"Brutally awesome!" said Urs Huber euphorically after winning the sprint to the finish. He hadn't expected to be able to keep the two strong climbers from Colombia at bay. Things got tight again in the final kilometers. On the final descent, the four-time Swiss champion felt the rear tire on his bike gradually losing air. "I was therefore unable to ride at full risk as planned in order to shake off the two," said Huber, explaining the end of the exciting race.

Leonadro Paez had already attacked on the first climb to Pfaffensee, the highest point of the course, and pulled away. "I was able to keep the gap within limits, even though Paez's team colleague Arias, who was with me as my last companion, didn't lead a single meter," said Huber, describing the course of the race. In the headwind along Lake Reschen, Paez apparently paid for his efforts and came back into focus. A larger chasing group had formed behind him around Huber, which also included Mattia Longa and Juri Ragnoli, the winner of the two previous years. "They worked together perfectly. But as soon as the route climbed again towards Panorama Mösl, the two Italians let go again," describes Huber.

In any case, the collaboration had paid off for him, as Paez suddenly came into view again at the top. "I hadn't expected that," admits Huber. Shortly before the finish, Arias tried a surprise attack, but misjudged the last bend and lost his footing. "From then on, I knew that I could ride the sprint from the front and just keep up my pace," says Huber. Mattia Longa reached the finish line in fourth place, more than a minute behind Juri Ragnoli. Markus Kaufmann (De, 6th), Konny Looser (Sui, 7th), Marc Stutzmann (Sui, 8th), Pietro Sarai (It, 9th) and Marco Rebagliati (It, 10th) complete the top ten.

In the women's race, Esther Süss triumphed for the third time in a row. The seven-time Swiss bike marathon champion from Küttigen reaches the finish line 6:44 minutes ahead of her teammate Janine Schneider, who is half her age and comes second. And this despite the fact that Süss changed her racing shorts on the way because they were cutting. Vera Adrian took third place ahead of Annette Griner and Andrea Ming. OC boss Julia Hensel was satisfied: "The good weather forecast gave us around 180 late registrations on race day. This increased the number of participants to a good 1250."

Results

Men (90 km): 1st Urs Huber (Mettmenstetten) 3:39:42. 2nd Leonardo Paez (Col) gl. 3rd Alfonso Arias (Col) gl. 4. Mattia Longa (It) 1:20. 5. Juri Ragnoli (It) 3:34. 6. Markus Kaufmann (De) 4:44. 7. Konny Looser (Hinwil, ZH) 5:21. 8. Marc Stutzmann (Rüfenacht, BE) 5:26. 9. Pietro Sarai (It) 5:28. 10. Marco Rabagliati (It) 5:59.

Women (90 km): 1. Esther Süss (Küttigen) 4:33:57. 2. Janine Schneider (De) 6:44. 3. Vera Adrian (RSA) 7:19. 4. Anette Griner (De) 7:59. 5. Andrea Ming (Allenwinden, ZG) 12:09.

Men (51 km): 1. Dominik Schwaiger (De) 2:06:55. 2. Wolfgang Mayer (De) 1:02. 3. Livio Camenzind (Schwyz) 3:29. 4. Tobias Kurz (De) 4:25. 5. Kurt Wohlfarter (It) 4:48.

Women (51 km): 1. Alexandra Lehmann (Oey) 2:30:28. 2. Letizia Strimer (Ardez) 0:37. 3. Marina Ilmer (It) 2:32. 4. Tinetta Strimer (Scuol) 5:33.

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