At the Pletzer Resorts Summer GP powered by Alpenpower, the city sprint was held in Sillian/Leisach on Friday and the uphill race to Bannberg on Saturday. A short-notice jury decision shaped Friday’s program.  

Also Read: Austrian Roller Skiing Summer GP kicks off in Sillian, East Tyrol

City Sprint Sillian with a shortened format 

On Friday evening, more than 80 athletes lined up for the sprint in Sillian, including numerous World Cup competitors from traditional cross-country skiing and biathlon.

The prologue required a 1.2 km loop in free technique on standardized roller skis. Fastest in qualifying were Magdalena Scherz in 2:12.24 among the women and Erik Engel in 1:57.57 among the men.

Due to an expected thunderstorm, the jury decided at short notice to shorten the format and reduce the knockout phase to semifinals only. As a result, only the top eight athletes qualified for the heats, which meant some big names were already out after the prologue. 

The women’s final featured Magdalena Scherz, Maike Bogner, Anna Juppe and Selina Ganner — Scherz took the win ahead of Bogner and Juppe. In the men’s final, Benjamin Moser, Erik Engel, Christian Steiner, and Vili Črv battled for the title, with Moser prevailing ahead of Steiner and Črv.

In the junior women’s final, Marie Valentina Höller won ahead of Julia Sophie Skuk and Miriam Rossmann. In the junior men, Nicolas Höllwirth took the victory ahead of Sebastian Wasenegger and Viktor Papouschek. 

Uphill race Leisach – Bannberg 

On Saturday, more than 90 athletes started the mass start race in free technique.

For athletes 18 years and up, the course covered 6km with roughly 560 meters of elevation gain from Leisach to Bannberg.

Among the women, Teresa Stadlober claimed a commanding win in 35:14.9. Wilma Anhaus finished second at 36:26.0, with Anna Juppe third in 36:32.5.

In the men’s race, Tobias Ganner won in 30:16.9 ahead of Fredrik Mühlbacher (+23 s) and Florian Ganner (+31 s). 

Second and final stop of the Pletzer Resorts Summer GP powered by Alpenpower wraps up on September 11–13, 2026, with the ‘Hohe Wand Roller Ski Festival.’ The program features a classic-technique uphill race, a mass start in free technique, and a free-technique sprint.  All races also serve as the Austrian Championships and are the first-ever Summer FIS races in the history of the series.  

Are you interested in training for long-distance, traditional cross-country skiing and biathlon? Click HERE and read more about it.

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