German double victory at the Grand Raid BCVS

Sieger Andreas Seewald am berüchtigten Pas de Lona. ©Martin Platter

Photo: Martin Platter

David Gysling almost pulled off a sensation in a Hitchcock final. It was only on the final descent that the Valaisan was caught by last year's winner Andreas Seewald and relegated to second place. Bike Marathon Classics leader Hansueli Stauffer came third. In the women's race, the German Stefanie Dohrn was in a class of her own. Frenchwoman Estelle Morel came second ahead of last year's winner Claudia Peretti from Italy.

After his first attack on the Mandelon, which was not yet crowned with success, David Gysling showed his strength on the last fifth of the route at kilometer 100 in the long and hard final climb from Eison to the Pas de Lona and took the lead again. On the strenuous 11 kilometers with 1150 meters of elevation gain, he was able to pull out a 2:30-minute lead over his first pursuer, last year's winner Andreas Seewald, all the way to L'A Vieille.

Then came the Piece de Resistance, the 12-minute walk up the Pas de Lona for the top athletes. In this passage alone, the former mountain runner Seewald was able to reduce the gap to 1 minute again. Would this margin be enough for Gysling, whose riding technique is not outstanding, to take the victory over the Basset de Lona down the 1200 Elevation loss to the finish?

It wasn't enough. Former two-time marathon world champion Seewald reached the finish in Grimentz as the winner for the fourth time. Gysling lost 96 seconds to the winner from Germany in the final kilometers. At the finish line, the man from Saxon in the Valais did not know whether to laugh or cry. He said: "I was aware that I needed at least a 2-minute lead for the final descent to have a chance against Seewald, as I'm not a particularly good downhill skier. The fact that it wasn't enough for the win now bothers me a little. Even though I don't have to be ashamed of finishing second behind Seewald. It's my most valuable result so far." The previous week, Gysling had announced his ambitions by winning the SM bronze medal at the Eiger Bike Challenge.

Bike Marathon Classics leader Hansueli Stauffer crossed the finish line in third place. The man from Sigriswil thus consolidated his leading position in the national bike marathon race series. This means that overall victory will no longer be out of his reach at the finale in Einsiedeln at the end of September. However, Stauffer did not get over the distance without a crisis. He said: "After three and a quarter hours, I toyed with the idea of giving up. Gysling had stepped up the pace so much that I was two minutes behind." Stauffer regained his motivation by eating and talking himself into it. In Evolène, he had re-established contact with the leaders. "I'm really happy with third place. It's the first podium place in the Grand Raid," says Stauffer.

In the women's race, Stefanie Dohrn broke away from the rest halfway through the race. In Hérémence, the German already had a lead of 1:13 minutes, which she continuously extended. On the Mandelon, second-placed Estelle Morel was already more than 6 minutes behind; on the Pas de Lona it was already just under 10 minutes. Last year's winner Claudia Peretti followed well behind in third place. Last year, Dohrn had finished fourth in Grimentz - like Mallory Barth, the best Swiss rider this year.