Former Swiss road champion and current bike store owner Dani Schnider counts the Swiss Epic as one of his season highlights. But instead of the stage race becoming a highlight, it ends up being a nightmare for every race participant. During the night from the third to the fourth stage in Arosa, Schnider's car is broken into, probably with a code reader, and two top-equipped Stoll bikes and a Pirope wheelset are stolen. The damage amounts to around 27,000 francs, but the annoyance is even greater. Schnider's bike was a Stoll M2, which was not even on the market at the time. He received the bike from Stoll ahead of time for the Swiss Epic.
Schnider was still able to finish the stage race, albeit on a bike that was too big, which he was allowed to borrow from a friend.

Reunion on YouTube

Normally, damaged owners never see their mountain bikes again. But around two months after the Swiss Epic, the luxurious Stoll M2 from Schnider reappeared - in a test video by Russian Youtubers "Dr.Gonzo и Мужик", which is maintained by bike enthusiasts Konstantin and Ekaterina. According to the description, they are not brand-bound, are knowledgeable and treat their tests as objectively as possible. What they probably don't treat objectively is the origin of their test bikes.
Schnider shares the YouTube post on Facebook and writes with an ironic undertone: "My bike seems to make an impression. It hasn't come back from the test ride yet."

The ex-professional is certain that it really is the stolen Stoll M2: "It's definitely my bike. They didn't even bother to remove the name sticker!" Other individual parts, such as the Simplon stem fitted shortly before the race or the Yep seatpost, also clearly identify the bike presented in the video as Schnider's.
The stolen Stoll M2 made its way onto YouTube via a buyer. "Dr. Gonzo" had been informed by a Facebook friend of Schnider's that it was a stolen bike. The Youtubers replied that they had received the bike from its owner for testing purposes and were not interested in its further origin.

Sold via Russian Facebook

It was a Russian Facebook friend of Dani Schnider who knew about the theft and rediscovered the bike on the Russian equivalent of Facebook a short time later. "My bike is for sale on vk.com," wrote a Russian mountain biker who is a friend of mine on Facebook. Many stolen goods are offered for sale in closed groups on this site," said Schnider, referring to information from his friend. The stolen Stoll bikes were not isolated cases and the fences would not lift a finger to cover up the origin of the sales photos, he continues: "On the second stolen bike, a Stoll M1 that my colleague was riding, not even the timing chip was removed and the cable ties that fixed the start number were also still hanging on the handlebars."

Schnider immediately passed this information on to the cantonal police in Graubünden, who recorded the theft in Arosa at the time. However, nothing happened so quickly, as there were no signs of the car being broken into. As a result, he was unable to make a claim with the insurance company for a long time, which only accepted that his car had been broken into electronically thanks to a little help from the police. The claim was only settled at the end of December, bringing an annoying chapter to a close.

Even after rediscovering the unique Stoll M2, let alone the second stolen Stoll M1 and the Pirope wheelset, Dani Schnider is not speculating that he will get it back, even after rediscovering it on YouTube and reporting it to the criminal investigation department. What remains is a funny and frustrating memory and the realization that in future, racing bikes will only spend the night very close to the bed and never in the car again.