Sebastien Reichenbach soon finds the pace of the leading group too slow. On the climb to Richmettlen after 12 of 86 kilometers, the road pro seizes the initiative and is immediately able to pull out a lead. Only Urs Huber remains on his rear wheel. But while Reichenbach is soon caught up again by the pursuers on the first rough singletrail, Huber keeps up his pace and extends his lead to over two and a half minutes by the finish.

At the back of the now two-time O-Tour winner, the chasing group splits up. The final climb to the Ächerli Pass decides the remaining podium places. At the start of the climb at kilometer 60, Reichenbach rolls up the field from behind. Three riders still have a chance of finishing on the podium alongside Huber: Hansueli Stauffer, the Belgian marathon champion Frans Claes and Reichenbach, who sets a tremendous pace and soon catches and overtakes his two rivals. A hundred meters before the top of the Ächerli pass, Stauffer's chain breaks, throwing him out of contention for the podium places. On the descent, however, Claes was able to catch up with Reichenbach again and finally shake him off. The Belgian reached the finish line in second place ahead of Reichenbach and Stauffer.

"After Reichenbach couldn't keep up with me at Richmettlen, I just rode at my own pace. The weather and the race constellation were ideal for me today," commented Urs Huber. Frans Claes says: "The pace on the first climb, when Huber and Reichenbach attacked, was too fast for me. But we caught up with Reichenbach again on the descent." He was also able to work well with Stauffer on the flat and thus save energy. The game with Reichenbach was then repeated on the final climb. "Winning the O-Tour means a lot to me. It's not every day that I can finish second in a UCI World Series race," said a delighted Claes, who finished 15th last year.

Stauffer reacted calmly when asked about not making it onto the podium: "Of course it's annoying when the chain breaks. Fortunately, it was the chain lock, so I didn't lose too much time with the repair." He is not unhappy with the result. He had been suffering from knee problems for a long time this season and therefore had to take a six-week break from racing. He only started training again four weeks ago.

In the women's race, Esther Süss, who registered at short notice, achieved a commanding start-to-finish victory with a record-breaking lead of 20 minutes over the Romande Florence Darbellay. "My first marathon this season," explains Süss, who had already won twice before in Alpnach. That's why the long distance was still a little unfamiliar. She is happy that she was able to live up to the role of favorite.
"I didn't think I could come second here after seeing Esther Süss and Milena Landtwing on the start list," says Florence Darbellay. But then she saw that Landtwing gave up the race after just a few kilometers. The Swiss Bike Marathon leader had to have surgery on a boil on her buttocks and was still complaining of sitting problems. In the end, Cornelia Hug came third. She was also surprised at the finish. "I had a terrible crisis on the way," says the Bernese rider. The fact that she still managed to come third was brilliant.

Stefan Roffler celebrates his first victory in the middle distance. "It's amazing, because I haven't been able to train much in the last few weeks as I'm very busy at work," says the delighted man from Chur. Local hero Renata Bucher from Kriens triumphed in the women's race.

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