Home Victory for Kilian Feurstein in Rankweil
Criterium in Rankweil, produced by Rauch Fruit Juices
Home Win for Kilian Feurstein
With Felix Engelhardt dThe reigning German champion, who has put in a stellar performance at this year’s Tour de France, along with a whole host of established criterium specialists and the Team Vorarlberg—which has been so successful this year—nearly at full strength—everything was in place tonight in Rankweil for a cycling spectacle. And the Just under 50 riders lived up to the expectations of the enthusiastic crowd, which included Olympic ski champion Katharina Liensberger.
On the super-fast course A thrilling race unfolded around the Liebfrauenberg right from the start. Team Vorarlberg, in particular, kept the pace consistently high, resulting in an impressive average speed of 48.3 km/h after 80 laps, or 84 kilometers.
Just how strong the field was is evident from the fact that Felix Engelhardt ultimately had to settle for 24th place and was never in contention for the win. That battle was fought out between Germany’s Jonas Schmeiser and local hero Kilian Feurstein. While Schmeiser initially held a narrow lead, Feurstein—in his own words—found the right timing for the home stretch as the race progressed, where speeds reached up to 70 km/h.
The race was decided in the final sprint, which Tobias Nolde set up perfectly for Feurstein. The Dornbirn native flew down the final He surged past his competitors, earned double points, and was celebrated as the winner in Rankweil for the first time.
“Really cool,” said the Team Vorarlberg pro after the victory lap. “I had really hoped to decided and as the race continues, gained momentum as the race went on. “Huge kudos to the entire team, which did a fantastic job. All the guys deserve a big share of the credit for this success,” said the beaming winner, who most recently finished with two He had impressively demonstrated his brilliant form with stage victories.
Jonas Schmeiser congratulated his opponent in the spirit of sportsmanship, describing it as a “tough but always fair battle with the guys from Vorarlberg,” and expressed his delight at the “amazing atmosphere” in Rankweil.
Result
www.computerauswertung.at/veranstaltungen/2026/260822/20260822_Rankweil_ME.pdf
OK Director Thomas Kofler: “A dream day for us. An electric vibe, a great atmosphere, and a really cool show put on by the riders. You rarely get to see something like this in Vorarlberg. The icing on the cake, of course, was Kilian’s home victory—he, like the entire team, rode a fantastic race.”
In the supporting program, Melanie Geiger, Patrick Loher, and Jan Bader took first place in their respective classes at the Hometown Heroes event. But the real stars were the roughly 200 children who competed in the Käferle Cup.
Special thanks go to our sponsors, without whom such a major event would not be possible: In addition to our title sponsor, Rauch Fruchtsäfte, we would like to acknowledge Raiffeisenbank Montfort, VKW, BMH-Ingenieure, Lampert, SLS Eventservice, Engel Workwear, the Branner Group, and the municipality of Rankweil.
Next stop: Italy
Part of Team Vorarlberg will head straight to Italy, where local heroes Giacomo Ballabio and Ignazio Cireddu, along with Laurin Nenning, Pirmin Benz, and Emanuel Zangerle, will compete on Sunday near Pavia in the 73rd GP Colli Rovescalesi (UCI 1.2) near Pavia on Sunday.
Dominik Röber has been competing for the German national team at the Deutschland Tour since the middle of the week. After the fourth day, the Team Vorarlberg pro is in 67th place in the overall standings. As of today, the new overall leader is rising star Isaac del Toro from Mexico.
Roster: Dominik Amann, Giacomo Ballabio, Pirmin Benz, Ignazio Cireddu, Kilian Feurstein, Mathias Larch, Laurin Nenning, Tobias Nolde, Colin Stüssi, Emanuel Zangerle
