In the final stretch, Lea Huber shook off her breakaway companions Nicole Koller and Elena Hartmann and won solo by a narrow margin. On the longest climb of the day, Koller and Huber pulled away from Hartmann, who had only just joined the lead group moments earlier. On the final kilometer, Huber attacked again and opened the decisive gap to victory.

“I wouldn’t have expected a victory this morning,” Huber said at the finish line. She went into the race without any pressure, and that gave her a boost. “I’m looking forward to competing in next year’s races wearing the Swiss champion’s jersey.”

The race course led from the vonRoll site through the Bremgarten Forest to the Mäder Forest, on to Frauenkappelen, and back to Bern via Wohlensee. On the approximately 60-kilometer course, the athletes covered a good 1,000 meters of elevation gain.

In the men’s race, three mountain bikers stood on the podium

The first Swiss gravel champion is Lars Forster. The mountain biker was able to fend off numerous attacks from the leading group in the final stretch. In the ensuing sprint to the finish at the vonRoll site in Bern, he left the rest of the five-rider leading group in the dust. Filippo Colombo finished second and Fabio Püntener third.

The entire leading group thus consisted of World Cup mountain bikers. Vital Albin and Luca Schätti rounded out the top five. Sixth and seventh places went to the two gravel pros, Joel Suter and local rider Nils Brun.

“I haven’t been this nervous before a race in a long time,” said the newly crowned Swiss gravel champion, Lars Forster. On the home stretch, he had the most energy left of anyone. At the finish line, he said: “This historic victory means the world to me.” “Forster is looking forward to wearing the Swiss champion’s jersey next year: ‘The team backed me and believed in me.’”

Legends Triumph in the Age Groups

Swiss championship titles were also awarded in the various age groups. In the M50 category, the 2000 Olympic bronze medalist, Christoph Sauser, came out on top. Thomas Frischknecht, who won in Atlanta in 1996, was also at the start. He finished fifth in his age category. An Olympic champion was also at the starting line. Pascal Richard won the road race in Atlanta in 1996. Richard was visibly pleased with the race and praised the younger riders. He said it was a joy to see how they were riding at the front. “These guys just go full throttle nonstop.”