2nd place at the 4Islands Epic: Tanja Priller reports
The 4Islands Epic is one of the toughest stage races on the MTB calendar. Tanja Priller was right in the thick of it and, together with Anna Weinbeer (world championship runner-up 2025), took 2nd place overall. Here is her report straight from the course.
Riding alongside the world championship runner-up
For Tanja, the race was something special from the start, not only because of the course but also because of her partner. Anna Weinbeer, currently probably the strongest marathon rider in the world, was her teammate. “I had a lot of respect for racing together,” Tanja admits. “At the same time, I was really looking forward to it, because we were already good friends before the race and I knew it would definitely be a great time together.”
Tough opening stages, but keeping their heads up
The first two stages were anything but smooth: missed bottles, a crash, cramps. But instead of letting their heads drop, Tanja and Anna stayed calm. “We always tried to keep having fun and to take it day by day,” Tanja explains. This attitude was to pay off.
Stage 3: the turning point
From the third stage onwards, everything ran like clockwork. The duo kept pace with the leading team and gained a huge amount of time on the third-placed team. With this stage they climbed straight into 2nd place overall. “On stage 3 we were able to ride with the leading duo and gain a lot of time on the third-placed team, so with this stage we moved straight up to 2nd place overall,” says Tanja.
The remaining stages showed how well the duo worked together. Consistently in second place, without any significant gap to the leaders: “On the remaining stages we also worked really well together and always finished 2nd, without losing much time to the leaders.”
Conclusion: a lot learned, even more to look forward to
For Tanja, the 4Islands Epic was more than a race result. “All in all, I had an incredible amount of fun and I am really grateful for the opportunity to ride with Anna. I think I was able to learn a lot from it, take that with me into the next races and also achieve a very good result.”
We are proud of Tanja and look forward to everything still to come. The next race is waiting!
The 4Islands Epic is part of the Epic Series, a multi-day stage race for MTB athletes at the highest level. More info: 4islandsepic.com
