MTB News: The Snow Bike Festival takes place every year in the heart of the Swiss Alps. This year, too, the 4-day mountain bike stage race in Gstaad attracted hundreds of professionals and hobby cyclists to the start. 130 kilometers of snow-covered trails with almost 4.000 meters of altitude to climb awaited the riders. Nadine Rieder took the overall victory in the women's category and the Swiss Ramon Lauener in the men's category.
From January 24th to 27th, Gstaad in the Swiss Alps again mutated into the epicenter of mountain biking. Hundreds of riders embarked on a special kind of mountain bike adventure over the four days. The very first UCI-compliant race on snow awaited the participants with 130 kilometers of snow-covered trails, with almost 4.000 meters of altitude difference to be overcome. Both professionals and amateur athletes were allowed to start in their own categories. Normal mountain bikes, plus bikes and fat bikes were allowed. Even changing the bikes between the individual stages was allowed. A tactical element that undoubtedly creates excitement.
In the UCI men, Ramon Lauener dominated the entire event. With a lead of three minutes, the Swiss was able to take the overall victory at the Snow Bike Festival 2019 ahead of second-placed Raphael Gagné from Canada. Germany's David List finished third, 3:28 minutes behind. In the women's category, the German fans were even able to celebrate an overall victory. In the end, Nadine Rieder won despite a bad start in the prologue. Although Elisabeth Osl from Austria was able to defend the leader's jersey throughout the event, it was taken from her on the final stage. Paula Gorycka from Poland finished third.