had mostly cleared Turnpoint 4, Chiemgau Achental, among them Thomas Friedrich (AUT3), the young 20-year-old rookie, Théo de Blic (FRA3), 61-year-old Kaoru Ogisawa (JPN1), and Laurie Genovese (FRA4).
Ulrich Grill, race organizer, said: “The race continues to be gripping and fast, although not as fast as yesterday. The terrain between Achental and Lermoos is definitely not easy, requiring athletes to cross valleys. They are also heading into a slight weather front, which could bring rain and potential thunderstorms and will slow them down.”
At the back, things were not looking good for Russia’s Andrei Mashak, lying in last place. He was 20km behind Nick Neynens (NZL), and having already pulled his Night Pass yesterday, he has no further cards to play. It all comes down to what he can do today to stay in the race.
No Night Passes have been pulled for tonight.
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