This weekend’s Erzberg Rodeo experienced an incredible 99.7 percent attrition rate. Only seven of the 1,800 riders who entered reached the finish line. “This mountain is merciless,” exclaimed winner Jonny Walker. “They sent us through hell again.”
Photos: Flo Hagena, Philip Platzer, Mathias Kniepeiss
The Erzberg Rodeo is an extreme enduro event held each year at an old granite quarry in the Austrian Alps. It draws unprecedented attendance to one of the most difficult courses dirt bikes could ever attempt. Climbing out of the quarry’s base, racers must overcome incredibly steep, tall ascents, boulder fields and, thanks to this year’s storms, deep mud.
Racers are give four hours to complete the 18.6-mile course, but due to that weather, this year’s event had to be called a half hour early, partially explaining the extremely low number of finishers.
To understand how ridiculous these numbers are, take a look at the partial starting field above, and the complete finisher list below.
Complete results are: 1. Jonny Walker (UK) 2. Dougie Lampkin (UK) 3. Ben Hemingway (UK) 4. Paul Bolton (UK) 5. Taichi Tanaka (JAP) 6. Lars Enöckl (AUT) 7. Dan Hemingway (UK)