← All eventsAlbstadt Bike Marathon
One of Germany's best-known mass MTB marathons in the Schwäbische Alb — marathon ~82km / ~2,000m (plus a ~45km option) on forest roads, gravel and asphalt links. UCI XCO World Cup venue. Next date ~2027-07-10 approximate.
Albstadt hosts a round of the UCI cross-country World Cup, and each July around 3,000 riders line up for one of Germany's best-known mass MTB marathons, now past its 30th edition.
The marathon loops the Swabian Alb on forest doubletrack, gravel climbs and loose, occasionally rooty descents, with asphalt links stitching the sections together.
It is off-road, not tarmac. The climbing sits on forest-road gradients rather than alpine walls, but it rarely lets up, and reading the dirt well is what turns a hard day into a strong one.
Is Albstadt Bike Marathon for you?
- Climbers who can repeat the effort. The ascents stack up over the loop, so it rewards riders who take the late climbs as strongly as the first.
- Confident dirt descenders. The forest tracks get loose and rooty, and speed carried cleanly downhill is free time you cannot make on the climbs.
- Riders who fuel and pace for the long haul. A multi-hour off-road effort punishes anyone who over-cooks the start or under-fuels.
- Newer marathon riders picking honestly. A shorter option runs alongside, a genuine way in before stepping up to the full loop.
Training plan for Albstadt Bike Marathon
A training plan for Albstadt Bike Marathon isn't a generic base build. Beina reads the event's exact demands, looks at your specific profile and the time you actually have, and maps a highly adapted plan to the start line.
- Repeated forest-road climbs that stack up over the loop, so you have to climb well when already tired
- Every effort is on dirt: traction on gravel ascents, attention on loose and rooty descents
- A 3 to 6 hour endurance effort needing 60 to 90g of carbs an hour to hold pace
- A big mass start that goes out hard on the first climb
- Tempo climb repeats: 3 to 4 x 15min at Z3 on gradient, on dirt where you can
- Sweet spot on gradient: 2 to 3 x 15min at 88 to 94% FTP to lift threshold
- Long climbing ride: 3 to 5hr off-road with 1,000 to 1,800m of ascent
- Big weekend: 4 to 5hr Saturday then 2 to 3hr Sunday, riding strong on tired legs
- Built from your current fitness and the time you actually have
- Adapts every week as Beina learns how you respond
- Syncs your sessions straight to Garmin and Wahoo
- One clear next session, never a wall of spreadsheet
