Excitement guaranteed

Rankweil looks forward to a cycling festival of superlatives

(Bild: Marktgemeinde Rankweil/ Bernd Oswald )

The Liebfrauenberg Cycling Criterium in Rankweil was suspended for exactly 13 years. This Saturday, however, the two-wheeled spectacle celebrated a brilliant comeback. The crew around Team Vorarlberg mastermind Thomas Kofler is mainly responsible for this.

 "People kept asking us whether we could revive this event," explains the 52-year-old, who is also responsible for another cycling spectacle in the region with the GP Vorarlberg in Nenzing. In just a few weeks, Kofler and organization manager Jürgen Schatzmann put together a top-class race in which the men's and women's national criterium titles are also awarded.

The "Käferle Cup" for the youngest riders kicks off at 13:45. After the races of the "Home Town Heros", the women will go on the hunt for their titles from 4.45 pm. One of the hottest favorites for the champion's jersey: Kathrin Schweinberger. The 27-year-old Tyrolean from the German World Tour team Ceratizit has already shone this season with her victory in the UCI 1.1 race "Dwars doors de Westhoek" in Belgium.

The men will start their race at 18:15 and it should be a tough one. With the German Astana pro Rüdiger Selig, his compatriot Michael Schwarzmann from the World Tour Team Israel Premier Tech and the long-time Team Vorarlberg top performer Roland Thalmann (Sz/Tudor Pro Cycling Team), several international aces have already announced their participation. There is also the reigning German criterium champion Dario Rapps and of course Team Vorarlberg with Moran Vermeulen, Felix Stehli and Lukas Rüegg.

Anyone attending the cycling spectacle on Saturday need not worry about missing the first two round of 16 matches of the European Football Championships. They will be shown at Rankler Marktplatz as part of the public viewing.