RIDE TO HOLL: A KIT FIT FOR A RIDE TO HELL
To celebrate the KRONE Ride to Höll, and Höttinger Höll itself, we collaborated with the organizers to create a commemorative kit. “It’s incredible that they would use the Höttinger Höll climb for an amateur event,” says lead Santini designer, Fergus Niland. Inspired by the event, “We wanted produce a complete kit for all the fans who will take part.”
If you’re going to cycle the road to Hell, you might as well look amazing in our new Ride to Höll kit, inspired by the Innsbruck-Tirol UCI World Championships racecourse.
A CHALLENGING INNSBRUCK-TIROL WORLDS COURSE
The saying that “The road to hell is paved with good intentions” must have been intended for the organizers of the 2018 UCI Road World Championships in Innsbruck-Tirol, Austria. Good intentions helped them create a stunning and tough racecourse befitting the prize that will be earned by the winner. Starting with a 90-kilometer run from the countryside into Innsbruck, the race then loops the city in a series of 24km circuits. On those city circuits is where the road to hell in found. In the case of this racecourse, hell is not a portal to the underworld, but a nasty climb that the Elite riders will have to master multiple times to claim the rainbow jersey. Just over three kilometers long, Höttinger Höll has an average gradient of 13-percent, with a devilish pitch at 28-percent. Hell indeed!
YOUR OWN RIDE TO HELL
If you want a taste of this version of Hades for yourself, organizers are holding a unique hill-climb on Höttinger Höll the day before the Elite Men’s Worlds. The KRONE Ride to Höll (Ride to Hell), held September 29th, offers amateur entrants a short but sharp course starting in the heart of Innsbruck and climbing the infamous Höttinger Höll climb. Featuring 291 metres of ascent and a maximum gradient of 28%, the 3.2km KRONE Ride to Höll begins in front of the Hofburg imperial palace (the official finish of the 2018 UCI Road World Championships) and ends above Innsbruck at Gramartboden. The fastest male and female rider will be crowned King and Queen of Höll, with prizes awarded to the top three in the men and women’s categories.
A KIT FIT FOR A RIDE TO HELL
To celebrate the KRONE Ride to Höll, and Höttinger Höll itself, we collaborated with the organizers to create a commemorative kit. “It’s incredible that they would use the Höttinger Höll climb for an amateur event,” says lead Santini designer, Fergus Niland. Inspired by the event, “We wanted produce a complete kit for all the fans who will take part.”
Drawing on the hellish theme, Niland designed a pitchfork print to use across the kit. “The jersey is pretty simple,” he says about the red and black palette. “On the front of the jersey, we use the pitchfork design that’s then separated into five shades of red to mirror the world championships bands.” Santini designers then added details, like a red zipper and devil horns in place of the umlaut on the O in Holl. “We also added a road-sign design with a pitch fork that incorporates the rainbow bands to the back of the jersey.”
Besides the jersey, the full kit includes matching bibs, a traditional cycling cap (also with the pitchfork motif), and socks that feature an enlarged pitchfork on the back.
Built from our SLEEK99 bibs and jersey, the Ride to Höll kit is available now.