Swiss Epic

Swiss Epic
Race details
DateAugust–September
RegionCanton of Grisons, Switzerland
DisciplineMountain bike racing
CompetitionEpic Series
TypeStage race
OrganiserSwiss Epic AG
Web siteswiss-epic.com Edit this at Wikidata
History
First edition2014
Editions6
First winnerSee Winners
Most wins
5 times (Masters)
Most recentSee Winners

The Swiss Epic is an annual mountain bike stage race held in the Canton of Grisons, Switzerland. It has been accredited as hors catégorie (beyond categorisation) by the Union Cycliste Internationale. It is part of the global Epic Series and was once inspired by the pinnacle event of it, the Cape Epic.

Alongside the Cape Epic and The Pioneer in New Zealand, the Swiss Epic is considered a Legend Race. Legend races are the top category of the global Epic Series, and any rider resolute enough to complete three Epic Series races, including the pinnacle event, the Absa Cape Epic, gets awarded with Epic Legend status. This status is immortalised in the form of an Epic Legend medal.

History

The Swiss Epic was founded in 2014. Joko Vogel, Dany Gehrig, and Thomas Frischknecht had the idea of a multi-day stage race in Switzerland whereby the Cape Epic in South Africa has been used a model.

In 2014, two months after the first edition, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) granted the hors catégorie.[1]

In 2018, the parliament of the Canton of Grisons signed a five-year contract with the Swiss Epic that they spend 300.000 CHF each year.[2] Therefore, the race was relocated from the Canton of Valais to the Canton of Grisons. The Swiss Epic is considered the European equivalent of the Cape Epic.[3]

Editions

Year Date Start Finish Altitude (m) Distance (km) Teams
2014 15. – 20. September Verbier Zermatt 15.000 400 101 [4]
2015 14. – 19. September Verbier Zermatt 15.000 400 133 [5]
2016 12. – 17. September Zermatt Verbier 12.500 360 119 [6]
2017 11. – 16. September Grächen Zermatt 12.000 350 82 [7]
2018 11. – 15. September Bettmeralp Zermatt 12.550 331 168 [8]
2019 20. – 24. August Davos Davos 12.000 350 287 [9]
2020 18. – 22. August Laax Davos 12.250 320 207
2021 17. – 21. August St. Moritz Davos 12.000 350 400

Winners

Mixed winners

Year Team Winners Time Teams
2014 BiXS – Wheeler  Bärti Bucher (CHE)
 Milena Landtwing (CHE)		 24:19:15,8 26 [10]
2015 Giant Team Obwalden  Hans Flück (CHE)
 Anita Bucher (CHE)		 28:52:44,2 20 [11]
2016 R'ADYS SCOTT  Adrian Ruhstaller (CHE)
 Cornelia Hug (CHE)		 21:47:04,0 15 [12]
2017 CrazyVeloShop SCOTT /
TG-Hütten		  Bendicht Küpfer (CHE)
 Viviane Spielmann (CHE)		 25:55:11,0 7 [13]
2018 Fitness Maréchal  Florence Darbellay (CHE)
 Jérémy Huguenin (CHE)		 22:06:37,1 15 [14]
2019 Team VeloCity  Anders Seim (NOR)
 Synne Steinsland (NOR)		 21:30:39,6 29
2020 Velosolutions #pumpforpeace  Cherie Redecker (ZAF)
 Tumelo Makae (LSO)		 20:27:11 20

References

  1. ^ "Medienmappe" (PDF). Cape Epic (in German). 11 August 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 December 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
  2. ^ "1,5 Millionen für "einzigartige Mountainbike-Veranstaltung"" [1,5 million for a "unique mountain bike event"]. Die Südostschweiz (in German). 23 August 2018. Archived from the original on 20 March 2019. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
  3. ^ "Garantiert weitere Gäste in Graubünden" [Guaranteed more guests in Grisons]. Die Südostschweiz (in German). 21 August 2018. Archived from the original on 20 March 2019. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
  4. ^ "Perskindol Swiss Epic". Swiss Epic. 14 October 2013. Archived from the original on 28 April 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
  5. ^ "PERSKINDOL SWISS EPIC 2015 in Kürze" (PDF). Swiss Epic (in German). March 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 December 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
  6. ^ "PORTRAIT". Swiss Epic. Archived from the original on 3 October 2016. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
  7. ^ "PORTRAIT". Swiss Epic. Archived from the original on 3 November 2016. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
  8. ^ "2018 Route". Swiss Epic. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
  9. ^ "The Route". Swiss Epic. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
  10. ^ a b c d "Gesamtwertung – Ergebnisse". Datasport. Archived from the original on 21 March 2019. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  11. ^ a b c d "Perskindol Swiss Epic 2015". Datasport. Archived from the original on 21 March 2019. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  12. ^ a b c d "3. PERSKINDOL SWISS EPIC". race|result. 8 January 2019. Archived from the original on 21 March 2019. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  13. ^ a b c d "4. SWISS EPIC". race|result. Archived from the original on 21 March 2019. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
  14. ^ a b c d e "Swiss Epic Race Results". Epic Series. Retrieved 2 November 2019.