Road to Öztaler — This is Lukas Taxer

A roundabout route to cycling

Taxer comes from Tyrol, from the area around Innsbruck, and actually only found his way to cycling via a roundabout route. "My colleague tore his ACL. And the first thing you do after an ACL tear is get on a bike. He got me so hooked that I haven't really stopped since," the 29-year-old looks back.

That was five years ago. What began back then with one or two weekend rides has now turned into a structured life built around cycling: hitting the road five to six times a week, with a clear goal in mind that is an unspoken must for any rider from Tyrol with road bike ambitions: the Ötztaler Radmarathon.

The Ötztaler Radmarathon

The tradition-steeped cyclosportive takes place every year at the end of August in the Ötztal valley. The route tackles the Kühtai, Brenner, Jaufen, and Timmelsjoch passes — spanning just under 227 kilometres, roughly 5,500 metres of elevation gain, and attracting around 4,000 riders. Most of them are not professionals, but people like Taxer: passionate amateur cyclists with a clear goal in mind.

"In Tyrol, if you ride a road bike, it's pretty much a bucket-list event that you want to complete at some point," he says. Taxer had already applied for a starting place two years ago, unfortunately without success. This year, things worked out — via a roundabout route. On 30 August 2026, he will be on the starting line.

Road to Ötztaler: What the preparation looks like

Anyone wanting to finish the Ötztaler doesn't just go out and ride aimlessly. Together with an experienced colleague, he has developed a structured training plan. The core principle: weekends are reserved for long endurance rides, while weekdays are for shorter sessions and intervals. "On weekends, I do my six to eight-hour rides. During the week, it's shorter sessions and intervals," Taxer says, adding that he intends to maintain this volume until August. On top of that, the Austrian is currently writing his master's thesis. The last few weeks have therefore been a bit more demanding than planned, but he is right on track. Having ticked off his base endurance, he is now entering the high-intensity phase. And if it rains? Then the outdoor ride turns into an indoor trainer session. "The only exception where I really don't feel like cycling is when the weather is absolutely miserable. Then I'll throw on a documentary and ride on the indoor trainer anyway." For years, sport has served as a vital outlet throughout his entire life — moving straight from playing football four to five times a week right into the saddle.

Gear that Taxer swears by

When you spend that much time in the saddle, you develop a clear picture of what is truly essential and what isn't. For the rider from Tyrol, every ride begins with the exact same checklist: bike computer mounted, heart rate monitor on, jersey, helmet, glasses, shoes, puncture repair kit, electronic pump, jacket, money, two water bottles, energy bars, and a packet of gummy bears: "My pockets are always packed."

He now owns three sets of custom gear from spized: two short-sleeve combinations with bib shorts, and one long-sleeve version for cooler days. He came across spized via a roundabout route that seems almost typical for him: at a football tournament, the opposing team was wearing self-designed shirts. He made a mental note of the manufacturer. Months later, when he took up road cycling seriously, he visited the website and discovered that they also offered custom cycling jerseys.

If you're also looking for a jersey that isn't just off the shelf: in the spized configurator, you can design your own cycling jersey, using over 700 templates as a starting point → Go to the cycling jersey configurator

To find out exactly what is on Lukas's packing list (for day trips and multi-day bike tours), check out our second article featuring him:Bike tour packing list: What you really need