Pang! And suddenly they were all there, the former Eschenbach winners Konny Looser and Fabian Giger, reporting in. Not to be taken for granted, as both Looser and Giger had ridden the Swiss Epic, a five-day bike stage race in Graubünden, the day before. EKZ Cup leader Marcel Wildhaber had anticipated this, but was still a little surprised.

Escape to the front

Once the race got underway, he literally made a break for the front. The juniors had been sent into the competition two minutes before the elite. His club colleague Andrin Gees in particular proved to be extremely stubborn and stubbornly tried to defend his lead. This was not inconvenient for Wildhaber. He caught up with the junior. The two of them cranked out their workload together over a long stretch. In the end, Wildhaber was able to mobilize a little more reserves and secured victory. At the finish he said: "My legs hurt at the start anyway. That's why I went full throttle. Of course, I also did this to force my opponents Konny Looser and Fabian Giger onto the defensive. But then I found a good rhythm and kept up the pace straight away."

When asked about the tactics, Wildhaber, who will retire at the end of the coming cyclo-cross season, explained: "Nothing was agreed. Andrin fought until the end. Half a lap before the end, however, he had to let go. That's when I seized my chance. I've already won the cyclo-cross here twice and now I've won the bike race for the first time. It's brilliant to be able to say goodbye to the home crowd like that. And of course a good starting position to win the EKZ Cup overall." Second-placed Andrin Gees was somewhat surprised that he was able to leave most of the elite riders behind him: "I made a lightning start so that I could benefit from my two-minute lead for as long as possible. When Marcel Wildhaber was on his tail with two laps to go, I simply tried to stay with him for as long as possible. I managed to do that until the long climb on the final lap." This was his best result so far in a competition with elite riders. He is satisfied with that. "It's no disgrace to be beaten by Mäsi. He rode strongly."

Composed reactions

The beaten bike professionals Konny Looser (who finished seventh) and Fabian Giger took their defeat in their stride. Giger said: "My ambitions of winning were limited. After the exhausting previous days at the Swiss Epic, I initially didn't want to start in Eschenbach because it was the seventh race in eight days. But then Konny, the varied route and of course the beautiful weather changed my mind. I have no regrets. I think reaching the podium is great." Looser added: "It's not always just winning that counts. VC Eschenbach and the EKZ Cup are doing a great job. I'm happy to support that as a rider, especially in this beautiful weather."
Women's winner Tina Züger also used Wildhaber's tactics: "Ride fast for one lap and then see." However, it then became quite tough. "Nicole pushed me right to the end. It was a mega tough battle that ultimately ended well for me. I'm glad that I didn't hurt my hand anymore, which I had hit hard the previous week."

Strong EKZ Cup leaders

The EKZ Cup leaders also won almost without exception in the junior categories, consolidating their supremacy: Kim Oehy (U17, Walenstadt; Leader), Anina Hutter (U15, Trimmis, Leader), Aaron Imhof (U15, Rapperswil, VC Eschenbach, Leader), Elena Frei (U13, Erstfeld, Leader), Lewin Iten (U13, Unterägeri, Leader), Olivia Sgro (U11, Walenstadt, Leader) Noa Hochstrasser (U11, Unterägeri, leader), Sara Käppeli (U9, Merenschwand, leader), Ramon Bachmann (U9, Rapperswil, VC Eschenbach, leader), Mattia Frei (U9, Erstfeld, leader), Olivia Müller (U7, Oberägeri), Jan Huser (U7, Betschwanden).
EKZ Cup President Heiri Disch was satisfied: "With the 110 late entries, the number of participants rose to more than 430. That's a great result!" The penultimate EKZ competition in Uster is already on the program next Sunday.

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