Cycling: The Snow Epic premiered yesterday. The Snow Epic is the first mountain bike winter festival in Europe. A 5-race, 3-day fat bike event taking place in idyllic Engelberg in the Swiss Alps. Each race has its own character, with routes running on groomed trails and ski slopes.
Just in time for the first stage, the weather got better and the sun came out. But despite the good weather, the conditions for the 122 drivers were not exactly easy. The icy track conditions made things difficult for the riders, so that some could no longer control their fat bikes and there were a few falls.
Esther Süss (SUI) won the women's race ahead of her compatriot Alba Wunderlin and Amber Stull (USA) with a time of 1:16.50. The Spaniard Toni Misser was unbeatable among the men.
He won in 1:05.29, ahead of former Olympic champion Bart Brentjens and reigning Masters cross-country world champion Rune Hoydahl.
Today, Friday, the athletes continue with the ascent to the Brunnihütte, after a short break the subsequent downhill ride back to Engelberg follows.