The 2024 ruling couple of Kronplatz are Adelheid Morath and Leonardo Paez, after they won their respective categories in the long distance of this year's edition of one of the most popular MTB marathons in the Dolomites.
The Kronplatz King MTB Marathon was held for the 8th time this year and was part of the European “Mountain Bike Challenge” series. In addition to the numerous elite riders, a further 500 cyclists from 17 nations battled it out over the 64 km with 3,150 meters of altitude difference of the King Marathon distance and the 49 km with 2160 m+ of the Prince Classic, offering spectators an exciting “point to point” race. One of the characteristics of the Kronplatz King Marathon is the start in the village of St. Vigil at 1,200 m and the finish at the summit of the famous Kronplatz ski mountain at 2,275 m above sea level. This year too, many top athletes from the UCI World Series had registered, first and foremost last year's winner Leonardo Paez from Team Soudal Lee Cougan, then Juri Ragnoli and the strong field of women's participants with last year's winner Tanja Priller, top favorite Heidi Morath, the Polish Michalina Ziolkowska, the Italian Chiara Burato and local hero Sandra Mairhofer from the Puster Valley.
The more than good weather conditions accompanied the athletes from the start at 08.00 h on the long course and 20 minutes later on the shorter course. In the elite men's race, the competition was immediately noticeable, with frequent lead changes at the front while the group of favorites was still compact. In the end, however, Leonardo Paez (COL) did it for the third time and was the first to cross the finish line at the foot of the Concordia 2000 peace bell. He thus secured the title of King of Kronplatz and the Golden Crown 2024 with a total time of 3h 12min 33sec. The places of honor went to Andrea Siffredi (ITA), 1min 56sec behind, and Nicola Taffarel (ITA), 4min behind the winner.
The queen of Kronplatz 2024, however, is Adelheid Morath (GER), after a tough battle that ended for her after 4h 3min 43sec. She leaves her pursuers Sandra Mairhofer (ITA) in second place, 59 seconds behind, and Debora Piana (ITA) in third place, 1min 28sec behind. The winner's photo with the new royal couple from Kronplatz, crowned and dressed by race director Maurizio Kastlunger, was as spectacular as every year.
On the shorter distance, the Prince Classic over 49 km and a little more than 2000 meters of altitude, Noah Laschewski (GER) excelled in the men's race with a final time of 2h 33min 36sec, and Alessandra Sassano (ITA) in the women's race with a time of 3h 15min 13 sec.

Summary of the results of the Kronplatz King Marathon and the Prince Classic 2024: