Article

An Epic Rematch Brewing for the 2025 SPAR Swiss Epic

Sponsored by

When the 2025 SPAR Swiss Epic gets underway in Davos on the 13th of August, three of the top UCI Women’s teams from the 2025 Absa Cape Epic will renew their rivalry. Adding fuel to that fire is the Saffari Essence Titan Racing team. Bianca Haw – who battled against Monica Calderon, Tessa Kortekaas, Rosa van Doorn, Janina Würst, Vera Looser, and Alexis Skarda in South Africa – will be joined by 2024 SPAR Swiss Epic runner-up Danielle du Toit.

Mountain bike racing in the Swiss Alps is always thrilling. The views provide fans and the riders with the time to look around with magnificent backdrops to racing, which is influenced by long, arduous climbs and scintillating singletrack descents. The best climbers often emerge victorious from the SPAR Swiss Epic, though the trails of Graubünden will punish careless descenders. From the 13th to the 17th of August 2025, the Epic Series’ fiercest campaigners will race for the right to stand atop the final podium in Davos.

Over five days and 307 kilometres of racing, with nearly 10 000 metres of climbing, worthy champions will be crowned. In both the UCI Men’s and Women’s races who those winners may be is harder to predict than ever as the elite fields are stacked with talent. The battle for the orange CIOVITA jerseys is tough to call. Defending champions, Cannondale ISB Sport’s Monica Calderon and Tessa Kortekaas start as the top-ranked women’s team. After missing out on a podium place at the Absa Cape Epic by the narrowest of margins earlier this year, they stormed to victory at 4Islands Epic in Croatia.

The most recent winners in the Epic Series, Rosa van Doorn and Janina Würst, are the second-ranked team. The Swiss half of the Buff Megamo combination is looking forward to racing close to home. “I’m really excited for the SPAR Swiss Epic,” Würst smiled. “Racing at home with family and friends cheering along the course is always something special. I know the area where we are racing quite well, and it feels like a second home for me. I`m looking forward to showing my Dutch teamie, Rosa [van Doorn], some super nice Swiss mountains.”

“The start list of this year’s SPAR Swiss Epic looks really good,” she continued. “The stronger the other athletes are, the more you are pushed to your limits, which makes racing really exciting. It will be for sure be a great battle with the others. At the Absa Cape Epic, we were out of the battle for good positions due to my injuries. So, I hope in the SPAR Swiss Epic we can have a great rematch with the other teams.”

“The Andorra Epic [in July] was a great test for our shape in the mountains and really helped to sharpen our teamwork,” Van Doorn noted. “Every day we raced on feeling, which is exactly how we love to ride. We had a lot of fun out there, and that fun part is super important for us; we want to keep that vibe going. Janina [Würst] and I know each other really well, and after Andorra, we’re really excited to keep the same line-up going into the SPAR Swiss Epic. It’s going to be pure mountain biking, raw, technical, and beautiful.”

The third pairing who raced the Absa Cape Epic and who will be lining up in Graubünden are Vera Looser and Alexis Skarda, of Efficient Infiniti SCB SRAM. The Namibian lives in Switzerland and has both Absa Cape Epic and SPAR Swiss Epic titles on her palmarès. “I absolutely love the SPAR Swiss Epic and the area it takes place in,” Looser grinned. “In the past five editions I competed in, we were always blessed with great weather, which makes the surroundings even more incredible. When I did my first SPAR Swiss Epic in 2020, I didn't enjoy the climbs or the rooty descents so much, but it was my stepping stone back into mountain bike marathon racing after focusing on road racing for the previous years. Alexis [Skarda] knows that the climbs in the Swiss mountains are much longer than at the Absa Cape Epic, but since climbing is one of Alexis' strengths, I am not concerned that she will have any problems with that.”

“I’m also really excited about the strong women's field at this year's race,” she added. “Both Cannondale ISB Sport and Buff Megamo have shown great form during this year, and I am sure we will see a fantastic battle on the Graubünden trails in a few days. It will be brutally hard, but at the end of the day, these races and battles make us stronger riders.”

A Colorado native, Skarda not only excels at climbing but should thrive even at the extreme elevations of the Albulapass [2 324m], Lej Alv [2 545m], and the Scaletta Pass [2 606m]. I'm really looking forward to racing my first SPAR Swiss Epic,” the American stated. “After such positive experiences racing Absa Cape Epic with Vera [Looser] over the last two years, I'm excited to carry that momentum into the mountains of Switzerland. I trust her completely out there on her adopted trails. I know we make a strong, balanced team. I'm looking forward to SPAR Swiss Epic's relentless elevation gain. I'm preparing to dig deep and embrace the suffering!”

The fourth top team to watch at the 2025 race is the all-South African combination of Bianca Haw and Danielle du Toit. The latter raced the 2024 edition alongside Looser and finished second behind Calderon and Kortekaas. “Last year's SPAR Swiss Epic was a wild ride for me,” Du Toit confessed. “It was my first time racing a major international mountain bike marathon, and it lived up to all the hype. This year I'm still feeling a bit nervous, now knowing just how tough the race is, but I’m also excited. The SPAR Swiss Epic was one of the hardest races I've ever done, but it was also one of the best. The scenery was stunning, and it was a proper experience, pushing myself to the limit.”

“To prep for this year, I've focused on getting some altitude training in and working on my climbing skills, even though there are almost no climbs that can simulate the ones in Switzerland in South Africa. But we still do our best to get ready,” she laughed. “I'm also stoked to be racing with my teammate, Bianca Haw, who is a super strong and great rider. I believe she will suit the mountains well.”

Beyond the top favourites, the battle for the top ten in the UCI Women’s race will be just as fierce as the fight for the top step of the podium. Chrystelle Baumann and Sandra Stadelmann, of Next Ride - Santa Cruz, were fifth in 2024 but will do well to hold off Alessia Nay and Kim Ames, of Bulls Swiss, and the Torpado Kenda FSA team of Katazina Sosna and Giorgia Marchet. Stefanie Zahno and Micheala Barz-Harold (GPD/Raid Evolenard powered by POC), Lola Bakker and Puck Pinxt (KMC-Beach Bastards), Viktoria Smidth Knudsen and Ann-Dorthe Lisbygd (Campione Denmark), Larissa Rossner and Zina Barhoumi (SRAM - Ciovita Racing), and Maya de Backer and Ilona Chavaillaz (Chiffelle) complete the elite women’s lineup.

The UCI Men’s race is expected to see the Bixs Performance, Buff Megamo, KTM Spada powered by Brenta Brakes, Torpado Kenda FSA, and two Klimatiza Orbea teams going head-to-head for the yellow CIOVITA jerseys. Lukas Flückiger and Gian Schmid are the defending champions and start the 2025 race as Team 1. Flückiger’s 2024 victory was his third at the SPAR Swiss Epic, coming eight years after his first. Though last year’s victory was perhaps somewhat of a surprise, coming at the age of 40, the 2020 Olympic silver medallist’s class is such that he should never be underestimated, especially alongside a fellow Swiss climber, Schmid.

With each stage ascending to over 2 000 metres above sea level will test lungs as well as legs. This is a fact which Wout Alleman believes has limited his performances in Graubünden in the past. “For me, personally, each Epic Series event is always important,” the reigning Belgian Marathon Champion emphasised. “Now that we [the Buff Megamo team] have won 4Islands this year and the Andorra Epic last year, it is a challenge to try to add the SPAR Swiss Epic to that list. I’m realistic enough to admit, though, that the long climbs don’t suit me particularly well, and the level seems to be really high again this year.”

“It will be a real challenge,” Alleman mused. “The SPAR Swiss Epic has always been an iconic event for me, and I would like to win it one day. I know that it will be difficult to do so and that we'll need to be more than 100% to achieve this…”

Alleman will be partnered by Martin Stošek in Switzerland, as he was in South Africa. His long-time stage racing teammate, Hans Becking, will race alongside Kenya’s Daniel Kandagor, meanwhile. “I’m happy to be back racing with Martin [Stošek] again,” Alleman said. “It's definitely an advantage that he has won the race before, so he knows how to race it successfully. I also believe that Martin is one of the best climbers in the field, so he will be able to guide me through the long climbs. I think that we know each other already a lot better than we did at the start of the Absa Cape Epic. So, I believe that our partnership will only get stronger from now on.”

Buff Megamo’s rivals from Croatia, Nicolas and Lorenzo Samparisi, look forward to getting one over on Alleman and Co for KTM Spada powered by Brenta Brakes; while 2019 SPAR Swiss Epic champion, Fabian Rabensteiner, is partnered by 2025 Swiss Marathon Champion Casey South for Torpado Kenda FSA. The Italian/Swiss combination mix climbing prowess with prodigious skills on the trails and will be tough to beat.

As will the double assault of Klimatiza Orbea. Nominally, the squad leaders, Marc Stutzmann and Samuele Porro, are as strong on paper as any of the teams in the race. Their point of difference could be the support of Klimatiza Orbea 2’. Sebastian Gesche and Luis Martínez could well have their own general classification aspirations too, though the trails of the SPAR Swiss Epic will undoubtedly determine which of the Spanish outfits teams will receive tactical support from the other.

Further down the rankings, the names Urs Huber and Axel Roudil-Cortinat jump out as a team to watch. Though the Bulls’ 2025 results mean that they are dark horses rather than outright favourites. Swiss cycling fans will follow the progress of XCC ace Dario Lillo and Swiss Cyclocross Champion Kevin Kuhn with interest. The Giant Factory Offroad Racing pairing could surprise some of the established marathon and stage race specialists.

To follow the SPAR Swiss Epic action live, mountain biking fans are encouraged to tune into the SPAR Swiss Epic’s live broadcast on the Epic Series YouTube Channel here. Daily highlights from the race can also be viewed on the YouTube Channel, and the excitement from the trails of Graubünden will be shared on the SPAR Swiss Epic Facebook page and @swiss_epic on Instagram. To find out more, visit www.epic-series.com/swissepic.