Baumann and Lüthi are the first Swiss Enduro champions
The first Swiss Enduro Championships are no mean feat. The Lötschental as the venue offers four varied and technically as well as physically demanding stages, and these take their toll. Gusti Wildhaber wins the first two stages of the men's race and is still in the lead after the third of four stages. Patrick Lüthi, who only achieved the sixth best time on the first descent, catches up with his stage win on stage three.
Wildhaber starts the final stage in the lead and "takes it easy" so as not to make any mistakes due to fatigue. But things turned out differently - he got stuck on a rootstock in a narrow passage and crashed. Lüthi secured the Swiss championship title with his stage win, five seconds ahead of Wildhaber. "I had a good feeling on the first stage, but I was only sixth and thought it was over. But then I steadily improved and when I was only ten seconds behind Gusti, I thought maybe it would be enough. The fact that the title then became a reality, and at the first Swiss Enduro Championships, is incredibly cool," said a delighted Lüthi.
Baumann steps out of the shadow of the favorites
While a duel between Gusti Wildhaber and Patrick Lüthi was expected in the men's race, the women's title would be decided between the twins Anita and Carolin Gehrig. But you should never count your pennies without the host.
On the first stage, the 20-year-old from Neuchâtel rode to the fastest time, with Anita and Carolin Gehrig initially in fourth and fifth place. But Anita Gehrig turns the tables on the second descent. Her stage win brings her back within striking distance of Baumann. However, the extremely demanding third stage does not bring the expected turnaround. Baumann wins ahead of Sidonie Jolidon and extends her lead again.The final stage once again goes in Anita Gehrig's favor, but this is no longer enough to turn the classification around and she wins silver ahead of Jolidon. Lisa Baumann enters the history books as the first female Swiss Enduro champion. "This is my first enduro season, my first championships and then I win - I'm over the moon. With the Gehrig twins and Sidonie, we had a very high level here. I'm more than happy that it went so well for me," enthuses the newly crowned Swiss champion.
In addition to the Swiss champions, the overall winners of the race series will also be crowned in the Lötschental. After the Swiss Enduro Series in Lenzerheide, the "TRAILWORKS SES Lötschental powered by Subaru" is the second and final race of the still young racing series. The overall winners of the Swiss Enduro Series 2021 are Carolin Gehrig in the elite women's category and Stefan Peter in the elite men's category.
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Note: This content has been automatically translated from German. Please report any incorrect translations.