Favorite Lukas Buchli doesn't hesitate for long with his rivals on his farewell tour. He stepped up the pace on the climb to Alpisella after around 60 of a total of 137 kilometers. "I saw that my fellow riders were struggling with my pace. I immediately pushed again." Uwe Hochenwarter is riding ahead of the leading group at this point. Buchli manages to merge with the Austrian exactly on the flat in Livigno. "We worked well together on the flat. At Chaschauna, I was able to outsprint him and ride home to victory," says Buchli, recapping his race in fast-forward. As an encore, Buchli snatched the course record from Christoph Sauser with a time of 5:24:14 hours. Buchli also takes the lead in the Swiss Bike Marathon series.

Second-placed Jochen Käss (GER), who was competing in the race around the Swiss National Park for the first time, was impressed by the atmosphere and scenery. However, when asked about the killer climb up the Chaschauna, the German was unimpressed: "I've been in training camp in Livigno all week in view of the upcoming German Marathon Championships and the Swiss Epic and have inspected the course extensively. It was great fun to ride the National Park Marathon."

Urs Huber in third place says: "That was a tough race. I did my best again today. Unfortunately, that's not quite enough to reach the top this season. Lukas Buchli is unbeatable at the moment." He has to be satisfied with third place. Just because he didn't quite make it to the top doesn't mean he can make a "sour note" every weekend, adds Huber. Rather, it is a compliment for him that people expect him to win.

Landtwing for the fifth
Milena Landtwing rides to an unrivaled start-finish victory, her fifth in Scuol. But it was no walk in the park, says the Swiss Bike Marathon leader, who lives in Pontresina. "The heat got to me. I almost 'died' on the climb to the Chaschauna Pass." Otherwise, she simply rode her race. "I resolved not to look back and just go at my own pace. Nadia Walker is surprised about her second place: "I was expecting a place between third and fifth. Of course, I'm very pleased that it was enough for second place." She had taken good care of herself and got over the distance without a major crisis.

Third-placed Florence Darbellay is very pleased with her third place in her first race around the Swiss National Park. "I didn't really know how I would cope with the exertions of last week's Grand Raid. I just knew that the National Park Marathon would be challenging. A very nice race," says the Romande, full of praise. The long climb to the 2700-metre-high Chaschauna was just as tough as the march up the Pas de Lona on the "Grand Raid".

With 2156 starters, the organizers around OC President Urs Wohler set a new participant record.

www.swissbikemarathon.ch