Slaw Dog
Red Bull Erzbergrodeo is the gnarliest race in the world. Don’t even come at me with another race.
How gnarly? Of the 500 riders who qualified for Sunday’s main event, just EIGHT mastered the 35.2km course within the four-hour time limit!
INSANSE!
The winner this year was Germany’s Manuel Lettenbichler who claimed the title seven years after his father Andreas achieved the same feat. The duo are now the only father/son combo to have won the revered Austrian hard enduro race.
“When I cleared Lazy Noon, I was like ‘oh man, how sick is this’, Lettenbichler said. “Literally the last push wasn’t too difficult, and it was an unbelievable feeling. I’ve been on the go for a couple of years and now to win it, I’m over the moon. It means so much that both my dad and I have won this race. Probably for the next couple of years not many people will do that, it’s such a cool story.”
Lettenbichler’s win wasn’t without challenges, as he struggled through checkpoint 22, named ‘Highway’, paving the way for his rivals, and allowing Roman to draw close.
“The Highway almost killed me. I was the first guy in there and there were literally no lines [to ride], I had to dig some lines and put some trees up, because it was really difficult, and I made it a little bit easier for the rest. The race almost killed me in this point, I was so done afterwards,” Lettenbichler concluded.
2022 Red Bull Erzbergrodeo finishers:
- Manuel Lettenbichler (GER) – 2:58:51
- Mario Roman (ESP) – 3:02:17
- Trystan Hart (CAN) – 3:11:53
- Billy Bolt (GBR) – 3:18:25
- Alfredo Gomez (ESP) – 3:20:30
- Michael Walkner (AUT) – 3:40:32
- Wade Young (ZAF) – 3:55:13
- Matthew Green (ZAF) – 3:55:54
Main image: Red Bull Content Pool
Still crazy that McGrath and Pastrana finishing this race flies so far under the radar. Might have been a slightly different race back then, but not that much.