Who is Sport Competition Management?
Sport Competition Management is owned and managed by Rob and Tracy Lea. They have been racing in St.Johann in Tirol for 35 years. Other trips include racing in the Soviet Union and assisting with other groups racing in Cuba and Argentina. Both Rob and Tracy are active racers – with Rob winning the medal count as a 8 time National Masters Criterium, Track and CycloCross Championships. Tracy serves as an advisor to the Masters Worlds promoters and has served on the UCI Masters Commission. Both Rob and Tracy are former Presidents of the USCF. They are also the proud parents of Olympian and Special Olympic racers, Bobby and Syd Lea.
Travel to World Masters Cycling Championships in St.Johann in Tirol, Austria with Sports Competition Management.
WHAT’S THIS TRIP ALL ABOUT?
Join thousands of other masters from around the World and race this iconic Worlds Masters Championships.
This year’s event includes Masters Road and Time World Championship, Vintage Bike Road and Time Trial World Championship as well as a “Sprint? (1 kk road TT) and Hill Climb World Championship.
St. Johann in Tirol has been the site of World Road championship promotions for almost 50 years. Rob & Tracy Lea, Sport Competition Management, have been racing and leading groups to these races for 45 of those years. We know from our own years of experience that these races will be the best you have ever raced. This year they will start over 20 races exactly on time, publish the results of ALL finishers 20 minutes after the last finisher crosses the line, and present Worlds jerseys and trophies down to 20 places at dramatic evening award ceremonies.
World Masters Cycling Federation is not a UCI championship. However, this event does use UCI rules and national commissaries.
Winners at St. Johann are no less World Champions. World Masters Cycling Federation is run by masters for masters. The awards ceremony is truly “Olympic” like and winners are indeed champions!
The St. Johann course is the ideal championship course. It is a 40-km lap with moderate climbs, fast flat sections and a very fast sprint course. The road race has been won in every way possible – early breakaway, late break, solo break, fast race of attrition with a small pack sprint, or 60 person field sprint. The style of race depends more on the riders than on the course—and more and more they just go like hell.
The Time Trial course is held on a smooth 10 km stretch of road – up and back with a small hill prior to the turn around. The course, though not a hard course, the course does indeed recognize the strong and fast. One needs to be both in order to claim a spot on the blocks at the awards.
Eligibility
Anyone can enter the races in St. Johann. UCI licenses are not required. There are no qualification requirements except no pros or active point scoring racers in UCI races. Age classes start at 30 for men and women with the oldest male class is 80 and the women – 70 (thought the TT goes to 75–. Races are available for juniors at St. Johann.
Competition is comparable to the best US Masters racing but attitudes to the off the back riders are considerably more respectful. Less experienced racers will enjoy these races as much as potential World Championship winners provided, they do not secretly aspire to win.
The trip is designed for riders of all levels of skill and competitive desire. Past groups have included World Champions, first year riders, and pregnant riders as well as a variety of non-riding friends, spouses, and children of all ages. Individual and parent/child time trials are available for even the youngest riders. All types of riders and non-riders have thoroughly enjoyed these trips in the past.
What is the trip like?
We travel by bus to St. Johann in Tirol from the Munich airport on Monday, August 15 and leave St. Johann on Tuesday, August 23. Coming early, leaving earlier, stay longer is possible – just let us know what you want to do.
St. Johann in Tirol is a classic Tyrolean ski and summer resort located near Kitztbuhl. The ski lift in St. Johann on the so-called “back side” of the Kitzbulerhorn which hosts the world famous Hahnenkamm Downhill Race. This one-week in St. Johann turns the town in a village where most of the tourists are cyclists. Imagine 3,000 cyclists in Stowe, or Vail, or Park City—that is what it is like. Training on the 40-km course is one continuous international group ride.
Each age class has one road race or maybe two if you race the Vintage Road Bike Championship or choose to race in a younger age group held on a different day plus a time trial, sprints and a hill climb. If you are not racing all the events, there is time for trips to Kitzbuhl, Salzburg, Innsbruck, or even the Grossglockner pass. Non-racers or racers who have already raced may enjoy the running race up the Kitzbuhler horn (10 km 10-15% grade comparable to the run up Mt. Washington), hire a guide to climb Austria’s highest mountain, the Grossglockner (12,000 meters)