Swiss Epic: Buchli and Flückiger take overall victory

The day before, Lukas Buchli and Mathias Flückiger lost the overall lead. Today, the pair took back the "bag" on the final stage of the Perskindol Swiss Epic and wrote a piece of mountain bike history in the process. In the women's race, Kleinhans and Langvad complete their winning streak with overall victory.

The last stage of the Perskindol Swiss Epic from Grächen to Zermatt promised to be a thriller with the change of leader the day before. The Stöckli-BiXS team with Lukas Buchli and Mathias Flückiger announced that they would try everything to reclaim the yellow jersey. In fact, the Buchli/Flückiger and Käss/Geismayr teams are giving each other nothing. "On the way to Zermatt, Mathias and I often tried to get away. However, our attacks were unsuccessful and we almost lost heart," says Lukas Buchli, describing the first stage.

The fact that the Centurion-Vaude team with Jochen Käss and Daniel Geismayr had a one-minute lead over Buchli and Flückiger did not make the task of closing the gap any easier. Even the main climb of the final stage to Sunnegga does not bring a decision. Only when the summit is reached are the two Swiss riders able to pull away a little in the hilly terrain. In the subsequent descent, the gap to the German-Austrian duo only increases slightly. Shortly before the Furi, where the final climb to Stafel begins, Lukas Buchli and Mathias Flückiger are twelve seconds ahead of the virtual leaders.

With flow to victory
The turning point at Stafel is also the turning point for the Stöckli-BiXS team. The challenging descent that followed was exactly to their liking. "This last descent, with its numerous technical sections and short counter-climbs, was exactly what Mathias and I like. Once we got into the flow, there was no stopping us and it was just so much fun," says Buchli, explaining the race decision.

A short time later, Lukas Buchli and Mathias Flückiger rode to stage win number three - in a sprint finish and without any big celebratory poses. The short time in which the two stared at the clock was too nerve-wracking, as Mathias Flückiger described it. When Jochen Käss and Daniel Geismayr's lead crumbles, the jubilation is huge: Lukas Buchli and Mathias Flückiger are the first winners of the Perskindol Swiss Epic after a tough 400 kilometers and 15,000 meters of climbing. With their victory, the two are also writing a piece of biking history. Because since the Tour de Suisse mountain bike, which was last held in 1995, there has been no comparable race in Switzerland.Team Scott from South Africa with Matthys Beukes and Philip Buys came third. In the final standings, the pair finished in seventh place. Fourth place in the final stage and third place overall goes to the BMC Mountain Bike Racing Team with Ralph Näf and Lukas Flückiger. They got themselves into this position on the third stage and defended it until the end.

Success in seven victories
In the women's race, Ariane Kleinhans and Annika Langvad appear to be a new dream team for mountain bike stage races. After the Swiss-Danish duo won the Cape Epic in the spring, they have now won the first edition of the Perskindol Swiss Epic. Kleinhans and Langvad didn't give their rivals the slightest chance and won all stages including the prologue. Behind the leading duo, Esther Süss and Dutch rider Hielke Elferink rode to second place. Andrea Kuster and Kristin Aamodt from Norway finished the race in third place.

Milena Landtwing and Bärti Bucher are also almost unbeatable in the mixed category. With the exception of the third stage from Leukerbad to Grächen, which was won by the US duo Michael Broderick and Mary McConneloug, Landtwing and Bucher won every stage. Third place in the overall standings goes to X-Terra triathlon specialist Renata and her brother Bänz Bucher.