A sell-out field of over 1,800 athletes from 31 nations will gather in Austria’s spectacular Alps for Challenge Kaiserwinkl-Walchsee for a full weekend of sport on 27-28 June. The field not only includes a record number of age-group athletes but also promises to deliver world-class racing on this beautiful but technical course from some of the sport’s best.

Heading the field is defending champion Tjebbe Kaindl (AUT). He won at his first attempt over the 113km distance last year, and while he continues to race WTCS short course, the lure of another home win in the mountains was too strong. He will have strong competition from another local favourite, Frederic Funk (GER), during Challenge Kaiserwinkl-Walchsee: the German, who recently won Challenge St Pölten, has already won Challenge Kaiserwinkl-Walchsee three times and remains undefeated on Austrian soil.

While Challenge Kaiserwinkl-Walchsee takes place against the beautiful backdrop of the Austrian Alps, this also means that the course – and specifically the bike leg – is extremely challenging. Funk and Kaindl know better than anyone that there isn’t a single flat metre. But based on his world rankings, Fabian Kraft (GER) is the even bigger favourite, and he will do everything he can to inflict Funk’s first defeat on Austrian soil or stop Kaindl’s successful title defence. The same applies to men like Tom Vaelen (BEL), Dorian Muller (FRA), and Thomas Navarro (FRA), who are not immediately seen as the biggest contenders, but on a good day and under the right circumstances, could easily pull off an impressive surprise.

In the women’s field, the athletes are closer together based on world ranking, but Nina Derron seems to be the top favourite. With a world ranking of #41 and, above all, her Swiss background, she certainly knows what it takes to climb. Earlier this year, she turned heads with a second-place finish at Challenge Taiwan and also took silver on Lanzarote. Ranked just six places lower (#47) is France’s Justine Guerard. She hasn’t had her best season yet and hasn’t made it to a podium anywhere, although she came close with a fourth place at Anfi Challenge Mogan-Gran Canaria and a seventh place at Challenge Family The Championship earlier this season. At Challenge Kaiserwinkl-Walchsee, she will definitely push herself to the absolute limit to finally make the podium this time – preferably the highest step.

With Australia’s Milan Agnew (#72), Italy’s Sara Sandrini (#89), Germany’s Sarah Schoenfelder (#90), and Germany’s Johanna Ahrens, there are four more women who are all ranked within the top one hundred in the world. They, too, will do everything they can to live up to their status, surpass themselves, and put the other women at a disadvantage. Ultimately, the main question is who will best withstand the high mountains and still have enough energy left for what will likely be a decisive run in forecast hot conditions.

Challenge Kaiserwinkl-Walchsee takes place on Sunday, 28 June. The start gun goes off at 8:30am with the pro women, followed at 8:40am with the pro men. Live updates are available at www.challenge-family.live. For further information, visit www.challenge-walchsee.com.