Three days of racing to kick off the festival

The event kicked off with the start of the festival's only elite race on Wednesday, August 11: the E-Tour du Mont-Blanc. The start list included stars such as Italian Marco A. Fontana, French riders Kenny Muller and Jérôme Gilloux, 2019 winner Nathalie Schneitter (SUI) and the Swiss duo Flo Golay and Olivier Grossrieder, who had won the last two events. 36 international riders took part in the event, which was recently added to the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) calendar for E-MTB cross-country marathon races. After three days of racing in three countries (Switzerland, Italy, France), a distance of 255 km and 13,200 meters of climbing, linking Verbier, Courmayeur and Les Houches in the Chamonix valley, the duos Léa Deslandes/Nadine Sapin (FRA) in the women's race and Jérôme Gilloux/Kenny Muller (FRA) in the men's race were crowned winners. At the end of this team race, the final stage of the E-Bike World Tour, Léa Deslandes (FRA) in the women's race and Jérôme Gilloux (FRA) in the men's race were crowned the first winners of the E-Bike World Tour and took home the overall series titles.

Top 3 men's E-Tour du Mont-Blanc

1. Jérôme Gilloux / Kenny Muller - E-Team Moustache / 08h19min08sec
2. Flo Golay / Olivier Grossrieder - CrossRoads - Lapierre Suisse / 08h26min43sec
3. Fred Horny / Kieran Page - Lapierre / 09h10min54sec

Top 3 women E-Tour du Mont-Blanc

1. Léa Deslandes / Nadine Sapin - Haibike - Fullattack / 10h11min24sec
2. Sofia Wiedenroth / Alexandra Marchal - Specialized 1 / 11h01min54sec
3. Nathalie Schneitter / Cornelia Hug - Trek - Bosch / 11h58min04sec

Bike tests and challenges

The Verbier E-Bike Festival kicked off on Thursday in Verbier, Nendaz and the Pays du St. Bernard under a bright blue sky. For the second time, the Verbier E-Bike Festival activities could also be enjoyed in the neighboring destinations of Nendaz and Pays du St. Bernard. From the Rando Gourmandes and the discovery routes to the Val de Bagnes by Altis challenge and the e-bike tests, there was something for everyone. The main attraction, the e-bike test, saw almost 2700 tests carried out this year, with more than 500 e-bikes available to participants. Given the current shortage in the e-bike industry, this was an achievement in itself. The global health crisis has severely slowed down the production of e-bikes while also triggering an explosion in demand, leading to delivery delays and making it difficult to carry out e-bike tests.

The weekend was rounded off by the "challenge for all" on Sunday: the Bosch e-MTB Challenge, which held its only stage in Switzerland here. Several big names such as Jérôme Clementz (FRA), Kevin Miquel (FRA) as well as Florian Nicolai (FRA), Fred Horny (FRA), Christoph Sauser (SUI) and Greta Weithaler (ITA) came together in this race for amateurs and experienced e-bikers. Greta Weithaler (ITA) rode the fastest time in the women's race, Kevin Miquel (FRA) won the men's race.

Top 3 men's E-MTB Challenge

1. Kevin Miquel (FRA)
2. Tiago Ladeira (POR)
3. Emanuel Pombo (POR)

Top 3 women's E-MTB Challenge

1. Greta Weithaler (ITA)
2. Kim Binggeli (SUI)
3. Kathi Kuypers (GER)

2022 edition confirmed

The fourth edition of the Verbier E-Bike Festival has already been confirmed for next year and will be held from August 11 to 14, 2022. However, e-biking will continue to take center stage in the Valais vacation resort in the coming weeks. The Verbier E-Bike Week-Ends will take place every weekend from Wednesday to Sunday until September 19, where you can indulge in e-bike fun on discovery tours or Rando Gourmandes.

verbierebikefestival.com