Markus 'Max' Stöckl (born in 1974) is an Austrian racing cyclist from Oberndorf in Tirol, mainly occupied with mountainbike racing, who is known for establishing the world speed record descending on a serial production mountainbike, both on snow, when he reached 210 km/h in 2007,[1] and on gravel, when he reached 164.95 km/h in 2011 on a volcano in Nicaragua, beating a previous record from Éric Barone.
In 1999 he could not afford an expensive bicycle prototype, so he rode in the series bike class and managed to set a world speed record in that category, descending at 187 km/h at Les Arcs.
South America's springtime weather had melted away much of the snow alongside the piste, shrinking it to a narrow strip set up between bare mountain cliffs which made the test runs difficult to carry out.
His aerodynamic helmet fogged up while practicing, so Stöckl decided to hold his breath during his 40 seconds lasting record attempt.
Stöckl has declared that he wishes to break the speed record for prototype bicycles, which is set at 222 km/h on snow, and at 172 km/h on gravel, by Éric Barone.