If it’s easy to cast Kienreich in the role of apprentice, given Zotter’s greater experience and career-defining victory in the Race Across America, it’s important to understand that this is not the case.

When Zotter joins us in the bar, he answers my questions first, but Kienreich is his own man, and not afraid to contradict his more accomplished team-mate. When we discuss how ultra distance racing might develop, there is a clear, if subtle difference in emphasis.

“It’s really cool if you have a team-mate who is riding as hard as he can. You know that you have to do the same.”

Zotter would like to see a higher profile for the discipline, to encourage greater sponsorship and with it greater opportunity for riders to tackle such mammoth events. Kienreich seems happy to celebrate the “cool community” that already exists. The fascination is the same, he argues, whether the rider is attempting the Race Around Austria as a once-in-a-lifetime endeavour, or assembling a support crew for a serious attempt at the Race Across America.

The bond between them is obvious, however. When I ask them to describe their emotions when crossing the finish line to win the Race Around Austria, their laughter is simultaneous. The welcome that awaited them in Saint Georgen at 6am was underwhelming, to put it mildly. “There was nobody in town - nothing!” Kienreich laughs. “It was a bit like, ‘What are we going to do now? It’s too early to celebrate.’”

To see Kienreich amusing Zotter’s son Jonathan at the dinner table is to gain a level of insight into their camaraderie; to see them suffer together on the wicked gradients of the Kitzbühler Horn is to gain a deeper understanding still. They are evenly matched on the bike, and while Kienreich admires his friend’s talent, he is not overawed by it.

“When we started, Sevi wasn’t a Race Across America winner, and he wasn’t a Tortour winner: he was a long distance cyclist. He was better than me, but we were fighting together the whole time in training. I was very happy when he won - he’s a superhero for me - but we are on one level, I think. I’m very happy to have been with him in these years, when he’s won all this stuff. It’s amazing.”

World Championship Bound Cyclocrosser

UCI Hour Record Holder

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