Favorite Mathias Flückiger tries to force his rivals onto the defensive with a solo escape shortly after the start. But in doing so, he cut himself in two on the 95-kilometre course with its 4,000 meters of elevation gain. The rider from Oberaargau is dropped again and the race starts all over again. In the end, the cross-country world championship silver medalist suffers for his efforts and is relegated to 15th place.

His brother Lukas Flückiger took the opposite route. He has to fight his way to the front from a poor starting position and suffers a bike defect in the process, which takes time and energy to repair. When the marathon specialists Leonardo Paez, Kristian Hynek and Samule Porro ignited the turbo on the last 20 kilometers, the older of the two Flückiger brothers also lacked the strength to counterattack.Leonardo Paez finally manages to pull away from his last companions on the last climb before the finish and becomes the first Colombian to win the Bike Marathon World Championships. "It was an extremely hectic race at the start," says Paez, who had already won three bronze and one silver medal at marathon world championships in the past. The 37-year-old puts his first victory down to two factors in particular. He opted for a full-suspension bike on the technically demanding course. This was somewhat heavier than a hardtail, which only has suspension on the front wheel. However, it proved its worth on the fast descents. He also spent a long time preparing intensively on the world championship course.Kristian Hynek is visibly disappointed. The Czech says: "When you're so close to the title, it takes me a while to accept the result. I gave it my all. But it wasn't quite enough." The result is particularly bitter for marathon specialist Urs Huber, who celebrated seven marathon triumphs in a row before the World Championships. After being able to keep up with the leading group at the start, he also lost his strength and ultimately had to settle for 14th place.

Second title

In the women's race, Pauline Ferrand-Prèvot achieved a start-to-finish victory. After winning the world title on the road, in cyclo-cross and in cross-country, the Frenchwoman has now also won the marathon. She says: "It was very fast in the start phase. After that, I also went full throttle downhill and never looked back." Blaza Pintaric from Slovenia crossed the finish line in second place ahead of Robyn de Grood from South Africa, who beat Adelheit Morath from Germany into fourth place in the sprint for third place. The best Swiss rider was Ilona Chavaillaz from Switzerland in eighth place.

Results

Men (95 km)
1. Leonardo Paez (Col) 4:17:58. 2. Kristian Hynek (Tsch) 0:26. 3. Samuele Porro (It) 1:13. 4. Alexey Medvedev (Russ) 3:18. 5. David Valero (Sp) 3:31. 6. Juri Ragnoli (It) 3:59. 7. Martin Stosek (Tsch) 4:18. 8. Lukas Flückiger (Sui) 5:11. 9. Andreas Seewald (De) 5:50. 10. Ilias Periklis (Gre) 6:27. Also the other Swiss: 14. Urs Huber, 9:45. 15. Mathias Flückiger, 9:51. 16. Casey South, 10:07. 32. Marc Stutzmann, 20:33. 35. Andreas Moser, 22:01. 36. Jeremias Marti, 23:05. 46. Andrin Beeli, 27:27. 51. Oliver Zurbrügg, 31:23. 52. Emilien Barben, 32:24. 53. Arnaud Rapillard, 32:29.

Women (70 km)
1. Pauline Ferrand-Prèvot (Fr) 3:57:09. 2. Blaza Pintaric (Slo) 1:53. 3. Robyn de Grood (Rsa) 2:40. 4. Adelheit Morath (De) 2:41. 5. Samara Sheppard (Neus) 4:57. 6. Elisabeth Brandau (De) 5:06. 7. Stefanie Dohrn (De) 8:32. 8. Ilona Chavaillaz (Sui) 11:40. 9. Katazina Sosna (Lit) 11:45. 10. Sabine Spitz (De) 12:25. The other Swiss women: 13. Esther Süss, 14:37. 15. Ariane Lüthi, 16:59. 19. Florence Darbellay, 21:08. 23. Nicole Koller, 27:09. 34. Barbara Liardet, 41:34. 35. Antonia Bunter, 45:08. 36. Evelyne Trepte, 45:49. 41. Sandra Stadelmann, 48:29. 42. Michèle Wittlin, 51:01. 43. Carole Perrot, 53:49. 46. Franziska Brun, 56:04. 47. Katja Montani, 56:11. 51. Crystel Matthey, 1:00:29. 56. Stefanie Zahno, 1:07:17.

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