Urs Huber's goal is clear: to overtake Sepp Freiburghaus in second place in the final ranking of the Swiss Bike Marathon Series. Huber shaped the course of the race accordingly. As early as St. Meinrad, after around twelve of the 101 kilometers, he attacked and made the race tough. "I knew that Lukas Buchli and Sepp Freiburghaus were still tired from the Swiss Epic. That's why I pushed hard early on," says Huber. But it wasn't until the tricky descent from Büel at kilometer 40 that he was able to break away together with Marc Stutzmann.

Huber during his speed increase and then on the descent. This still suited the pros well, but the wet roots turned it into a running course for many participants. Photos ©Martin Platter

The two make common cause on the surface through Euthal. On the following ascent to Wisstannen, Huber was then able to steadily extend his lead and by the highest point of the lap on the Spirstock (1771 m above sea level), he had three minutes on Buchli, who had now moved up to second place. "My alarm bells were ringing. I could already see my overall victory in danger," says Buchli, describing the moment. To make matters worse, he also had a gradual loss of air in the rear tire, but pumping it up helped. "Things didn't go well for me at all today," explains Buchli. He was correspondingly happy at the finish line when he knew that the overall victory was still his. It is his third overall victory in the Swiss marathon series after 2010 and 2012.

In the women's race, the balance of power is clearer. Esther Süss lives up to her role as favorite. Her teammate Milena Landtwing secured second place ahead of Romande Florence Darbellay and Nadia Walker. Landtwing, who came second last year, thus secures the overall classification for the first time, ahead of Walker and Darbellay.

Esther Süss was in a class of her own. Photos ©Martin Platter

The race is also exciting in the middle distance. Silvan Kälin and Urs Baumann are just a touch apart in the intermediate classification. Kälin seizes his chance and finishes second behind the day's winner Michael Stünzi. He secured the final classification for the second time since 2013 - ahead of Baumann, who won last year.

In the women's race, U23 world champion and last year's winner Ramona Forchini is once again unchallenged. Ilona Chavaillaz secured overall victory for the first time.
With almost 2,100 participants, the Iron Bike Race is once again very popular with mountain bikers of all ages. A good omen for the coming year. The race will then celebrate its 20th anniversary with the organization of the Swiss Bike Marathon Championships. After the championship race in 2006, this will be coming to Einsiedeln for the second time.

Ramona Forchini winner of the middle distance. Photo ©Martin Platter

Results Iron Bike Race Einsiedeln
Men 101km
1.	Urs Huber (SUI)	4:15.27
2.	Lukas Buchli (SUI)	+0:04.12
3.	Marc Stutzmann (SUI)	+0:04.30
4.	Uwe Hochenwarter (AUT)	+0:08.59
5.	Sepp Freiburghaus (SUI)	+0:09.30
6.	Jérémy Huguenin (SUI)	+0:10.56
7.	Philipp Gerber (SUI)	+0:11.27
8.	Konny Looser (SUI)	+0:18.13
9.	Mattia Longa (ITA)	+0:20.36
10.	Hansueli Stauffer (SUI)	+0:27.11
Women 101km
1.	Esther Süss (SUI)	5:11.28
2.	Milena Landtwing (SUI)	+0:17.20
3.	Florence Darbellay (SUI)	+0:22.06
4.	Nadia Walker (SUI)	+0:23.30
5.	Cornelia Hug (SUI)	+0:56.09
Men 77km
1.	Michael Stünzi (SUI)	3:20.53
2.	Silvan Kälin (SUI)	+0:02.06
3.	Jan Schär (SUI)	+0:02.20
4.	Stefan Roffler (SUI)	+0:02.54
5.	Rick Reimann (SUI)	+0:04.30
6.	Jeremias Marti (SUI)	+0:05.19
7.	Urs Baumann (SUI)	+0:05.49
8.	Martin Solvia (SUI)	+0:07.13
9.	Sebastian Egger (SUI)	+0:08.03
10.	Thomas Rusch (SUI)	+0:09.42
Women 77km
1.	Ramona Forchini (SUI)	3:46.15
2.	Ilona Chavaillaz (SUI)	+0:06.42
3.	Alessia Nay (SUI)	+0:20.41
4.	Sabine Stampf (GER)	+0:24.42
5.	Monika Vogler (SUI)	+0:24.56
Overall ranking
Men long distance
1.	Lukas Buchli	398.33 p
2.	Urs Huber	395.98 p
3.	Sepp Freiburghaus	391.94 p
4.	Jérémy Huguenin	388.15 p
5.	Konny Looser	382.48 p
Women long distance
1.	Milena Landtwing	394.72 p
2.	Nadia Walker	378.53 p
3.	Florence Darbellay	376.10 p
4.	Cornelia Hug	365.53 p
5.	Andrea Ming	348.26 p
Fun men
1.	Hansjürg Gerber	397.85 p
2.	Roman Dietrich	393.74 p
3.	Lars Zumstein	388.64 p
Men middle distance
1.	Silvan Kälin	199.85 p
2.	Urs Baumann	198.88 p
3.	Thomas Rusch	197.85 p
Women Middle distance
1.	Ilona Chavaillaz	198.56 p
2.	Alessia Nay	187.30 p
3.	Erika Speck	186.75 p

The overall winners from left: Silvan Kälin, Ilona Chavaillaz, Milena Landtwing, Lukas Buchli and Hansjürg Gerber

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