Teufelsfahrt: Course, Elevation & Route Profile

Course & Elevation

The start is down in the valley at the Gasthof Teufelmühle in Auberg, right on the Grosse Mühl. The first three and a half kilometres or so run flat along the river; only then does the actual climb begin, rising over roughly five kilometres to the sports ground at St. Peter am Wimberg. Across the whole course there are 230 metres of ascent, practically all of it in that second half, which puts the climb itself at a good four percent on average.

One peculiarity of the event: road bikes and mountain bikes ride separate courses. This entry describes the road course with 230 metres of climbing; the MTB variant is slightly higher and is not catalogued separately. In 26 editions the organiser has never published a course map or track file, and the routing cannot be reliably reconstructed from the road network either. That is why the official 2026 road-bike track is now available.

The Teufelsfahrt is hosted by Sportunion St. Peter am Wimberg, traditionally on a Saturday in late September. It has been a fixture of the local racing calendar for decades and regularly brings more than 200 finishers to the line, a remarkably stable field for a hill time trial of this size. Riders start individually at one-minute intervals, so there is no draft and no group.

Pacing Strategy

A hill time trial of this length takes 15 to 25 minutes depending on your level, which places it almost exactly at threshold. What is special about this course, though, is that it falls into two entirely different parts, and almost everyone gets the first one wrong.

The opening three and a half kilometres along the river are flat. There, aerodynamics decide, not strength: stay low, pedal evenly, no accelerations. The temptation to use the flat part as a fast opener is the real trap of the Teufelsfahrt, because every second won there with excessive power costs you several times over on the climb. Ride the flat section deliberately just under your target power.

What decides the race is the climb from kilometre 3.5. At around four percent it is not a wall but a climb you genuinely have to ride rather than merely survive: a steady effort of ten to fifteen minutes on which your position on the bike and a high cadence do more than any out-of-the-saddle surge. Lift your power slightly as the gradient starts and hold it steady to the sports ground. In late September the Mühlviertel can be cool and windy in the morning. Allow enough warm-up time, because for a 20-minute race the body has to be up to temperature before the gun.

Training plan for Teufelsfahrt: 12-week build

The effort lasts 15 to 25 minutes: short enough to be hard throughout, long enough that too fast a start cannot be recovered. In character it is one even effort at or just above the anaerobic threshold, with no recovery and no tactics.

What decides it is the transition from the flat section into the climb at kilometre 3.5. That is exactly where the required ability shifts from aerodynamics to climbing strength endurance, and anyone who overcooked the first part notices within two minutes of the gradient.

The training emphases are correspondingly narrow: threshold intervals of 10 to 20 minutes uphill, repeated two or three times, are the core, ideally on a climb of four to five percent, matching the character here. Add flat intervals in the aero position of 10 to 15 minutes for the first section, and in the closing weeks two or three complete simulations: ride in on the flat, then switch into the climb and hold the power. Aerobic base underpins all of it but is not the limiter.

Among the conditions, cold and wind count. A date in late September in the Mühlviertel means single-digit morning temperatures and an open, wind-prone valley section along the river. So practise a full 20 to 30 minute warm-up with a few efforts, and train occasionally into a headwind on flat terrain; over the first three and a half kilometres, wind is the one opponent you cannot answer with power.