Martin Fanger didn't hesitate for long with Urs Huber. Knowing that the three-time Raid Evolenard winner had competed in the Südtirol Dolomite Hero 550 km away in Wolkenstein the day before (Huber had finished 4th), Fanger pushed the pace on the first climb so hard that Huber had to let go. From then on, Fanger focused on Johann Tschopp's course record, which the Frenchman had set at the 2015 Swiss Championships. But the record remained untouched. Fanger missed it by four minutes, as the hot weather also affected him as the distance increased.

However, he extended his lead over second-placed Urs Huber to a record-breaking 10:16 minutes by the finish. At the finish, Fanger said: "Of course I knew about Urs Huber's workload and was therefore fresher. But I didn't push particularly hard. I just rode my pace. When Urs could no longer keep up, I rode for the course record." On his own, however, it was difficult to keep up the pace over the distance. Nevertheless, he was pleased that he was able to present himself to the Valais team sponsors with this victory, explained Fanger.

Urs Huber took it in his stride: "After 20 minutes, I realized that I couldn't keep up with Fanger's pace today. That's why I had to let him go. I expected it to be difficult to win today. All in all, I'm still happy with my performance over the whole weekend."

Fanner's team-mate Emilien Barben was delighted to finish third. He said: "I couldn't necessarily have expected that. Xavier Dafflon really gave me a run for my money. Of course, I'm all the more pleased that it worked out in my favor in the end."

Women's winner Carmen Zaugg, who like Fanger achieved a start-finish victory, was also delighted: "As I work shifts as an emergency doctor in a hospital, I hadn't initially planned to ride the Evolenard raid. But I knew that I was fit. So I'm all the more pleased with this victory." The 29-year-old from Hägendorf originally comes from triathlon. Due to Achilles tendon problems, which caused her problems when running, she switched to biking, as cycling is her favorite sport anyway. Unfortunately, her work schedule often restricts her at weekends. Otherwise she would take part in even more bike races. The doctor mainly gets her basic training by cycling to work from Hägendorf to Zofingen. Zaugg puts her weekly training workload at 10 to 15 hours, which she does to balance it out.Esther Süss, who now rides without a racing license, took her "defeat" in her stride. The Aargau native was plagued by foot pain. Nevertheless, she was happy with her result. Riding was fun and that was the main thing for her.

Felipe Ramos also won the middle distance with a large lead over second-placed Nicolas Lüthi. Sonja Campos was fastest in the women's race ahead of Anne Lovey.

Results

Men (62 km):
1st Martin Fanger (Geneva) 3:14:16.
2nd Urs Huber (Mettmenstetten) 10:17.
3rd Emilien Barben (Chez-le-Bart) 10:28.
4th Xavier Dafflon (Fribourg) 13:55.
5th Damien Perrin(Bern) 18:28.
6th Fabien Monnier (Ayent) 19:52.
7th Fabian Heinzer (Schwyz) 22:27.
8th Christoph Sauser (Yvorne) 23:26.
9th Pascal Kiser (Giswil) 23:31.
10th Tobias Lüthi (Walliswil bei Wangen) 25:21.

Women (62 km):
1st Carmen Zaugg (Hägendorf) 4:21:49.
2nd Esther Süss (Küttigen) 5:51.
3rd Antonia Bünter (Bern) 12:45.
4th Sandra Stadelmann Hushi (Courtetelle) 23:37.
5th Stefanie Zahno (Bürchen) 25:19.

Men (36 km):
1st Felipe Ramos (Sembrancher) 1:38:22.
2nd Nicolas Lüthi (St. Blaise) 10:38.
3rd Peter Andres (Uttigen) 13:39.
4th Luis da Cunha (Gland) 14:08.
5th Jean-Yves Bruchez (Fully) 15:06.

Women (36 km):
1st Sonja Campos (Vétroz) 2:19:12.
2nd Anne Lovey (Vallorbe) 3:31.
3rd Alexandra Fadeev (Ayent) 3:38.
4th Romaine Pillonel (Cheyres) 6:31.
5th Marion Kilchoer (Marsens) 12:13.

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