Pannonia Gravel

Pannonia Gravel takes riders somewhere they normally cannot go: across the Austrian Armed Forces training ground near Breitenbrunn in northern Burgenland, an area usually closed to the public. For race day the organisers have permission to use trails there that are otherwise off limits to bikes, turning a restricted military zone into a gravel course.

It is a proper timed race with overall and age-group rankings, yet the start list is open to more than gravel bikes: cyclocross and mountain bikes are welcome too, and e-bikes have their own classification. Riders set off from the Cherry Blossom Cycle Path at Winden am See, with race numbers and the awards in Breitenbrunn's Kirschblütenhalle.

The event is run by HILL Racing Team under Johannes Hessenberger, who also manages the Neusiedler See Radmarathon. The organisers ask riders to respect the training area's rules strictly, because access to this unusual terrain, and the future of the race, depends on it.