Looser conquers the Alps

Vera Looser underlined her status as one of the world’s top MTB marathon riders when she won the Spar Swiss Epic on Sunday.

Riding for the Efficient Infiniti SCB SRAM team, Looser and her American partner, Alexis Skarda, dominated from the start to win the five-stage marathon over a total of 307km and climbs of up to 10 000m in 15 hours 49 minutes 27 seconds.

Rosa van Doorn of The Netherlands and Janina Würst of Switzerland trailed more than 13 minutes behind in second place, while Alessia Nay of Switzerland and Kim Ames of Germany came third.

It was the second time that Looser had won the Swiss Epic, and she says it was a great feeling.

“It’s super cool to win this race again. Two years ago I won it with Kimberly Le Court, but this time it’s very special because I finished all the other epic series races in second place this year, while I also came second at the Swiss Epic last year,” she says.

Earlier this year, Looser came second at the Absa Cape Epic, the 4 Islands Epic, as well as the Andorra Epic. Her victory at the Swiss Epic was her first of the season in the Epic Series and also her first alongside Skarda, in three starts dating back to the 2024 Absa Cape Epic.

Looser has congratulated and thanked Skarda for her support.

“It’s nice to finally be on top again, but these are partner races and you also need the right partner to do that. It doesn’t help if you are strong and your partner is not quite on that level. So it worked really well with Alexis this week. We ride so well together and we had a great team around us. The routes were also nice, and the weather was fine except for one day,” she says.

The marathon started on 13 August and continued through to 17 August, covering a total of 307km and close to 10 000m of climbing through the spectacular trails and landscapes of the Swiss Alps. Looser and Skarda won the first stage by more than four minutes but finished third on the second stage after taking a wrong turn.

They were, however, soon back to winning ways, taking the third stage by more than three minutes to open up a sizable lead in the general classification. From then on, there was no stopping the pair as they went on to win the final two stages to complete a commanding victory.

Looser says the victory gave her confidence heading into the UCI Marathon World Championships in Valais, Switzerland, in three weeks’ time.

“I’m happy that the race has shown that my form is good and going in the right direction,” she says. “It’s also a good test for the upcoming World Championships in three weeks’ time – it shows that my form is on the right path and I feel good on the bike,” she says.

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