SWISS ENDURO CHAMPIONS CROWNED IN LAAX

With EWS points up for grabs and over 400 riders competing for the prestigious Swiss Enduro Championship, there was much to play for at the first round of the 2022 Swiss Enduro Series in Laax.

Good weather and premium vibes provided the perfect backdrop for the battle to be at the second Swiss Enduro Championships. On the rather flowy but very physical course, the participants were challenged on 4 long stages.

In the competitive lineup of the Elite Men category, experienced EWS athletes Patrick Lüthi and Gustav Wildhaber were considered favourites. At the last Swiss Championships in Lötschental, the two dueled in an intense battle with Lüthi coming out on top. In the women’s race, everyone was looking forward to the three-way battle between the local Gehrig twins and defending champion Lisa Baumann.

Race day arrived and the men’s elite opened the race. Gusti Wildhaber set a great time on Stage 1 and gave himself the lead over second-placed Basil Weber. But the local shredder and UCI Downhill World Cup racer took the win on Stage 2 demoting Gusti to 2nd place with a six second advantage. At this point defending champion, Patrick Lüthi, had fallen more than thirty seconds behind and would have to pull quite the performance out of the bag on the last two stages to stay in the running. So, it was lining up to be a duel between Gusti Wildhaber and Basil Weber. On Stage 3, the most technical stage of the day, Basil Weber pulled ahead, putting an additional twenty seconds between himself and second-placed Gusti Wildhaber. With Patrick Lüthi nowhere to be seen, Basil Weber headed into the last stage of the day with a twenty-five second lead and managed his advantage with confidence. He crowned himself Swiss Enduro Champion with an incredible twenty eight second lead and three stage wins.

In the women’s race, only four seconds split the top four riders after Stage 1. Caro Gehrig was fastest ahead of reigning champion Lisa Baumann, followed by Anita Gehrig and Ines Thoma of Germany. On Stage 2, Lisa Baumann took the lead with a stage win, establishing a small four advantage over Caro Gehrig. On the third stage in the famous Green Valley, Caro was able to regain the overall lead, creeping out in front by about three seconds. With Anita Gehrig and Ines Thoma struggling to fight back it came down to a battle between the top two riders. The Swiss championship was decided for the women on the last stage starting on Crap Sogn Gion. The longest and fastest stage of the day seemed to suit Lisa Baumann well and she ended up securing the Swiss championship title for the second time with a lead of over 5 seconds.
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Results Elite Men:

Basil Weber
Gustav Wildhaber
Tim Bratschi
Elite Women:

Lisa Baumann
Caro Gehrig
Anita Gehrig
Open Men

Armin Beeli
Nicolas Walker
Ronny Caduff
Open Women

Carina Cappellari
Isabelle Weber
Andrea Binkert
Hardtail

Michael Albisser
Roger Keller
Maximilian Lünert
Master Men

Nicola Rohrbach
Robert Portmann
Patrick Blatter
Master Women

Alba Wunderlin
Manuela Fecker
Daniela Michel
U21 Men

Enzo Joly
Samuel Schneider
1
3. Mathis Gantner

U21 Women

Nicole Göldi
Leila Walser
U17 Women

Pascale Häfliger
Mia Portmann
U17 Men

Tom Gäzi
Severin Zingg
Loris Schäpper
U15 Mixed

Brendon Rusterholz
Luc Häfliger
Levi Odermatt
The next race of the Swiss Enduro Series will take place in the Aletsch Arena on July 23 & 24, 2022.

Tue 14th Jun, 2022 @ 9:14 am

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