X-Alps: Durogati is chasing the top trio

After a brilliant move the evening before, reigning champion Chrigel Maurer was right at the start of the third day where he feels most comfortable - at the front of the field. In the last hour of the flight, the Swiss was able to gain a 20 km lead over his pursuers. But if he was expecting an easy race from this point on, he was to be disappointed.

This morning, after a 1.000 hm climb to the summit of the Grasköpfel, a small mountain on the German-Austrian border, he waited over an hour for better starting conditions. He commented on the situation: "It's good to wait until the thermals are there and you can fly, but if there are no thermals, it's not good to wait."

He took off, landed, took off again, struggling to stay airborne before being forced to land again and climb the next mountain on foot. Behind him, eleven athletes were less than 40 km (about an hour's flight time) away, but they all faced similar conditions and had to fight through heat and high humidity.

Chrigel Maurer on departure. © www.redbullmediahouse.com

At the top, the focus was on Turnpoint 5, Lermoos, in the Tiroler Zugspitz Arena. Maurer arrived first at 13:20 p.m., Patrick von Känel (Switzerland) arrived 20 minutes later. Conditions were turbulent and harsh for the arriving athletes as they encountered strong valley winds. Benoît Outters (France) reached the turnpoint on foot in third place.

Aaron Durogati from Meran and Tobias Großrubatscher from Castelrotto have now also passed this. Durogati then took advantage of the good thermals to move up to fourth place. He is now hot on the heels of the leadership trio. Großrubatscher was in seventh position early on Tuesday evening. There is a threat of rain and thunderstorms Ulrich Grill, race organizer, said: “The race continues to be exciting and fast, although not as fast as yesterday. The terrain between the Achental and Lermoos is not easy as the athletes have to cross some valleys. They are also heading towards a light weather front that could bring rain and possible thunderstorms and will slow them down.”

At the back of the field things weren't looking good for Russian Andrei Mashak, who was in last place, 20km behind Nick Neynens (New Zealand). After he had already drawn his Night Pass yesterday, he now has no more trump cards in his hand. Everything depends on what he can do today to stay in the race.

Click here for live tracking of the X-Alps.

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X-Alps: Durogati is chasing the top trio

The tension is coming to a head at what is probably the toughest extreme sports race in the world, the Red Bull X-Alps 2021. In the border area between Bavaria and North Tyrol, two South Tyroleans are also at the forefront.

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