Aaron Durogati takes stage win at Dolomitenmann

Austria’s “sun city” of Lienz hosted the 39th edition of the Dolomitenmann at the weekend – the fast and furious mountain relay race that sees teams run, fly, mountain bike and kayak in this beautiful corner of Austria.

The overall win went to Kolland Topsport Elite, consisting of the Kenyan mountain runner Richard Atuya, the well-known X-Alps pilot Tobias Grossrubatscher (ITA), Mario Bair (AUT, MTB) and Tillmann Röller (GER, kayak) who finished in 4h 18m 20s.

The Red Bull Ladies, featuring Judith Wyder (SUI), Viktoria Brunner (paragliding) Laura Stigger and Sophia Piaskowski (all AUT), were the best women’s team on the day, finishing the course in 5h 11m 12s.

Tobias may have been in the winning team but the paragliding stage was won again this year by Aaron Durogati in 26m 44s although he failed to beat his personal best. Tamara Lunger (ITA) was fastest female in 34m 44s.

Red Bull Dolomitenmann is a unique mountain relay race that attracts some of the world’s best mountain runners, pilots, mountain bikers and kayakers. The race begins with a 12km mountain run with 2,000m of vertical, and is followed by a fast descent by paraglider with a stop half way down the mountain, where pilots have to land, bunch up, sprint up to launch and get back in the air as fast as possible.

So fast is the transition that pilots begin the stage by running with their wing strapped to their backs but otherwise ready to go. A quick release and pull and they’re launching. At the bottom, pilots hand over to mountain bikers who face a 19km course. The final stage is an 8km kayak descent.

The entire race had over 100 teams registered including both amateurs and pros, with participants ranging in age from 17 to 65.

Red Bull Dolomitenmann