CHALLENGING, VARIABLE, SPECTACULAR
FOG-COVERED FORESTS, RAIN SHOWERS AND MUDDY SLOPES: THE TRACK TEST FOR THE 3RIDES GRAVEL IN WINTERBERG WAS NO LEISURELY SUNNY DAY TRIP - BUT A REAL ADVENTURE.
17-19 JULY 2026 IN WINTERBERG
This was the perfect test of endurance. If a track inspires in cold, wet, dirty weather, then it rocks even more in the sunshine. While drones captured mystical images of the fog-covered Hochsauerland, a top-class test crew raced around the 3RIDES Gravel Winterberg course. Led by two-time German gravel champion Paul Voß, cycling journalists, the 3RIDES team and lucky wildcard winners from the community conquered the course.
The crew's verdict? The route is pure gravel! Almost no asphalt - pure happiness in the mud.
"The route is challenging, but doable," summarized Paul Voß. "The climbs are shallow with a few crisp peaks. Even now in the wet, it rolls extremely quickly. I'm looking forward to the race - this is a beautiful region for cycling."
The creative routing in particular provided adrenaline. Felix Krakow from Gravelbike magazine was thrilled: "I found the descents over the ski slopes spectacular. I've never experienced that before!"
Hartmut Ulrich, Managing Director of BVA BikeMedia, praised the course as "technically extremely varied - not a sure-fire success, but just right." Manuela Freund from the 3RIDES team emphasized that this is a pure gravel course and not a mountain bike course in disguise: "It goes up and down a lot. But we're here in the Hochsauerland, that's just part of it!"
Team colleague Kathi Garus sums it up succinctly: "This is gravel at its best."
