Congratulations to Philipp Kaider for breaking the Austria W-E record of Gerald Bauer in the Male 18-49 age group on a standard bike.
Philipp Kaider smashed Trans Austria record
Philipp Kaider from Lower Austria smashed Gerald Bauer’s eleven-year-old record in his record attempt from Feldkirch to Nickelsdorf across Austria. In a sensational time of exactly 19 hours, he crossed the country from west to east by bike. The reigning 24-hour time trial world champion covered a total of 673 kilometers with more than 4,000 meters in altitude and cycled at an average speed of 35.42 kilometers per hour.
Kaider saw this record some time ago on the WUCA website and thought, that he could be faster. On Saturday, 24th June 2023 at 5 p.m. Kaider started his record attempt in Feldkirch (V) with a moment of shock. The bike shifter of the time trial bike didn't work and the attempt was stopped after a few meters. At 05:06 p.m. a restart took place. The first 45 kilometers through Vorarlberg, and then up the Arlberg after a bike change, went better than expected. The 37-year-old climbed up to the top of the pass in only 37 minutes on his road bike, where his support team was already waiting for the change back to the time trial bike. Then it went downhill rapidly and with a light side wind through the Valley of the Inn. The native of Wolkersdorf was able to keep the average speed high and reached Innsbruck just before 10:00 p.m., 30 minutes ahead of his calculated "best case scenario". The air temperature here was around 18 degrees – very warm, as Kaider felt. Around midnight in the Kitzbühel area, the outside temperature dropped to around 13 degrees, which required gloves but made the onward journey more comfortable. Despite the ideal conditions, Kaider was struggling with fatigue and a drop in performance for the first time at this point. His crew supported and motivated him with jokes, sayings and challenging questions during this critical phase. Teamwork is what counts in ultracycling! Arrived in Salzburg, the Lower Austrian flew on to Upper Austria with the highest average speed to date of 40.6 km/h in the hour before at 12 degrees and a cloudless sky. Hedgehogs, which crossed the road in several places along the route at dusk, required the utmost attention from Kaider and his team in the pace car. The official “night drive” ended at sunrise shortly after 5:00 a.m. A glance at the speedometer revealed an unbelievable average speed of 36 km/h. Shortly before St. Pölten, the 2022 24-hour time trial world champion struggled again with severe fatigue. However, he did not let this deter him and pedaled hard again on the last kilometers through Lower Austria, through Vienna in the south and on to Burgenland. At 12:06 p.m., Kaider finally reached the destination of Nickelsdorf and set a sensational new Trans Austria record of exactly 19 hours. Kaider surprised by his own performance "It reflects a little bit my career - serious problems at the start and then everything runs smoothley," says Kaider with a smile at the finish. “I still don't quite know why I was so fast. We spoke in advance that it might be possible to stay just under 20 hours. Now I'm one minute away of a sub 18 hours time. It's unbelievable.” At this point, the Lower Austrian would like to say a big thank you to his team: “Without a team, such a performance would not have been possible. I kept struggling with fatigue and nausea. If they don't distract and support you, the attempt will probably be over sooner than you'd like." The record attempt was broadcast live by K19 and has another special feature - climate-neutral. A total of 68 trees will be planted in Lower Austria to compensate for the CO2 emissions of the pace car and the camera car. The first tree was already planted before the record attempt in the destination of Nickelsdorf (B).