It's not just the entire Swiss cross-country elite who are responding to the call of the "Gara Apertura". Some top international athletes such as Frenchman Julien Absalon, Moritz Milatz from Germany and Japan's Kohei Yamamoto will also be at the start of the opening race in Rivera. However, all eyes are once again on Absalon and Schurter. The world champion immediately takes the lead and never relinquishes it. Thomas Litscher was able to catch up with Schurter for a short time. He then pays for his efforts, but is happy to finish third in the end. With a good two laps to go, Schurter's lead is around half a minute. The Grisons rider brings this time cushion safely to the finish and thus secures his first win of the season - one week before the start of the Cape Epic in South Africa.

Julien Absalon finished second behind Schurter. At times less than ten seconds behind Schurter, the Frenchman loses ground again towards the end of the race. Florian Vogel crosses the finish line in fourth place. The fourth Swiss rider, Martin Gujan, also had a good start to the season in seventh place.

Austrian victory in the women's race
After the start, it is Linda Indergand who leads the race. But only for a short time. Indergand suffers a defect, falls back and finishes the race in fifth place. The Austrian Lisa Mitterbauer was riding behind Indergand at the start. After her defect, Mitterbauer has a clear path. Nevertheless, she is not just an heiress, but consistently rides the fastest lap times. In the end, she won with a lead of over six minutes ahead of Ramona Forchini. Sarah Koba takes third place.

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