The completely new course, which former OC President Thomas Uhr and his team designed over the last twelve months, measured a full 82 kilometers and a whopping 3300 metres in altitude. Rain made the already demanding course even more challenging. Nevertheless, there were no complaints from the participants. Bike manufacturer Thomas Binggeli, who had traveled all the way from Bern with his team to take part in the Iron Bike Race for the first time, was full of praise after completing the 48-km lap: "It was great fun. I like the not too long but tough climbs. Despite the rain, the course was easy to ride and perfectly signposted."

Meanwhile, the top riders gave each other one last thrashing this season. Urs Huber, Hansueli Stauffer, Martin Fanger, Marc Stutzmann and the Belgian Frans Claes formed the leading quintet after half the distance. Before the final ascent to Friherrenberg, it dwindled down to a trio with Fanger, Huber and Stauffer fighting for the podium places. Visibly marked by the exertions, Bike Marathon Classics leader Fanger finally rode onto the home straight in first place with a semi-flat rear tire and secured the day's and overall victory. He said: "The gamble paid off. I had already thought about stopping and pumping up, which would have meant third place. I decided against it and was also lucky."

Urs Huber added: "I wanted to avoid a sprint finish and therefore pushed the pace. I also noticed that Fanger's rear tire was losing air. However, I overdid it on a slippery meadow section shortly before the finish and slipped off. That also ruined my victory."

Once again, Stauffer crossed the finish line in second place. He said: "My mistake was that I started the final descent behind my two competitors. When Urs slipped away, the gap to Martin was already so big that I couldn't make up for it."

In the Classics classification, Fanger was able to extend his lead, Huber remains second and Stauffer third.

Among the fun riders, serial winner Tobias Lüthi remained true to his status with his fifth triumph. In the middle distance, the two leaders Samira Odermatt and Manfred Steinbacher also took the Classcis final classification.
bikeclassics.ch

Results

Men (82 km):
1st Martin Fanger (Geneva) 3:54:49.
2nd Hansueli Stauffer (Sigriswil) 3:55:05.
3rd Urs Huber (Mettmenstetten) 3:56:11.
4th Marc Stutzmann (Belp) 4:05:04.
5th Frans Claes (Be)4:06:07.
6th Roger Jenni (Untervaz) 4:14:22.
7th Jeremias Marti (Willisau) 4:18:30.
8th Damian Perrin (Bern)4:18:46.
9th Fabian Heinzer (Schwyz) 4:23:42.
10th Pascal Kiser (Giswil) 4:36:09.

Women (82 km):
1st Alexandra Züricher (Oey) 5:08:51.
2nd Carmen Zaugg (Hägendorf) 5:38:53.
3rd Stephanie Zahno (Lachen, SZ) 5:51:00.

Men (48 km):
1st Manfred Steinbacher (Bad Ragaz) 2:24:27.
2nd Silvan Kälin (Einsiedeln) 3:10.
3rd Yamato Adachi (Thalwil) 9:01.

Women (48 km):
1st Monika Vogler (Volketswil) 3:15:42.