VICE EUROPEAN CHAMPION in Ultracycling - Lukas Kaufmann

On Friday at 2:55 PM, the moment finally arrived. As the 21st and last participant in the Ultracycling European Championship, I started my race in the main square of Oschatz / Germany. RUND UM SACHSEN - 900 kilometers and 8500 meters of elevation lay ahead of me and my fantastic team.
 
Just like last year in America, I had 6 support staff in the pace car (2 teams of 3 people each) and 3 people in the media car, to ensure there would be excellent photo and video material for future presentations and keynotes. A big THANK YOU at this point to AUTO GÜNTHER for their support with the rental vehicles!!
 
The route in Saxony is about 200 kilometers flat, then come 400 very hilly kilometers, and the last 300 kilometers are more or less flat again. Everyone who knows me knows that I feel most comfortable on climbs, even though I always enjoy training on the Danube Cycle Path.
 
Since I was sent into the race last, it was always a great motivation for me to catch up to one participant after another. After about 700 kilometers, there were only two participants ahead of me – the eventual winner Sebastian Mayr from Germany (finish time: 30 hours and 42 minutes) and the later third-placed Pole Mariusz Cukierski (finish time: 32 hours and 35 minutes). When I managed to overtake Mariusz a few kilometers before the finish, my joy was immense.
 
After 31 hours and 14 minutes, I crossed the finish line as the overjoyed Vice-European Champion!!