Erzbergrodeo

Tough as nails! Only nine riders made it to the finish

Manuel Lettenbichler fought his way through fastest

(Bild: Philip Platzer / Red Bull Content Pool)

491 starters bared their teeth on the Erzberg this time. The toughest extreme enduro race in the world demanded everything from even the best in the world. Manuel Lettenbichler was crowned Rodeo King for the third time. The final result and tough pictures can be found here. 

The Erzbergrodeo showed its toughest side yesterday. Only nine riders mastered the difficult course before the four-hour mark - last year, 17 riders were able to take home one of the coveted finish flags. The changed route and soaked ground from the rain of the last few days put a massive strain on the 500 starters.

Hat-trick for "Letti"
But one rider was not deterred: Manuel Lettenbichler. The Bavarian KTM factory rider completed the extreme course in 2:47 hours and took his third consecutive victory at the Erzbergrodeo. Only one rider has managed this before: record winner Taddy Blazusiak, who won a total of five times.

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"I'm very tired now. It was an indescribable race with a chaotic start," admitted "Letti", who crashed in the starting corner and fell back to the end of the first starting wave.

Start went wrong
"That certainly wasn't the start I wanted. But luckily I was quickly back in front." The KTM ace was already ahead again at the first of the 27 checkpoints and did not let the lead slip away. "But we had to push a lot today," said the winner, who had completed the course a quarter of an hour faster last year.

These nine riders made it to the finish

(Bild: Sam Strauss / Red Bull Content Pool)

Lettenbichler has now been unbeaten in the Hard Enduro World Championship for ten races. "But at some point someone will come along and be faster than me," said the winner.

No Austrians at the finish
The podium was completed by Canadian Trystan Hart (KTM) and Spaniard Mario Roman (Sherco). Both were able to take home a piece of Erzberg rock as a trophy. None of the Austrian starters crossed the finish line this year: Dieter Rudolf and Michael Walkner passed 24 of the 27 checkpoints, placing them in the top 15 in the world.

Erzbergrodeo, final standings: 1st Manuel Lettenbichler (De, KTM), 2nd Trystan Hart (Kan, KTM), 3rd Mario Roman (Sp, Sherco), 4th Graham Jarvis (GB, KTM), 5th Wade Young (SA, GasGas), 6th Teodor Kabakchiev (Bu, Sherco), 7th Jonny Walker (GB, Beta), 8th Mitch Brightmore (GB, Husqvarna), 9th Matthew Green (SA, KTM).

Winners of the support races - Prologue: Josep Garcia (Sp, KTM), Rocket Ride: Ossi Reisinger (A, Husqvarna), Trial: Florian Geisenhofer (De, GasGas).