Mourning for Mitteregger

Steinmayr: “Rudi was a very fair guy”

Cycling legend Rudi Mitteregger passed away at the age of 79.(Bild: GEPA pictures)

On Wednesday, Austria lost a cycling legend in Mitteregger. The Styrian inspired the whole country with his hussar rides in the Tour of Austria in the 1970s. Ö-Tour record winner Wolfgang Steinmayr remembers his eternal rival.

Austrian cycling mourns the loss of one of its all-time legends. Rudolf "Rudi" Mitteregger passed away on Wednesday at the age of 79.

The Styrian left his mark on the Tour of Austria in the 1970s together with Wolfgang Steinmayr from Innsbruck. Hundreds of thousands of fans followed the "brother duel" on the streets and in front of the TV.

Steinmayr is still the record holder today with four overall victories, and Mitteregger is also unrivaled as a four-time bell-ringer king. "Rudi was a great climber. But he was also a very fair guy, sometimes too gullible," remembers Steinmayr.

Rudi Mitteregger was the only professional cyclist to be crowned Glockner King four times in the Tour of Austria.(Bild: Sepp Pail)

In the 1970s, there were no gear systems with 12 or more gears; the riders screwed the sprockets together themselves before the mountain stages. The two didn't even swap their gear ratios as roommates. "I was a stickler for detail and kept precise records of all the mountains and stages," reveals Steinmayr.

Mitteregger victory on a "Steinmayr bike"
Once they were able to celebrate together. In 1977, Mitteregger rode to victory in the Ö-Tour on a "Steinmayr bike" weighing just eight kilograms, as the Tyrolean had launched his own racing bike brand after the end of his active career.

A close friendship did not develop between the rivals even after cycling, but Mitteregger and Steinmayr met at receptions two or three times a year.

Phone call on the anniversary of his death
Even on the anniversary of his death, the two were still in contact by phone. 50 years after the legendary outburst of anger during the 1974 Tour of Austria ("Where are the monkeys? Are they stupid?"), they were supposed to do an interview together. "Rudi hadn't been in good shape for a while, he was in a wheelchair. He had a firm voice in our conversation and was really looking forward to this story. Three hours later, he was dead," Steinmayr can hardly believe it.

If social media had existed in 1974, Mitteregger would probably have become world-famous. On the descent from the Gaberl in Styria, the climbing king suffered a rear wheel defect. The support car, which had got stuck in the crowd at the top of the pass, did not want to come. Mitteregger watched in growing horror as one competitor after another passed him. "It was terrible for me. I'm not ashamed of my words because it was a human reaction," explained the Styrian in interviews years later.

More than 150 victories
Despite the unbelievable mishap on the third stage, he still won the tour in the end. In 1977, he won the overall victory in the Ö-Tour for the third and last time. With more than 150 victories in stage races and criteriums, he is one of the most successful cyclists in Austria.

Retirement due to heart problems
Heart rhythm problems forced him into retirement at the age of 39: "The doctor said I should give it a rest. It was a shame because the 1984 Olympics would have been in Los Angeles. I wanted to finish my whole career with this, but it wasn't meant to be."

Until his death, he lived in his home community of Gaal in the Rudolf-Mitteregger-Siedlung. He is survived by his wife Heidi, his daughters and his grandchildren.