It starts in Vienna and crosses the Alps and, every other year, the Pyrenees.
The participants have to reach three Mountain peaks or passes named by the race organizers.
[1][2][3][4] During the race, the participants ride fully self-supported, carrying their own equipment and obtaining their own food (bikepacking).
[3] The finish closes ten days (since 2023: twelve days) after the start of the race but participants that arrive past that point in time are still named in the classification.
[4] The 2020 edition of the race is the subject of the documentary Three Peaks & In Between by Stephan Wieser, which follows rider Jana Kesenheimer over the course of the event.