Strong Cookina showings at the Austrian Championships

A hot championship weekend is behind us: on Saturday, 27 June, it was a race against the clock in the Weißenbachtal at the Austrian Championships in the individual time trial, and on Sunday, 28 June, the road race in Schwanenstadt followed.

We set our highlight on Saturday in the time trial: Anna Kiesenhofer rode a strong race over the 23.8 kilometre course and took second place in the women's elite. With a time of 31:36.26 minutes she was just 11.04 seconds short of the win, a tight duel at the highest national level.

Our new rider Nadja Heigl also delivered a strong performance on her championship debut in the Cookina jersey. In the individual time trial she placed 7th, confirming her versatility and racing toughness. Magdalena Bernhard was eighth and Katharina Machner ninth in the national championship classification, and Sophia Schlagenhaufen rounded off our strong result in 15th.

On Sunday the road race over 99.8 kilometres awaited in Schwanenstadt, in extreme heat and with a hard-to-control race. We showed ourselves as a strong collective: we worked together, were represented in the attacks and shaped the race actively. In these conditions it was decisive to close gaps, hold positions and get through the hot phases together.

Anna finished the road race in 11th, Katharina Machner was 13th, Nadja Heigl rode to 14th, Irina Krenn came in 17th and Sophia Schlagenhaufen took 30th. Even if the very top result did not come on Sunday, as a team we showed a strong collective performance and were visible in the race at all times.

Just as important on the day was the support off the bike: our second signing Alice Riebler was in action for us as a soigneur at the road race. In these temperatures the feeding was decisive: bottles, cooling, food and good spirits at the roadside made a real difference for us.

We take away a weekend of strong results, active racing and plenty of team spirit. At the Austrian Championships we were visible, united and combative.