ÖES Einzelzeitfahren Weichstetten: Course, Route Profile & Map

Course & Elevation

Start and finish are at Gasthaus Gartner in Weichstetten, a village in the municipality of St. Marien in the Linz-Land district. The loop runs via St. Marien to Enzing near St. Florian, on to Niederneukirchen and from there back to Weichstetten. At roughly 366 metres Weichstetten is the highest point on the loop, and that shapes the whole profile: the first half drops away in long shallow stretches, St. Marien comes at kilometre 4.6, Enzing at kilometre 10, and around kilometre 13 the course bottoms out at about 275 metres.

Then the sign flips. From Niederneukirchen at kilometre 16 the road tilts back up in shallow waves without ever becoming a climb in any real sense. Only in the final 600 metres does the course's one genuine ramp arrive: just under four percent on average, briefly up to six, a good twenty metres of elevation immediately before the line. Across the full loop nearly 60 percent of the distance is flat and not one section is steep. The course profile rates the loop FLAT at around 5 metres of climbing per kilometre.

The race is ridden on asphalt country roads through the Traun-Enns-Riedelland, open farmland with long sightlines and very little shelter. Roads are not closed, normal Austrian traffic law applies, helmets are compulsory, drafting is strictly forbidden and overtaking is banned in the last 30 metres before the line. Riders set off at one-minute intervals from 12:31, in a field of roughly 140 starters ranging from club riders to licensed racers. 2027 is the 32nd edition; the race doubles as the Austrian railway workers' (ÖBB) time trial championship, with its own ÖES classification alongside the open overall and age-class results. The prize giving follows at Gasthaus Gartner.

Pacing Strategy

A time trial over a good 22 flat kilometres is won or lost on a single decision: the intensity you can hold from the first kilometre to the last. The course offers no recovery because it has no climbs where the effort regulates itself. The resistance is close to constant over the whole distance, and so is the demand.

The traps sit at both ends. The first half drifts downhill, so the pace feels distinctly too easy, and many riders take the kilometres to Enzing one notch too hard simply because the speed looks right. That comes back between kilometre 16 and 21, where the road tilts up in shallow waves and the same speed suddenly costs noticeably more power. In the first half, steer by your power or your perceived effort, not by the speedometer.

The last 600 metres are the only place where the course asks for something other than evenness. Just under four percent after twenty kilometres in the aero position feels steeper than it is; plan it deliberately as a closing effort rather than meeting it as a surprise. Because the finish comes immediately afterwards and no descent follows, you can spend whatever is left here. Two points of the regulations belong in the plan too: drafting is forbidden, so you really are alone against the clock, and overtaking is banned in the final 30 metres.

Training plan for ÖES Einzelzeitfahren Weichstetten: 12-week build

Depending on level and equipment the effort lasts roughly 28 to 40 minutes. The demand is as unambiguous as anything in cycling: one single uninterrupted effort at or just above threshold, with no accelerations, no draft and not one second of recovery.

The most important training content is therefore long threshold intervals in race position. Two to three repetitions of 15 to 20 minutes at threshold reproduce the demand better than short hard intervals, and they have to be ridden on the time trial bike in the aero position, not on the bars. Add a full race-distance simulation every one to two weeks to practise the pacing decision itself. On this course that is the real test.

Because the loop is flat and exposed, aerodynamics matter more here than climbing ability. One or two percent of drag is worth more over 22 wind-exposed kilometres than any extra week of base training. That mostly means being able to hold your position. Train not only the power but the ability to stay in the aero position for the full race duration without sitting up, because there is very little shelter in the open fields between St. Marien and Niederneukirchen.

Two course-specific details are worth preparing. First, the closing ramp: deliberately put a four to six percent section into the final minutes of your simulations so your body knows that transition in a fatigued state. Second, gearing: on a course that is flat for twenty kilometres and then kicks up briefly, you want a usable gear left at the end rather than grinding the ramp over at 60 rpm.