Hansueli Stauffer perhaps surprised himself the most with his victory. He says: "My legs were still quite heavy for the first few kilometers and I wasn't at the front. I only felt better on the main climb to La Berra." At the top it was foggy, raining and it was cold and windy. Then came the long descent down to La Roche and Stauffer's moment: "The rain had made the loamy surface of the descent slippery and therefore very demanding in terms of riding technique. I love conditions like this." While Emilien Barben first put on a jacket at the culmination point because he didn't want to freeze on the descent, Stauffer went it alone and rode to La Roche with a 90-second lead. "This lead spurred me on. I kept up my rhythm and experienced a flow," said a delighted Stauffer at the finish, which he reached as a solo winner for the second time since 2016. With a 5:27-minute lead over the surprising runner-up Gian Andri Schmid, who was taking part in the BerGiBike for the first time.  

Schmid is no stranger to the bike racing scene. The 23-year-old is currently in second place in the national Cic on Swiss Bike Cup. "I wanted to ride a marathon last year because I realized that it might suit me in terms of my performance," explained the young man from Seon. But then it didn't happen. Commenting on the BerGiBike, the man from Aargau said: "The race went perfectly for me. However, I had nothing to lose. I just went for it, without any experience of how I would fare after three hours." In addition, he did not know the route and even had to let the two top riders go at times. "But I was able to make up time on the descents and then rode with Emilien Barben up to the Gibloux." Barben finally had to let Schmid go at Gibloux.

But the Frenchman was not disappointed. "At least a podium place," consoled Barben, who, like Stauffer, would have had a chance of winning the leader's jersey in the Bike Marathon Classics. However, the Neuchâtel native did not want to take the full risk in the descents like his two fellow competitors.

Men (79 km): 1. Hansueli Stauffer (Sigiriswil) 3:36:20. 2. Gian Andri Schmid (Seon) 5:27. 3. Emilien Barben (Chez-le-Bart) 8:01. 4. David Gysling (Marin) 12:15. 5. Jeremias Marti (Geltnau) 15:30. 6. Fabian Heinzer (Schwyz) 16:46. 7. Damian Perrin (Bern) 21:40. 8. Pascal Nay (Zizers) 22:09. 9. Adrien Chenaux (Fribourg) 23:05. 10. Sebastian Bertoli (Horw) 25:27.

Women (79 km): 1. Stefanie Zahno (Bürchen) 4:42:51. 2. Alexandra Zürcher (Oey) 5:45. 3. Ilona Chavaillaz (Sommentier) 9:28. 4. Alessia Nay (Zizers) 42:53.

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