The excitement of the SPAR Swiss Epic returns once again, and you can follow it live from August 20th to 24th on the Epic Series YouTube channel! During five intense days, MTB enthusiasts will have the chance to enjoy one of the most spectacular stage races in the heart of the Swiss Alps, in the breathtaking region of Graubünden.

 

Starting at 9:30am, from Tuesday to Saturday, visit the YouTube channel to witness thrilling and challenging alpine stages, where some of the best riders in the world will compete for the crown of Europe's most renowned XCM race. Don’t miss a single moment of this incredible event. Get ready to experience the adrenaline and passion of MTB at the highest level!

 

When the 2024 SPAR Swiss Epic gets underway in La Punt, Engadin – on Tuesday, 20 August – there will be seven reigning National Champions and perhaps a newly crowned European Mountain Bike Marathon Champion on the start line. Taking place in a busy summer block of marathon and stage racing the event provides the perfect opportunity for European based riders to showcase their top form and as a result has historically produced scintillating racing. This year should be no different as teams like Wilier Vittoria, the Bulls Mavericks, Buff Megamo, Klimatiza Toteemi Cabberty, Bixs Performance, Torpado Kenda Factory, Efficient Infiniti Racing, Cannondale ISB Sport, and Mentecorpo Cicli Drigani face off across the elite categories.

 

A more logistically friendly format, for the competitors, produced an exciting route for the 2024 edition. The racing will begin with a stage around La Punt, Engadin, before Stage 2 takes the teams from the Engadin Region to Davos which hosts the start and finish of two of the final stages, as well as the start of Stage 4 which finishes remotely in Graubünden’s administrative capital, Chur. In total the race takes in 341 kilometres, across five stages, with 11 450 metres of climbing and 12 600 metres of descending.

 

Namibian XCM Champion, Vera Looser is the only 2023 SPAR Swiss Epic champion returning to defend her title. The Efficient Infiniti Racing rider is an Absa Cape Epic winner too and lines up alongside South African XCM Champion Danielle Strydom this time out. “The SPAR Swiss Epic is one of my favourite mountain bike stage races,” Looser praised. “Living in Switzerland it feels like my home race. Winning it last year with Kim [le Court] was a huge privilege. But beyond attempting to defend the title it’s the panoramic views and the trails which bring me back to compete at my fifth SPAR Swiss Epic.”

 

“I believe the race will suit a rider like Danielle [Strydom] very well,” she continued. “There are lots of long climbs and technical descents. While chatting about the race and how to prepare I advised her to train in the mountains as much as possible. I have no concern though, despite it being her first European stage race. She will be ready; I believe it is a stepping stone for her into the international marathon racing scene.”

 

“Based on what I’ve read and seen I am expecting an amazingly beautiful as well as an amazingly hard race,” Strydom speculated. “No doubt those awesome views come with big, steep climbs though. That along with strong competition and an even stronger partner, I know that I am in for a proper suffer fest.”

 

“Along with the suffering, I’m also look forward to racing and experiencing the iconic race as it is a bucket-list event for many cyclists, including myself!” the 25-year-old added. “I feel very privileged and thankful that my team, Efficient Infiniti Insurance, have made it possible for me to be able to compete in the SPAR Swiss Epic, which is my first stage race outside of South Africa. I’m also very grateful to be able to do it with Vera [Looser], who is an awesome mentor on and off the bike. Not to mention that she’s an all-round lovely person, from whom I can always learn. I hope to bring a good result home for our team and will be racing my heart out every day.”

 

To stand atop the final SPAR Swiss Epic podium, the Efficient Infiniti Racing combination will have to see off the Cannondale ISB Sport team. Tessa Kortekaas and Mónica Calderón raced to victory at the Andorra Epic Pyrenees, in July, and are thus the form pairing heading to Switzerland. “The Andorra Epic Pyrenees has given us a lot of confidence for sure, both as an individual rider and as a team with Mónica [Calderón],” Kortekaas noted. “We both had a very good feeling every day and we understand each other better and better with each stage we race together. Sometimes it is not necessary to talk, and I think this team dynamic is something fundamental for good performance in the Epic Series.”

“Good results automatically come with more expectations and more pressure from outside, but for me personally the pressure and expectations I have for the SPAR Swiss Epic do not increase due to the results in the Andorra Epic,” the Spanish XCM Champion allowed. “I see it as a benefit, we are well prepared, with more experience together and ready to bring out our best version.”

 

Kortekaas and Calderón raced together for the first time at the 2023 SPAR Swiss Epic. A year on the Cannondale ISB Sport team is better placed to challenge for victory in Graubünden based on the experiences they have had since.  “We learned that work and preparation also must be as a team, thinking about both individuals within the squad,” Calderón explained. “Also, no matter how well we train, we know that adaptation to altitude is crucial for a good result at the SPAR Swiss Epic.”

 

This is particularly important as the race takes in summits of 2 500, 2 606, 2 352, and 2 321 metres above sea level on Stages 1, 2, 4, and 5 respectively. Only Stage 4 does not feature racing above 2 000 metres. This does not intimidate the Italian pairing of Costanza Fasolis and Chiara Burato. “I am very happy to return to Switzerland because the paths and routes are beautiful, as per Epic Series tradition!” Fasolis smiled. “I think Chiara [Burato] and I can have a good race, and we will fight until the end to try to get on the overall podium.”

 

The Mentecorpo Cicli Drigani team, Efficient Infiniti Racing and Cannondale ISB Sport will be joined in the UCI Women’s start chute by the Next Ride - Santa Cruz (Chrystelle Baumann and Sandra Stadelmann), Index Bell Racing (Sanchia Malan and Hayley Smith), Vision - Concordia Burggen (Daniela Höfler and Antonia Daubermann), Giordana - Bikearena Zermatt (Larissa Rossner and Diana Steffenhagen), HMTBK / S-Sportas (Gabriele Andrasiuniene and Nikoline Splittorff), Full Charlotte (Charlotte Welter and Charlotte Rigoni), Steed Machina (Nell Rose Steed and Nina Machnowski), and Liv Alba (Jane Barr and Melanie Alexander) teams.

 

Juanita Mackenzie, who became an Epic Legend in Andorra, will seek to add her fifth Epic Series finishers medal to her trophy cabinet when the race concludes in Davos on the 24th of August. The South African has already completed the Absa Cape Epic, 4Islands Epic, and Andorra Epic Pyrenees this year, and is likely to line up for FNB Wines2Whales too, come November. She starts in Switzerland alongside fellow South African, Jessica Wilkinson, for the Ciovita team.

 

The UCI Men’s race sees the 2019 and 2022 winner, Fabian Rabensteiner, looking to regain his SPAR Swiss Epic trophy. The Italian XCM Champion will be contesting the race alongside long-time Wilier Vittoria teammate Samuele Porro. “I really like this race with its amazing trails,” Rabensteiner said, when asked about what makes the event so suited to his strengths. “I am feeling like I’m at home when I race in Graubünden, and I think this gives me something extra. The terrain is quite like that of Northen Italy, so our Wilier bikes and Vittoria tyres will be dialled in for the SPAR Swiss Epic.”

 

“I'm excitedly awaiting five sunny days in the beautiful Alps!” Rabensteiner’s teammate Porro grinned. “I know the trails are amazing and I hope for good feelings on the bike. I don’t really care too much about the form of, or who our rivals will be – I’ll just be doing my best alongside Fabian [Rabensteiner].”

 

The Wilier Vittoria team will be arriving in Switzerland off the back of the European XCM Championships – on Saturday, 17 August – in Viborg, Denmark. As will a number of the other starters, including Simon Schneller. “My shape should be good for the SPAR Swiss Epic, after a nice build up for this racing block with German Champs, European Champs and the SPAR Swiss Epic separated all only by two weeks,” Schneller said. “I hope for better legs than I had in Andorra, where I was not on my best. Like always I expect a great competition over five days of hard alpine mountain biking.”

 

The Bulls Mavericks rider will race alongside French XCM Champion, Axel Roudil-Cortinat, in Switzerland forming the same team for the German bike brand as they fielded at the 4Islands Epic and the Andorra Epic Pyrenees. As in Croatia and Andorra they will have to contend with the Buff Megamo squad. As in Andorra and at the Absa Cape Epic in March the Spanish outfit will be ably represented by a Dutch rider and a Belgian.

 

“The SPAR Swiss Epic is a different kind of race. The climbers will have a big advantage,” Hans Becking, who hails from the Netherlands pointed out. “Both Wout [Alleman] and I live in a part where there are no mountains. But we did well in Andorra which gives us confidence to also do a good SPAR Swiss Epic too. I think if we put on our best smile every day and give everything, we have we will get a long way.”

 

“It’s a race where you know really quickly where you will finish because of the long climbs,” Becking said, revealing his SPAR Swiss Epic experience. “There is no place to hide, and the legs will do the talking. I hope both Wout and I will have strong legs for the climbs, but also, I hope we both find a good flow to get fast and smooth down the mountains too, which makes the suffering uphill worthwhile.”

 

Alongside the top three ranked combinations there are 38 additional UCI Men’s teams. The likely podium contenders from that group are the Klimatiza Toteemi Cabberty, Bixs Performance, and Torpado Kenda Factory teams. Roberto Bou Martín and Luis Martínez, Joel Roth and Timon Rüegg, as well as Jakob Dorigoni and Peeter Pruus could all challenge the Wilier Vittoria, Bulls Mavericks, and Buff Megamo pairings. The top ten places are likely to be contested by the KTM Alchemist Brenta Brakes, Klimatiza Toteemi Cabberty 2, Mondraker Walter MTB - KA BOOM Krapf, STOP&GO Marderabwehr, Cannondale ISB Sport, and Bixs Performance 2 teams.

 

Of those squads the Klimatiza Toteemi Cabberty 2 team, of Miguel Muñoz and Sebastián Gesche Antona, as well as the Bixs Performance 2 combination of Gian Schmid and Lukas Flückiger, could play vital roles. Muñoz and Gesche are evenly matched with their nominated first team of Bou and Martínez and could be vital in the battle for the podium places if they perform a supporting role. Flückiger, meanwhile, is a former two-time SPAR Swiss Epic winner and a legend of the sport. His presence in the Bixs Performance team set-up can only benefit the younger riders in the squad.

 

270 teams – including 53 UCI elite men’s and women’s teams – will start the 2024 race on Tuesday, 20 August. In total these 540 riders represent 41 nations, which showcases the global nature of not only mountain biking but also the international appeal of the Epic Series. To follow the action of the SPAR Swiss Epic as it unfolds on the trails of Graubünden mountains fans can like the SPAR Swiss Epic Facebook page or follow @swiss_epic on Instagram. The Live Broadcast could be followed in https://youtu.be/3UDUgwc1GHI and the Highlights from the race can also be viewed on the Epic Series YouTube Channel. To find out more visit www.epic-series.com/swissepic.