ZeitFahr-CUP Speed Seibersdorf 22: Course, Route Profile & Map

Course & Elevation

The start is at the Hauptstrasse car park in Seibersdorf, southeast of Vienna in the Leitha valley, at just under 190 metres. The loop runs via Reisenberg to Hof an der Leitha and back, a single 22-kilometre circuit that ends where it began.

The profile is both the appeal and the difficulty. The low point sits at 176 metres, the high point at 202; there are no climbs worth the name and certainly none categorised. What remains is long straight sections and a few gentle undulations that never really break the rhythm.

That makes this course a pure performance test. The ZeitFahr-CUP classifies by bike type, split between time trial bike and road bike, and by women's and men's fields, running a pair classification alongside the individual result. Riders set off at intervals from midday and drafting is not permitted. On a loop like this, aerodynamics often decide more than watts do, and the wind in the open valley is the one opponent you cannot plan for.

Pacing Strategy

A flat individual time trial over 22 kilometres demands the simplest and least forgiving pacing in cycling: a constant output you can hold for 30 to 40 minutes without fading. Because 25 metres of relief offer no natural recovery anywhere, there is no point on the course at which too hard a start can be corrected.

The trap lies in the first five minutes. Coming off the ramp everything feels easy, and starting 20 or 30 watts above your target costs considerably more than that back over the second half. Ride the opening kilometres deliberately just under what seems possible and settle onto target output only after that.

On this loop, position decides the race rather than gradient. As a closed circuit the course has headwind and tailwind sections, and that is where the real room for manoeuvre sits: stay low and even into the wind, and use the gearing rather than dropping your output with it behind you. Ride on feel instead of on power and you will go too hard into the headwind and too soft with it at your back.

Training plan for ZeitFahr-CUP Speed Seibersdorf 22: 12-week build

For 22 flat kilometres, expect roughly 28 to 40 minutes of riding depending on your level. The demand is unambiguous: one single continuous effort at or just above threshold, with no bunch dynamics, no accelerations and no recovery. Physiologically this is the classic time trial stimulus.

Threshold intervals are the core of the preparation. Build blocks of 2 by 15 up to 2 by 20 minutes at threshold and progress them over the weeks into one continuous 30-to-40-minute effort that mirrors race duration. Ride those sessions in race position and on race equipment, not sitting up on the tops.

On a course without climbs, what decides the race is the ability to genuinely hold target output, and that needs a reliable reference. Know your threshold power from a recent test and practise calling it up by the number rather than by feel, particularly in the opening minutes and into a headwind.

Because the course is flat and fast, aerodynamics have more leverage here than extra watts. Rehearse your aero position until you can hold it for 40 minutes without losing power, since a low position that restricts your breathing after ten minutes costs more than it gains. A short structured warm-up with two or three openers belongs in the plan as well, because the race begins at target intensity with no rolling start.