With the picturesque mountain resort of Villars-sur-Ollon in the Alpes Vaudoises hosting the Gran Fondo Suisse, riders could expect lots of climbing in this UCI Gran Fondo World Series event.
Participants in Saturday’s individual time trial had to climb no fewer than 795 meters over the course of 11.6 km. Italian Marco Pasquero was the fastest man to do so in 31:37.31. Maude Mathys (SUI) took gold in the women’s ITT with her 40:06.19 time.
Sunday’s race featured more climbing after a flat first part that started at the UCI headquarters. The challenging course scattered the field, so that many riders crossed the finish line alone. Jutta Stienen (SUI) was the first woman to beat the final 12 km climb to the finish, almost 4 minutes before silver medalist Alina Mylka (POL). 8 minutes later, Claudia Sutter (SUI) finished third to complete the podium.
In the men’s race, the battle for the podium spots was closer. Jeroen Vercammen (BEL) was the quickest up the final climb and beat runner-up Niki Hug (SUI) with 14 seconds. Still half a minute later, Damien Jeanjean (FRA) took the bronze medal.
