At the start of the race, the two Italian front runners push the pace. On the first climb to Pfaffensee, Daniele Mensi manages to pull away slightly. He is closely followed by a duo with Italian champion Juri Ragnoli and Urs Huber. In the following descent and the intermediate climb to Rojental, however, a larger group came together again, which only broke away again on the final climb to Panorama Mösl. "In contrast to last year, the pace was faster this time. That suited me," said Ragnoli after beating Mensi in the sprint. Third-placed Swiss rider Urs Huber says: "I tried to keep up on the final climb. But towards the end the pace was too high for me. That's why I let myself go and concentrated on defending third place. I managed that well. I was able to pull out a good lead on my toughest rivals in the Bike Marathon Classics."

In the women's race, it was already clear on the first climb that the seven-time Swiss mountain bike marathon champion Esther Süss would probably only be prevented from another triumph in Glurns by a defect or crash. Süss' ride was without incident and she repeated her victory from the previous year with a clear lead over her two German competitors Rebecca Robisch and Janine Schneider. Süss comments: "The first climb in particular, with its 1300 meters of elevation gain, was tough for me so early in the season. Nevertheless, it went perfectly uphill. Not so great on the flat, as I had to ride alone in the wind a lot. But all in all, a good start to the marathon season." The next two women were also satisfied. Third-placed Janine Schneider said: "It's amazing how well I did today, because I'm currently very busy with my physiotherapy training."

In the middle distance, Michéle Wittlin took another Swiss victory ahead of Eva Maria Gatscher and Taja Blickenstorfer. Five Italians finished in the top five places in the men's race. Klaus Fontana wins ahead of Johannes Schweiggl and Tiziano Carraro.

The six races of the Garmin Bike Marathon Classics

The Bike Marathon Classics, which has existed since 1996, comprises six stages. Over a maximum distance of 580 kilometers, 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. A good 2000 participants take part in the two most popular events, the National Park Bike Marathon in Scuol and the Iron Bike Race in Einsiedeln. The o-tour in Alpnach is also part of the UCI World Cycling Union's marathon series this year. The finale of the Iron Bike Race is also the Swiss championship. World-renowned riders such as three-time marathon world champion Christoph Sauser and three-time Swiss champion and five-time overall series winner Urs Huber have entered their names in the Classics' Golden Book; among the women, marathon world champion and seven-time Swiss champion Esther Süss. The overall winners 2017: Konny Looser/Esther Süss

www.ortler-bikemarathon.it

02.06.2018, Ortler Bike Marathon, Glurns, It
24.06.2018, Celsius BerGiBike, Fribourg/Bulle/FR
12.08.2018, Eiger Bike Challenge, Grindelwald/BE
25.08.2018, National Park Bike Marathon, Scuol/GR (CS)
09.09.2018, o-tour bike marathon Obwalden, Alpnach/OW
30.09.2018, Iron Bike Race, Einsiedeln/SZ

www.garmin-bikeclassics.ch