September 14, 2018 (Zermatt, Switzerland) – Canada’s Catharine Pendrel and Haley Smith extended their overall lead following a solid 13+min margin on Stage 4 from Grächen to Zermatt, 63km. The duo regrouped after finishing second on Stage 3 in Grächen, 71km.
Stage 3
Wednesday’s stage saw the leaders’ jerseys change shoulders in the Men’s and Women’s categories after a hard 77km with 2700m of climbing. Bad luck struck overall leaders BMC Fischer Price with mechanicals costing them over 46 minutes. The leaders’ jerseys went to Scott-SRAM’s Frischknecht and Stirnemann.
In the women’s, Team Canada’s high tempo on the final climb put Thömus RN on the back foot, gaining Pendrel and Smith valuable time and also a significant psychological advantage over Keller and Stirnemann.
The scene was set for the queen stage of the 2018 race. Host to the XCM UCI World Championships in 2019, Grächen’s surrounding trails pose the ultimate test of any mountain biker, showing the highest ratio of climbing of all five stages, with the panoramic views of Moosalp as the perfect antidote. Correct pacing was to be crucial after Kalpetran, with a final sting in the tail.
Team USA Red timed their efforts perfectly, with Christopher Blevins and Keegan Swenson ramping up the power, distancing Andri Frischknecht and Matthias Stirnemann on the final slopes approaching the race village in Grächen. Even though Scott-SRAM regained contact, they had nothing left for the sprint finish, leaving the young Americans to soak up the glory.
The order of events of Stage 3 looked likely to follow the same story as yesterday’s – for most of the stage, the front of the race saw Team USA Red and Scott-SRAM on their own up the road, with Team BiXS chasing on after another flat. But there was to be no fairytale ending for Looser and Stauffer. They were unable to close the gap after puncturing early on, perhaps paying for yesterday’s efforts.
After losing the rest of the field on the first big climb, Scott-SRAM and Team USA Red cooperated well. The multitalented Blevins is well versed in tactics, having already carved out a strong career path on the road. He was well aware that these efforts invested would stand them well on GC, come the end of the week.
Armed with the confidence gained from his silver medal at the under 23 UCI World Championships, he knew he had the right stuff to take on Frischknecht and Stirnemann – two-time stage winner and overall victor respectively at the Absa Cape Epic. “Keegan and I kept it steady on the climb – it’s a different kind of effort from cross country,” said the 20 year old. Team USA Red’s superb performance moved them up to third on GC, displacing Team Buff Scott, with took a distant third, well over 10 minutes back.
Scott-SRAM may hold the coveted leaders’ jerseys, but Andri Frischknecht and Matthias Stirnemann are still hunting for an elusive stage win. They’ll hope to make amends on stage 4.
Like in the men’s, the women’s field turned out another new stage winner. After a low-key start to the week, due to Barbara Benko’s illness and Anne Terpstra still on the recovery curve from complications of her ankle injury, Ghost Factory Racing crossed the line jubilant after some masterful teamwork in navigating the queen stage of the 2018 Perskindol Swiss Epic. Benko said, “Anne was going so hard on the climbs I had to tell to go a little slower because it was a log way up, and then she had to stop me from going crazy on the descents in case we had a crash or a flat.”
An early puncture put pressure on overall race leaders Catharine Pendrel and Haley Smith of Team Canada, who took care not to panic and managed their energy sensibly over the long climb. After an hour and a half, they managed to catch Thömus RN’s Keller and Stirnemann, who’d also flatted, but with Ghost Factory Racing still up the road, there was still some work to do.
Leaving Thömus RN trailing over a minute behind in their wake, Team Canada made the catch. But on the finale, Terpstra stretched her legs, taking Benko along, gapping Catharine Pendrel and Smith. By the finish, Ghost Factory Racing had a 1 minute 47 second advantage. Losing a chunk of time in the last few kilometres, Stirnemann’s energy levels dimmed, along with Thömus RN’s hope of an overall GC win.
For the other categories, it was business as usual. Masters Dani Schnider and Oliver Imfeld added another five and a half minutes to their GC advantage. Finishing at the same time as the masters winners, Bärti Bucher and Hansjürg Gerber had a super day out in the grandmasters category. Also looking set for the overall win in the Mixed category, Florence Darbellay and Jérémy Huguenin took stage 3 by 14 minutes.
Tomorrow’s 61 beautiful kilometers transition the race towards its final destination – the mighty Matterhorn. Another action-packed day includes the coveted Europaweg and Sunegga-Flowtrail – guaranteed to deliver maximum fun! The popular ski resort of Zermatt is ready to give the riders a warm welcome after another hard yet highly rewarding day out.
Stage 4
Frischknecht and Stirnemann finally get their stage win, while Pendrel and Smith repeat their victory on Stage 2. Their dominant performances mean they extend their leads on general classification.
With rains falling overnight, riders welcomed the cooler temperatures on Stage 4, especially with the long climb between Täsch and Sunegga to come. 61 beautiful kilometres transitioned the race towards its final destination – the mighty Matterhorn – navigating the coveted trails of Europaweg and Sunegga-Flowtrail.
Into the penultimate stage of the 2018 Perskindol Swiss Epic, there is still everything to play for in the overall GC in both the Men’s and Women’s categories, with spots on the podium at Europe’s premier mountain bike stage race up for grabs. Stage 3 saw the overall GC leaders consolidate their advantages, and also the rise of new teams that had a slower start to their 2018 campaign.
The women’s three podium places on GC are all but decided with Team Canada, Team Thömus RN and Ghost Factory Racing in contention, all within 19 minutes. The final two days would decide the order.
Day four of the race saw yet another winner in the men’s category, Scott-SRAM finally took the win they’d been fighting for, coming so close on stage 3. They edged out Team USA Red in a two-up sprint. In the women’s, it was Team Canada race, all the way, taking their second stage win.
The men’s race took shape in the first third of the stage on the slopes approaching Täsch. On the main climb of the day, a lead group of four emerged: Scott-SRAM’s Stirnemann and Frischknecht, Team BiXS’s Hansueli Stauffer and Konny Looser, Team USA Red’s Christopher Blevins and Swenson and jb Brunex Felt’s Litscher and Foidl. BMC Fischer Price, Scott development MTB Team and Buff Scott found themselves on the back foot, chasing hard.
Stauffer and Looser tried to make their move after the Sunegga-Flowtrail but were neutralised by the strong efforts of Scott-SRAM and Team USA Red. The white-hot pace eventually took its toll after the 50km mark at Unner Stafel – with 10km to go it was down to Scott-SRAM and Team USA Red. “We tried every day and yesterday was so close. I made an attack to open up a gap on the last downhill. Andri ‘played dead’ which forced the American guys to chase, then he attacked and l could go with.”
In the Women’s category, the sequence of events was more straightforward. Proving that they are indeed the dominant team of the race, Team Canada stamped their authority on the 64km course with Pendrel and Smith pushing the pace approaching the first service station, opening a gap.
Pendrel, the two-time world champion and Olympic medallist and Smith, herself a Commonwealth Games medallist ride for different trade teams on the UCI World Cup circuit and paired up specially for the race. Untested partnerships are often at risk in mountain bike stage racing when the pressure is on. However the two are firm friends and show no lack of camaraderie.
An ailing Stirnemann no doubt dulling Thömus RN’s efforts today, they were no match for the power of Pendrel and Smith, who were building on their advantage each kilometre. “We’re excited to make it here to Zermatt. Today was really challenging today, but we loved these trails,” said Pendrel, referring to the bike park, part of the route approaching the Alpine holiday resort town. With their stellar performance today, Team Canada more than doubled their GC advantage to over 24 minutes.
Coming off the high of victory on Stage 3, Ghost Factory Racing had a low-key day out, coming in third – perhaps saving their efforts for another shot at the win on the prestigious Grand Finale stage tomorrow.
Tomorrow’s stage is packed with highlights, visiting the Leisee at 2232m, the Stellisee at 2537m and finally the Fluhalp at 2606m with a 360° view of no less than 38 mountain peaks – a semi-compulsory photostop! Flowing through Jojo and Moostrail, riders look forward to a hero’s welcome and the legendary Finisher’s party in Zermatt where they’ll share a delicious dinner, tasty wine and stories of an unforgettable week in the Swiss Alps.
Results (brief)
Stage 3 – Grächen to Grächen – 71km
Women
1. GHOST FACTORY RACING (Barbara BENKO/Anne TERPSTRA) 4:26.45
2. Team Canada (Haley SMITH/Catharine PENDREL) 1:47
3. Thömus / RN Racing Team (Kathrin STIRNEMANN/Alessandra KELLER) 10:23
Men
1. Team USA Red (Christopher BLEVINS/Keegan SWENSON) 3:28.43
2. Scott-SRAM MTB Racing (Matthias STIRNEMANN/Andri FRISCHKNECHT) 0:03
3. BUFF SCOTT MTB TEAM 3-1 Francesc GUERRA (Spain) 3-2 Enrique MORCILLO (Spain) 0:10
9. Forward Racing-Norco (Andrew L’Esperance/Sean Fincham) 20:06
Stage 4 – Grächen to Zermatt – 63km
Women
1. Team Canada (Haley SMITH/Catharine PENDREL) 4:21:19
2. Thömus / RN Racing Team (Kathrin STIRNEMANN/Alessandra KELLER) 13:12
3. GHOST FACTORY RACING (Barbara BENKO/Anne TERPSTRA) 18:11
Men
1. Scott-SRAM MTB Racing (Matthias STIRNEMANN/Andri FRISCHKNECHT) 3:29:13
2. Team USA Red (Christopher BLEVINS/Keegan SWENSON) 0:01
3. BiXS Pro Team (Hansueli STAUFFER/Konny LOOSER) 3:00
7. Forward Racing-Norco (Andrew L’Esperance/Sean Fincham) 9:22
GC after Stage 4
Women
1. Team Canada (Haley SMITH/Catharine PENDREL) 17:29:59
2. Thömus / RN Racing Team (Kathrin STIRNEMANN/Alessandra KELLER) 24:06
3. GHOST FACTORY RACING (Barbara BENKO/Anne TERPSTRA) 36:42
Men
1. Scott-SRAM MTB Racing (Matthias STIRNEMANN/Andri FRISCHKNECHT) 14:07:09
2. BiXS Pro Team (Hansueli STAUFFER/Konny LOOSER) 15:07|
3. Team USA Red (Christopher BLEVINS/Keegan SWENSON) 20:19