Searching for inspiration for your next road bike holiday or a weekend trip to simply explore something new?
The 60,000 inhabitants of Wels live surrounded by the meadows, forests and hills of the Alpine foreland. Numerous low-traffic, well-developed side roads make the region around the city a road bike Eldorado. Which goes to explain why the professional team Simplon Felbermayr Wels and the extreme athlete and three time winner of the Race Across America, Wolfgang Fasching, puts in a lot of training kilometres here.
Wels combines an urban lifestyle and distinctive landscapes for road bike tours with a special service for road cyclists.
“Go where the Locals go” - the city’s road bike scene is large and passionate about the cause. Here, the professionals and athletes show off their training ground. The most popular tours, stunning viewpoints and great rest facilities have been lovingly prepared for people like them on 15 tours of 30 – 150 km in length. Within a few minutes, you leave the city behind you. Even if you’re only going on a short business trip to Wels, you should bring your road bike along and take a break from the city out into the magnificent landscape.
In addition to the diversified tours on offer, the Wels road bike region is noted for the extensive programme in the city. While specialised road bike hotels are often found in rural areas, the city can score with gastronomic services, shopping opportunities, cultural activities and events. Historic squares and streets are meeting points for strolling and wandering through the city. A foray through the shopping streets of Wels reveals so many insider tips. With your down-to-earth host, at a trendy haunt, discovering nightlife or at events, enjoying culture and sport – the pleasures of life are celebrated in Wels. Bad weather is never a problem because there’s plenty to see and experience. It’s best to bring the whole family along, the Welios® Science Center sends children’s hearts racing and stirs up interest in the natural sciences and technology.
For the first time on 8th July 2017, the city of Wels will host the final stage the Tour of Austria. One reason for this decision was the popularity of road cycling in the city. Large events such as the annual Cherry Blossom Race, the International Tour of Upper Austria, the 19th Wels City Centre Crit and the Wels professional bike team Felbermayr Simplon, the third-strongest continental team in the EuropeTour 2017, form a solid foundation.
On the initiative of the Wels Tourism Association, a project for the development of a tourist product on the topic of road cycling was launched half a year ago with the support of the province of Upper Austria and the Upper Austrian tourism industry.
With the 4-star and 3-star Boutique Hotel Hauser, Maxlhaid Hotel & Guesthouse, Hotel Ploberger, Hotel Alexandra & Bayrischer Hof, four hoteliers from Wels back the topic of road cycling. The Wels business hotel trade is geared towards the needs of road cyclists and installs facilities such as lockable video-monitored storage rooms for road bikes with a workshop corner and bicycle cleaning areas on the premises.
Its central location in Upper Austria makes Wels the ideal point of departure for road bike tours across Upper Austria. The arrival of the Tour of Austria in July marks the start to the first season of the Wels road bike region.
Sophie Schick, Boutique Hotel Hauser
Paul Schludermann, Hotel & Gasthof Maxlhaid
Markus Ploberger, Hotel Ploberger
Alexandra Platzer, Hotel Alexandra & Bayrischer Hof
Eva Wanik, Gösserbräu
Astrid Pöcherstorfer-Wolf, Restaurant Olivi
Daniel Repitz, Team Felbermayr Simplon Wels
Paul Resch, President Upper Austrian Provincial Cycling Union
Project development with the MTS agency