Four alpine to high alpine downhill stages are on the race schedule for the Swiss Enduro Series race in Laax, Graubünden. The big favorite in the men's race is Basil Weber. The man from Flims is the reigning Swiss Enduro champion and enjoys a home advantage. But that does not guarantee victory. Weber is already under pressure from Tim Bratschi from Uri on the first stage "Crest la Siala", with Robin Janser lurking in third place.

Weber wins the next, high alpine stage from Laaxer Stöckli, but loses out again on the third descent via the Vorab trail when he goes over the handlebars. Bratschi therefore goes into the final stage, the Neverend Trail, with a cushion of almost 15 seconds on Weber and 39 seconds ahead of Janser. There, the Swiss champion shows his class and wins the stage. However, the almost nine-second lead is not enough to catch the rider from Uri again. Janser suffers a puncture on the last stage and loses his third place. In the end, he has to settle for eleventh place, while Mirco Widmer is the new smiling third.

Defect spot Neverend Trail

For once, the locals are not the top favorites in the women's race. This role will go to Noga Korem. The Israeli champion is ahead on the first two stages of her guest appearance in Laax and rides to a lead of 34 seconds over Delia da Mocogno. Behind her is Melanie Pugin from France, ahead of the locals Anita and Caro Gehrig.

During the third stage, da Mocogno shows that she has not subscribed to second place and finishes the pre-race trail around seven seconds ahead of Korem, whose cushion has now "shrunk" to 26 seconds. Anita Gehrig now also shows that she is getting better and better with the third-best time. She is still in fourth place.

The final stage, the Neverend Trail, is known for not being super difficult in terms of riding technique, but hitting all the lines perfectly is definitely not child's play. Korem also had to learn this when she hit a sharp rock after just a few seconds and her ambitions of victory suddenly ran out of steam - ninth place was the end. But the Gehrig twins hit the lines perfectly. Anita takes the stage win by just 1.66 seconds
ahead of Caro, but well ahead of Pugin. So both move up to second and fourth place, Pugin remains in third. Da Mocogno is no longer a threat, however, and so the young rider from Uri can celebrate as the beaming winner

Next stop, Bike Kingdom

The third race of the Swiss Enduro Series will take place on Saturday, August 19, 2023. Bike Kingdom Lenzerheide will be hosting the event for the third time in a row.

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