Alpina Time Trial Cup – Round 4 (St. Georgen im Lavanttal): Course, Elevation & Route Profile

Course & Elevation

The Alpina Time Trial Cup is a series run by HRC ARBÖ Alpina Wolfsberg and reaches its twentieth edition in 2026. Its four rounds are spread across the Lavant valley, from Lavamünd through Frantschach and St. Paul to this closing round at St. Georgen, which is raced for the prizes of ARBÖ St. Georgen and starts at half past nine on a Sunday morning by the Kaufhaus Hassler in the village.

The course stays on the valley floor: out from St. Georgen via Matschenbloch, Niederhof and Schwarzenbach to the turnaround at Ettendorf, then back along exactly the same roads. Both halves are therefore the same tarmac in opposite directions, so whatever the wind does on the way out reverses after the turn. There are no climbs worth the name, and the turnaround is the only technical point of the race.

Average speeds are correspondingly high: an earlier edition was settled by a time of 14:53, a shade over 46 km/h. The field runs to about fifty riders, and the round is raced as an open event with separate classifications.

Pacing Strategy

Eleven and a half flat kilometres mean fifteen to twenty minutes of racing for most riders. That is exactly the window in which maximum sustainable power sits, so the target is just above threshold rather than below it. Since no climb imposes structure on the effort, you have to cap the pace yourself, and the first two kilometres after the start are where too much gets spent.

The turnaround at Ettendorf is the one place the course asks something back. Braking late, taking a tight arc and grinding back up to speed easily costs ten to fifteen seconds, more than any equipment choice returns. Approach it on a wide line, stay seated and rebuild the speed evenly over the following twenty seconds.

The real trap lies in the shape of the course. Whatever came easily on the way out returns as a headwind or a barely perceptible rise on the way back. Ration the outbound leg by power rather than by speed, and hold the aerodynamic position deliberately over the closing three kilometres even when the legs argue against it.

Training plan for Alpina Time Trial Cup – Round 4 (St. Georgen im Lavanttal): 12-week build

For age-group riders the effort lasts about fifteen to twenty minutes, and under fifteen for the fastest. Its character is as uniform as cycling gets: one continuous block of high aerobic output, with no accelerations, no drafting and no recovery. The race needs anaerobic capacity only twice, off the start and coming back up to speed after the turn.

Two sections decide it. The first is the turnaround at Ettendorf, where handling and a clean rebuild of speed convert directly into seconds. The second is the closing three kilometres back to St. Georgen, where power typically fades and the torso comes up, which costs twice over on flat ground.

Training should centre on intervals at maximum sustainable power: two by ten up to three by eight minutes, ridden consistently in the time trial position so that hip angle and breathing are used to the racing posture. A position you only adopt on race day gives back power you actually had in training.

Two additions complete the picture. Short surges of twenty to thirty seconds followed by a return to race pace rehearse exactly what the turnaround demands. And a pacing test over the race distance on flat roads sets the target power range instead of guessing it on the day. Because the series runs across the whole summer, the earlier rounds are a good chance to check that number under race conditions.