The final stage of the 2024 SPAR Swiss Epic – on Saturday, 24 August – brought a spectacular week of mountain biking along the scintillating trails of Graubünden to a close. UCI Women’s category leaders, CANNONDALE ISB SPORT, completed their clean sweep of stage victories to secure their second Epic Series title, of the season, by a dominant margin. BIXS Performance 2 backed up their barnstorming Stage 4 ride to secure the UCI Men’s general classification crown. 

Stage 5 featured a 62 kilometre long course with three major climbs and 2 450 metres of accumulated ascending around Davos. The action began with a climb to the Höhenweg, at 2 321 metres above sea level, before a descent of the world-famous Panorama Trail and race down the Gotschnaboden Trail led teams towards the Alps Path climb and on to the final significant challenge of the event, the Clavadeler Alp. The Ischalp and Bolgen Trails all but completed the 2024 SPAR Swiss Epic experience and brought the race to a fitting, singletrack, conclusion.

Five days earlier the eleventh edition of the race had got underway in La Punt. The opening stage – on Tuesday, 20 August – came down to a dramatic sprint finish in the UCI Men’s race. KTM Alchemist Brenta Brakes edged out Engadin La Punt in the final corner, but Lorenzo and Nicolas Samparisi’s victory was only ratified after an investigation by the UCI Commissaire. Stage 2 provided a second sprint finish when Wilier Vittoria went to the line with the men in the yellow CIOVITA jerseys. This time Fabian Rabensteiner and Samuele Porro outmanoeuvred their Italian countrymen to seize the headlines. The following day KTM Alchemist Brenta Brakes stamped their authority on the competition with a stage win, while behind them Mondraker Walter MTB - KA BOOM Krapf’s consistency over the first three days positioned them as the Samparisi brothers’ nearest rivals. This changed, significantly, on Stage 4. BIXS Performance 2 had started the penultimate day in third overall, 2 minutes and 32 seconds off first, but stormed to stage victory and into the overall lead as KTM Alchemist Brenta Brakes faltered. Heading into the final stage Gian Schmid and Lukas Flückiger held a 60 second advantage over Ursin Spescha and Simon Walter, with the erstwhile leaders at 4:52. 

This set up a Stage 5 showdown, with the Samparisis eager to reclaim yellow. Initially Schmid and Flückiger opted for attack as the best form of defence and flew down the Panorama and Gotschnaboden Trails to establish a 20 second advantage. KTM Alchemist Brenta Brakes dragged a chase group back to the men in yellow and then went on the offensive themselves. This split the group until only the BIXS Performance 2 and their support team, of Joel Roth and Timon Rüegg could follow the Samparisi brothers. 

On the final significant climb of the race, up the Clavadeler Alp, the KTM Alchemist Brenta Brakes launched a last attack. They rapidly gained a 20 second lead, but could not extend it much beyond 30 seconds, especially with four riders working in unison behind whenever the course allowed. This meant that while the Samparisis were able to win the final stage they were unable to race their way back into yellow and had to be content with their third stage victory of the event and a move up to second overall. 

“Today the legs were good,” Nicolas Samparisi smiled. “When we take the first climb – push, push, push! In the first part of the race, we take a gap and we push, but we couldn’t get away completely. Then in the last climb we made a gap and push for the stage win. Today Lorenzo was impressive and pushed very hard. When it came to the climbs, he was very impressive today.”

Once the BIXS Performance teams reached the bike path in Davos and the last kilometre they eased up slightly to let their general classification victory sink in. Crossing the final finish line Schmid and Flückiger sat up to let Roth and Rüegg cross the line in second. This gave the squad second and third on the day, as well as first and fifth overall.

“It’s great, this is the best one,” Flückiger grinned, when asked about how the 2024 victory compares to his 2016 and 2021 SPAR Swiss Epic titles. “Four years ago, I thought the it was the last win of my career but now here we are again…”

“It’s so sweet, I don’t know what to say,” his teammate Schmid gushed. “The team was very strong,” Flückiger said, stepping in. “They [Roth and Rüegg] had problems on Stage 1, but they were very strong and helped us a lot yesterday and today. I’ve dreamed my whole career of a team like this…” 

BIXS Performance 2 were joined on the final general classification podium by KTM Alchemist Brenta Brakes. Mondraker Walter MTB - KA BOOM Krapf were third. Spescha had endured a challenging Stage 5 and was unable to match Walter’s speed to maintain the second position they had started the day with. Their 13 minute buffer to Klimatiza Toteemi Cabberty 2 meant that Miguel Munoz and Sebastian Gesche were unable to usurp Mondraker Walter MTB - KA BOOM Krapf on the overall podium however. 

In the UCI Women’s race Monica Calderon and Tessa Kortekaas got their SPAR Swiss Epic campaign off to a perfect start on the opening two days. The long ascents of the Swiss Apls clearly suited the Colombian and her Dutch teammate best and the CANNONDALE ISB SPORT women put over 4 minutes into their nearest rivals on both Stage 1 and 2. On Stage 3 Calderon survived a potentially damaging crash with just a cut to her right knee, which bled theatrically but did not affect her performance or the team’s ability to win the stage. It was then Kortekaas’s turn to crash on Stage 4. Once again, the result remained the same as she crossed the line muddy, unhurt and victorious. The excitement for Stage 5 was thus to see if the women in the orange CIOVITA jerseys would be able to secure a clean sweep of stage victories en route to adding to the Andorra Epic Pyrenees title they won in the Epic Series earlier in the summer. 

Calderon and Kortekaas took a slightly less aggressive approach to the final stage, in comparison to their four previous efforts. With the leaders climbing more conservatively Veral Looser and Danielle Strydom remained in contact with the CANNONDALE ISB SPORT pair until the half way mark of the stage. Then the women in orange upped the tempo and created a buffer to ease any potential last day nerves by utilising their superior climbing prowess. Once out of sight of the Efficient Infiniti team they were able to comprehensively win the last stage too. 

“It was incredible. Honestly, I felt great throughout,” Kortekaas confessed. “I didn’t expect to feel that comfortable. I’m really, really, happy with that. I didn’t have any problems with the altitude, which surprised me. I noticed it a bit on the first day in my heart rate but otherwise I was fine.”

“Monica suffered a bit on the first climb and to get into her rhythm today, but she just kept pushing and pushing,” the CANNONDALE ISB SPORT rider praised. “I hope I’ll be back with her next year to try to defend this title. But first we’ll enjoy the champagne!” 

Calderon and Kortekaas’s final margin of victory was 24 minutes and 37 seconds over Looser and Strydom. The Namibian/South African pairing were themselves 25 minutes ahead of MenteCorpo Cicli Drigani in third. Costanza Fasolis and Chiara Burato secured four third place finishes during the race; only missing out on a podium once, when 1Vision - Concordia Burggen’s Daniela Höfler and Antonia Daubermann snatched a podium on Stage 2. 

To relive the highs of the 2024 SPAR Swiss Epic mountain bike fans can tune in to the Epic Series YouTube Channel to recap on the daily highlights and set a reminder for the official post-race mini-documentary. Further action from the trails of Graubünden can be will be found on the SPAR Swiss Epic Facebook page and @swiss_epic on Instagram. To find out more and to sign up for the newsletter, which will provide regular updates on the 2025 race, visit www.epic-series.com/swissepic. 

2024 SPAR Swiss Epic Results:

UCI Men | Stage 5:

1. KTM Alchemist Brenta Brakes: Lorenzo & Nicolas Samparisi (3:07:57)
2. BIXS Performance 1: Joel Roth & Timon Rüegg (3:09:05 | +1:08)
3. BIXS Performance 2: Gian Schmid & Lukas Flückiger (3:09:06 | +1:09)
4. Klimatiza Toteemi Cabberty 2: Miguel Munoz & Sebastian Gesche (3:11:42 | +3:45)
5. Scott Davos MTB Project: Gian Bütikofer & Sven Gerig (3:18:02 | +10:05)

UCI Women | Stage 5: 

1. CANNONDALE ISB SPORT: Monica Calderon & Tessa Kortekaas (4:03:49)
2. Efficient Infiniti: Vera Looser & Danielle Strydom (4:07:57 | +4:08)
3. MenteCorpo Cicli Drigani: Costanza Fasolis & Chiara Burato (4:10:24 | +6:35)

4. 1Vision - Concordia Burggen: Daniela Höfler & Antonia Daubermann (4:19:57 | +16:08)

5. Next Ride - Santa Cruz: Chrystelle Baumann & Sandra Stadelmann (4:42:31| +38:42)

UCI Men’s General Classification after Stage 5:

1. BIXS Performance 2: Gian Schmid & Lukas Flückiger (16:12:22)
2. KTM Alchemist Brenta Brakes: Lorenzo & Nicolas Samparisi (16:16:05 | +3:43)
3. Mondraker Walter MTB - KA BOOM Krapf: Ursin Spescha & Simon Walter (16:26:45 | +14:23)
4. Klimatiza Toteemi Cabberty 2: Miguel Munoz & Sebastian Gesche (16:29:03 | +16:41)
5. BIXS Performance 1: Joel Roth & Timon Rüegg (16:52:13 | +39:51)

UCI Women’s General Classification after Stage 5:

1. CANNONDALE ISB SPORT: Monica Calderon & Tessa Kortekaas (20:31:14)
2. Efficient Infiniti: Vera Looser & Danielle Strydom (20:55:51 | +24:37)
3. MenteCorpo Cicli Drigani: Costanza Fasolis & Chiara Burato (21:21:12 | +49:58)
4. 1Vision - Concordia Burggen: Daniela Höfler & Antonia Daubermann (21:52:17 | +1:21:03)
5. Next Ride - Santa Cruz: Chrystelle Baumann & Sandra Stadelmann (23:21:23 | +2:50:09)

For the full results from the 2024 SPAR Swiss Epic click here.