Rainer Kepplinger

Rainer Kepplinger (born 19 August 1997) is an Austrian professional racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam.

Career
At the 2022 UCI Esports World Championships, Kepplinger rode in the elite road race for Austria where he got into the early break but was caught on the final climb by the peloton, still managing to finish seventh. Kepplinger's first victory came from winning the Kirschblütenrennen (National event) in a two-man sprint to the line with Matthias Reutimann. Kepplinger attacked solo with 30 km to go but Reutimann was able to catch up and the pair finished 54 seconds ahead of the chasers.

In June 2022 at the Oberösterreich Rundfahrt, he won the final stage ahead of defending champion Alexis Guérin, securing his first overall victory in the race. In late July a criterium was held, the Altstadtcriterium, which Geraint Thomas won, while Kepplinger finished 2 seconds behind Thomas in seventh place.

On 12 August 2022 it was announced that Kepplinger would join UCI WorldTeam on a three-year contract from 2023.

Major results
Sources:
 * 2021
 * 5th Time trial, National Road Championships


 * 2022
 * 1st Overall Oberösterreich Rundfahrt
 * 1st Stage 3
 * 2nd Overall Tour of Malopolska
 * 2nd Time trial, National Road Championships
 * 5th Overall Belgrade Banjaluka
 * 7th UCI Esports World Championships


 * 2024
 * 8th Overall Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana