Press

World champion finale in Huttwil

In Huttwil, Upper Aargau, the first season of the ÖKK BIKE REVOLUTION came to a wet but worthy end. With Nino Schurter (Elite Men), Pauline Ferrand Prevot (Elite Women), Simone Avondetto (U23 men) and Monique Halter (juniors women), four reigning world champions were at the start in Huttwil. The day's victory went to Pauline Ferrand Prevot (France) and Lars Forster from Eastern Switzerland.

While the sun was still shining during the set-up of the "Bike Village Huttwil", the weekend was marked by rain and mud. The attractive course thus demanded a little more from the participants. Nevertheless, over 700 mountain bikers were at the start in Huttwil. They were divided into the categories licensed, children and amateur sport. Thus, the race in Huttwil catapulted into the top 3 of the cross country races in Switzerland right at its premiere.

In the elite women's race, the world champion from France demonstrated all her class. Already in the first lap she left the overall World Cup winner Alessandra Keller (Nidwalden) behind her and celebrated an unchallenged start-finish victory. The Swiss riders Alessandra Keller and Sina Frei followed in second and third place.

In the elite men's race, the team of mountain bike legend Thomas Frischknecht celebrated an impressive triple success. First it was World Champion Nino Schurter who set the pace and pulled the peloton back. Behind him, however, Lars Forster came on stronger and stronger and was able to take the lead in the second of five laps and maintain it until the finish. Behind the second-placed Schurter, Andri Frischknecht was able to climb onto the podium in third place.

In Huttwil the decisions in the overall ranking of the ÖKK BIKE REVOLUTION were made. There were no big surprises. The leaders were able to defend their leads. And so the names Alessandra Keller and Titouan Carod (France) are forever fixed as the first winners of this new Swiss mountain bike series.

The third race of the ÖKK BIKE REVOLUTION was also a success. Despite bad weather, the organisers counted over 5,000 spectators.

In 2023, the series will continue with five races. The dates are fixed (26.03., 30.04., 28.05., 09.07. and 03.09.). However, they still have to be confirmed by the UCI in the next few weeks.

Ranking Elite Men

1st Lars Forster, SUI, 1:08.23

2nd Nino Schurter, SUI, + 0.38

3rd Andri Frischknecht, SUI, + 1.16

4th Marcel Guerrini, SUI, + 1.57

5th Vital Albin, SUI, + 3.44

Ranking Elite Women

1st Pauline Ferrand Prevot, FRA, 1:04.04

2nd Alessandra Keller, SUI, + 2.51

3rd Sina Frei, SUI, + 4.09

4th Laura Stigger, AUT, + 5.49

5th Noelle Buri, SUI, + 6.12

Overall ranking Elite Men

1st Titouan Carod, FRA, 485

2nd Vital Albin, SUI, 410

3rd Lars Forster, SUI, 370

Overall ranking Elite Women

1st Alessandra Keller, SUI, 600

2nd Anne Terpstra, NED, 530

3rd Sina Frei, SUI, 460

All rankings (all categories, incl. overall ranking) can be found at

https://velocorner.ch/de/oekkbikerevolution/.

Elite Races

Jordan Sarrou wins City Race in Chur

At the second round of the ÖKK BIKE REVOLUTION in the Alpine town of Chur, Frenchman Jordan Sarrou (World Champion 2020) won narrowly ahead of his compatriot Titouan Carod. Local hero Nino Schurter had to settle for fourth place. In the women's race, Alessandra Keller from Nidwalden celebrated a start-finish victory.

It was the promised duel between Switzerland and France. And it was exciting until the last lap. In the City Race in Chur, the race started in the old town of Chur, it was very tactical. And so a leading group of five riders formed, including the two Graubünden riders Vital Albin and Nino Schurter as well as Thomas Litscher and the Frenchmen Jordan Sarrou and Titouan Carod.

Together they went into the last lap. There, Sarrou, the mountain bike world champion of 2020, attacked on the last climb and was thus able to enter the last downhill as the leader. From this position he defended the first place until the finish. He beat Carod and Litscher in the sprint. The two Graubünden riders finished in fourth and fifth place. To great cheers from the many fans on the side of the course.

Nino Schurter from Chur therefore beamed into all the cameras at the finish line despite his fourth place and handed out many autographs. "For me, fourth place is like a victory. It was a lot of fun today and I really enjoyed the super atmosphere on the side of the track!". The mountain bike world champion is one of the initiators of the ÖKK BIKE REVOLUTION and worked on the course design in Chur.

In the elite women's race, Alessandra Keller from Nidwald made a comeback at the top of the world with a victory. Keller had already indicated her good form with eighth place at the World Cup in Brazil. In Chur, she showed no mercy to her opponents and celebrated a start-finish victory. Towards the middle of the race, Anne Terpstra from the Netherlands was able to reduce her lead a little. But then she stopped the chase herself with a fall. In the end, she came in second. And Sina Frei, bronze medallist at the last Olympic Games, came in third.

The city race in Chur went down well with the audience. "The proximity to the audience is automatically higher in the city, of course. There is definitely room for such a race in a full race calendar. We are happy about the good atmosphere on the course. It was fun," Ralph Näf, co-initiator of the series, was quoted as saying.

In addition to the professional races on Saturday, almost 700 children and amateur athletes were at the start in Chur. Over 11,000 visitors were on site during the entire event weekend. As at the start in Rivera, the tours, which focused on enjoyment and experience, were very well received.

The third round of the ÖKK BIKE REVOLUTION will take place on 24 and 25 September in Huttwil.

Elite Races

HOME VICTORY FOR FILIPPO COLOMBO AT ÖKK BIKE REVOLUTION PREMIERE

The premiere of the new Swiss mountainbike series ÖKK BIKE REVOLUTION took place in Ticino in wonderful spring weather and gave the home crowd, which had flocked to Rivera in droves, the longed-for home victory of Filippo Colombo. On his home course and in the race organised by his Velo Club Monte Tamaro, the Ticino native was able to relegate Frenchman Titouan Carod and world number 1 Mathias Flückiger to the other ranks.

Jubilant and accompanied by a deafening noise from the numerous fans, Filippo Colombo from Ticino celebrated a big victory at the premiere of the ÖKK BIKE REVOLUTION. But before Colombo was allowed to enjoy the bath in the crowd and hand out autographs to the kids, he had to prevail in a tough fight against the Frenchman Titouan Carod and the world number 1, Mathias Flückiger from Bern. The track in Rivera is considered one of the most spectacular tracks in Switzerland. The many dust (the last time it rained in Rivera was in December) offered almost diabolical pictures. Colombo was in the top group from the beginning. There, in lap 4 of 7, Mathias Flückiger from Bern took the lead after a first chase. But Colombo counterattacked already one lap later and attacked immediately - and got away decisively. Behind him, the Frenchman Carod and Flückiger fought for second place, with the better end for Carod.

Loana Lecomte dominates in Rivera

The elite women's race saw a high-profile battle between World Champion Evie Richard (GBR), overall World Cup winner Loana Lecomte, Olympic Siber medallist Sina Frei, Olympic bronze medallist Linda Indergand, runner-up Anne Terpstra (NED) and 2018 U23 World Champion Alessandra Keller. The young Frenchwoman Loana Lecomte quickly put her stamp on the race and took an ultimately unchallenged start-finish victory. Behind the dominating Frenchwoman, the Dutchwoman Anne Terpstra, the current vice world champion, was able to beat the Swiss Linda Indergand.

Successful start for Velo Gusto

Besides top-class sport, the ÖKK BIKE REVOLUTION also focuses on popular sport. Here, the focus is on races for children and the cycling experience for hobby bikers. Especially this adventure tour, the "Velo Gusto Tours", was very well received. Here, mountain biking is combined with enjoyment. In addition to a beautiful route with many flowing single trails, there were refreshment posts in Rivera with coffee, risotto, barley soup, chocolate and even a glass of wine at the end. The feedback from the participants was very good. A new format has been successfully launched. A total of 10,000 spectators followed the races of over 850 bikers in Rivera.

The ÖKK BIKE REVOLUTION continues on 22-24 April in Chur. At the home race of mountain bike world champion and co-initiator Nino Schurter, participants can expect a spectacular city race. The start and finish area is in the old town of Chur.

Impressions