This is not Tschopp's first title in the mountain bike marathon. The 33-year-old, who rode for the IAM road team until last year but has now switched back to off-road racing, won in Les Crosets in 2004. "I was clearly the strongest uphill," says Tschopp. However, the Romand is surprised at how quickly his rivals were able to catch up with him on the downhill.
Tschopp takes the decision on the last climb before the finish.

But Lukas Buchli was disappointed: "Problems with the chain cost me almost a minute. I had to risk everything on the descents to catch up with Tschopp again."
Defending champion Urs Huber also did not have a good day and finished eleventh.