Juri Ragnoli (ITA), the winner of the last two events, is facing a much larger number of strong challengers this time than last year. Swiss champion Urs Huber, who came third in last year's Ortler Bike Marathon, leads the field of strong Swiss riders, which also includes Konny Looser, Hansueli Stauffer, Oliver Zurbrügg, Andreas Moser and Marc Stutzmann. The German Markus Kaufmann and the Austrian Uwe Hochenwarter are also likely to achieve a top result.

The riders have been warned. Last year, the first long climb to the Pfaffensee at 2,230 meters above sea level, and also the highest point of the 86-kilometre route, was the deciding factor. Juri Ragnoli, together with compatriot Daniele Mensi and Urs Huber, pulled away from the rest. Over a distance of just under 20 kilometers, the participants have to climb 1,280 meters in altitude, which favors good climbers. Once at the top, another challenge awaits the riders: there is still snow on Lake Pfaffensee, which cannot be circumnavigated as usual because the snow is still more than a meter high. Nevertheless, OC President Julia Hensel is confident that the race can be held as normal. She says: "Our track team has done an excellent job and cleared a track in the snow." The weather should also be much better than the long-term forecast predicted. "We are expecting peak temperatures of around 30 degrees," says the OC boss.

The women's competition is less crowded. The focus here will be on last year's winner Esther Süss, the former marathon world champion and seven-time Swiss champion. Since this year, the Aargau native has been competing in the same team as the German Janine Schneider, who can also be expected to achieve a top result. Schneider finished third in Glurns last year. Andrea Ming and Franziska Brun are the other contenders for a podium place.

This year's Bike Marathon Classics will feature numerous changes over the course of the race series. The most important of these is the completely new route for the third round of the Eiger Bike Challenge. Significantly more singletrail but no fewer meters of altitude per kilometer. This is how you could characterize the redesign of the classic in the face of the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau.

The National Park Bike Marathon, at 137 kilometers the longest stage within the Classics, has also been working hard on the route concept. If, as in the previous year, a change in the weather once again prevents the race around the Swiss National Park, an almost completely new route, which will remain in the Lower Engadine, will be available for the long-distance riders.

The Bike Marathon Classics, which has existed since 1996, has six stages. Over a total of 580 kilometers, the mountain bikers have to cover 20,195 meters of altitude in the most beautiful regions of western, central and south-eastern Switzerland as well as in the Vinschgau Valley. Around 2,000 participants take part in the two most popular events, the National Park Bike Marathon in Scuol and the Iron Bike Race in Einsiedeln. This year, the o-tour in Alpnach is once again part of the marathon world series of the UCI cycling world federation and is considered a Swiss championship for the first time. World-renowned riders such as three-time marathon world champion Christoph Sauser and four-time Swiss champion and six-time overall series winner Urs Huber have entered their names in the Classics' Golden Book, as has the women's marathon world champion and seven-time Swiss champion Esther Süss.

The six races of the Bike Marathon Classics

01.06.2019, Ortler Bike Marathon, Glurns, It
23.06.2019, Celsius BerGiBike, Fribourg/Bulle/FR
11.08.2019, Eiger Bike Challenge, Grindelwald/BE
31.08.2019, National Park Bike Marathon, Scuol/GR
08.09.2019, o-tour bike marathon Obwalden, Alpnach/OW (SM)
22.09.2019, Iron Bike Race, Einsiedeln/SZ
The overall winners 2018: Urs Huber/Ariane Lüthi

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