The Dolomitenmann is an extreme sports relay race held in September in the East Tyrolean, or so-called Dolomite Mountains of Austria, near the city of Lienz. The founder and organiser is Werner Grissmann, a former World Cup skier.

The Dolomitenmann relay race has been run annually since 1988. In recent years the race has been sponsored by the manufacturers of Red Bull energy drink and is now known as Red Bull Dolomitenmann. The race is billed by its organizers as "the world's toughest team relay race".

The competition is only open to male athletes. Race organizer Werner Grissmann justifies this with the statement that he wishes to protect women, since the competition is only meant for the "hardest athletes", he does not want "to see women suffer" and that it would be "incompatible with their aesthetics". In 2017 for the first time there was a side competition that was also open to female athletes.

Disciplines mountain running paragliding mountainbiking whitewater kayaking

Course The race is started by the mountain runner on the town square of Lienz at above sea level. who then runs a distance of around up to Kühbodentörl at .

When the runner makes the hand-off to the team's paraglider, he must also run, this time with his whole equipment to the first take-off point. After descending by air to Moosalm, the paraglider runs to a second take-off point, descending to Leisach where the mountain biker is ready and waiting.

The mountain biker typically climbs or more, over a distance of about . After the climb, the mountain biker must ride a downhill track to the finish.

The teams kayaker swims across the river Drau where his boat is stationed. His first maneuver is an "alpine-start", or a drop off a ramp into the river. After the jump the kayaker must navigate a difficult white water track on the river Isel before a last sprint back to the main square of Lienz.

Winning teams and tracks # Year Teams Track Winners Time Comment 1 1988-09-11 51 Goisele

3:25:47,6 2 1989-09-10 57 Steiner Mandl

3:48:14,5 3 1990-09-09 54 Steiner Mandl

3:58:06,6 First participation of a Red Bull Team. Team finished in 2nd place. 4 1991-09-01 71 Steiner Mandl

4:13:39,2 5 1992-09-13 100 Laserzwand

4:05:03,3 6 1993-09-12 125 Karlsbader Törl Warsteiner Team (INT)

3:55:54,0 7 1994-09-10 79 Kühboden Törl

3:52:55,2 8 1995-09-09 58 Steinermandl

3:33:05,9 9 1996-09-07 36 Steinermandl Warsteiner Team (INT)

3:04:59,2 25 cm snow at Zettersfeld; -5 °C at finish lineParagliding contest had to be cancelled 10 1997-09-06 46 Hochstadl Red Bull Körper (INT)

3:35:09,1 11 1998-09-12 65 Steiner Mandl Red Bull Geist (INT)

3:00:28,7 Paragliding contest had to be cancelled due to gusty conditions. 12 1999-09-11 84 Steiner Mandl Red Bull Geist (INT)

3:35:46,2 13 2000-09-09 94 Steiner Mandl Red Bull Geist (INT)

3:36:04,1 14 2001-09-08 102 Steiner Mandl Red Bull Geist (INT)

3:24:26,0 15 2002-09-07 111 Kühboden Törl Red Bull (INT)

3:55:17,3 22 teams on waitlist 16 2003-09-06 110 Kühboden Törl Skoda Auto (INT)

3:45:11,7 46 teams on waitlist 17 2004-09-11 110 Kühboden Törl Leingruber Fighter (INT)

3:50:53,4 184 teams on waitlist 18 2005-09-10 110 Kühboden Törl Leingruber Fighter (INT)

3:53:36,3 208 teams on waitlist 19 2006-09-09 110 Kühboden Törl Red Bull (INT)

3:55:41,6 260 teams on waitlist 20 2007-09-08 110 Kühboden Törl Kolland Top Sport - Kleine Zeitung (INT)

3:26:14,0 263 teams on waitlistParagliding contest had to be cancelled due to gusty conditions. 21 2008-09-06 110 Kühboden Törl Kolland Top Sport (INT)

3:00:17,2 272 teams on waitlist Paragliding contest had to be started from Moosalm due to gusty conditions. 22 2009-09-12 111 Kühboden Törl Kolland Top Sport - Kleine Zeitung (INT)

3:54:46,1 23 2010-09-11 115 Kühboden Törl Kolland Top Sport - Kleine Zeitung (INT)

3:50:39,5 24 2011-09-10 115 Kühboden Törl Robotunits (INT)

3:55:01,7 25 2012-09-08 125 Kühboden Törl Pure Encapsulations Team (INT)

3:57:15,5 26 2013-09-07 121 Kühboden Törl Kleine Zeitung (INT)

3:52:23,7 27 2014-09-06 124 Kühboden Törl Adidas Outdoor (INT)

4:07:57,8 Racing order has been changed to mountain running, paragliding, mountain biking and whitewater kayaking. 28 2015-09-12 116 Kühboden Törl Kleine Zeitung - Panaceo - Martini Sportswear (INT)

4:07:57,7 Hand over from paragliding pilot to mountainbiker was moved to Lienz 29 2016-09-11 116 Kühboden Törl Red Bull (INT)

4:07:25 30 2017-09-09 128 Kühboden Törl Pure Encapsulations (INT)

4:07:25 Paragliding contest had to be started from Moosalm 31 2018-09-08 124 Kühboden TörlKolland Topsport Professional (INT)

4:06:46 32 2019-09-07 123 Kühboden TörlHochstein Kolland Topsport Professional

3:47:02 Due to bad weather the track had to be changed. 33 2020-09-12 96 Kühboden TörlKolland Topsport Professional (INT)

4:21:27 Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the route had to be modified.342021-09-1197Kühboden TörlKolland Topsport Professional (INT)

04:08:16+ Key hosted in Zettersfeld region (not in Lienzer Dolomiten) paragliding contest cancelled paragliding contest on shortened track

The fastest athlete of each discipline receives a trophy and the title Dolomitenmann. Until 2019 the trophies were designed by Jos Pirkner.

Dolomitenmen + Winners so far Year Mountain running Paragliding Mountainbike Whitewater kayak 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 – (cancelled) 1997 1998 – (cancelled) 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 – (cancelled) 2008 (short track) 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 (short track) 2018 2019 (alternate track) 20202021

As of September 2020, there are 58 Dolomitenmen from 10 nations.

Top 10 Dolomitenmen (as of September 2021) # Name # of wins 1 7 1 7 3 6 3 6 3 6 6 5 6 5 6 5 6 510 4 10 4 10 4 10 4 10 4 14 3 14 3 14 3

References

External links Dolomitenmann official website