The Engadin Bike Giro
Tue 12th Jul, 2016 @ 6:30 pm
Camper van packed and another road trip ahead, destination St Moritz Switzerland for a 3 day epic of an MTB stage race. A winter playground for many rich and famous but in summer the mountains surrounding the area come alive with the sound of mountain bikers buzzing through the multitude of trails scattering the region.
This trip is to try out the all new stage race “The Engadin Bike Giro” The name itself doesn’t in my mind do justice to the fact we are dealing with a pretty full on 3 day MTB stage race here, mixing it up with the likes of Karl Platt and other pros as well as many pretty serious amateurs. Sauser Sports organisation saw an opportunity to stitch together a bunch of the finest trails in the area to hopefully create an event that will become a permanent fixture in many a riders race calendar.
Set in the Engadin region that encompasses a long Valley already around 1800m at the base including St Moritz , Silvaplana and further past some large alpine Lakes towards Maloja, mountains either side stretching up another 1500m in places, ski lifts and gondolas scattered around providing hikers and MTB’ers lifts to the top if leg power wasn’t on the cards that day.
Many hours in the camper later we arrived at the Silvaplana campsite, right on the edge of the lake which filled to the brim with kite and windsurfers every day making the most of the regular wind coming up the valley. Easy access to a host of trails in every direction and immaculately clean shower and laundry facilities. A good start indeed. The great bit about the Silvaplana campsite is its just 100m from the start/finish for days 2 and 3, food, tech service etc all happens there which was more than ideal.
As for the event itself, it’s 3 days, this year landing on the 1st to the 3rd July. Day 1, 10km +800m prologue to sort out the starting blocks, day 2 75km +2500 and day 3 another 75km and +2400. Around 400 participants descended on the registration hotel Friday morning which operated like a well-oiled Swiss watch, race bags handed out with number boards, chip timing and waterproof daily route profiles and feed stations. Prologue start was at the bottom edge of St Moritz itself, individual times 15 seconds apart separated the riders rolling down the cool “cape epic” style start gantry. Lots of supporters around and then a taped off route up through the town before hitting the long 800m climb up to the Funicular terminal of Corviglia.
I had a start time of 14:01:15, after the initial adrenaline rush to the legs had worn off I found myself cycling up through the centre of St Moritz pedestrian area, taped off and plenty of tourists and locals cheering from the side, at this point I’m thinking about trying to settle into a rhythm but the sun’s out and so are the crowds so I’m burning all my matches and blasting through the streets with no care about the 700m assent just ahead of me. 50 minutes of hurt and sweat later I’m at the top tucking into the free cakes and drinks on offer and wondering how the winner Adrien Chenaux from Switzerland managed to do it in 36mins 15 secs.
Day 2, 75km and +2500. The route profile was a tale of 2 halves, some ups and downs in the 1st 40km but nothing outrageous, then some massive ones in the second half. I’d managed to get myself into chute “B” at the start and hoped for a steady start, find my legs, settle in etc. So much for that, people were lighting it up like their lives depended on it. Some crazy line choices and impatient moves all over the place in the 1st 5km, then we hit a few climbs, compared to a lot of these guys I’m pretty average at climbing so lose places pretty quick, issue being that when a lot of these climbing goats head into a tricky descent and a few roots many would pull the parachute and grab the brakes or even unclip and jump off, stopping everyone behind.
Frustrating as these are the bits I class as mountain biking and actually like. It may have been an idea to start with a big climb or 2 to properly split up the field and hopefully get rid of the bottlenecks, just a thought. Things settled after a while, small groups formed and in no time we were cranking up the 1st of the big hills, 800m up a different trail to the same place where the prologue finished the day before. I knew from looking at the trail maps that from the top we dropped into the “WM Flow Trail which dropped us 500m over 4k on fast, twisty singletrack goodness. All the pain of the climb was soon forgotten as I pumped my way down, sun out above and views to die for in front, brilliant. We obviously had to ride up but you can also take the lifts with a bike to take the pain away. Also the region has a deal that you get free uplift pass for the duration of your stay if you are in one of the local hotels/hostels for more than 2 nights, a definite cash saver if you can make use of it.
The trail got increasingly more technical towards the finish point, traversing the mountainside on a hikers path, I know some people didn’t like it saying that the boulders and terrain was too brutal and the final descent too harsh but it was all ridable and in my book part of what MTB’ing is all about, testing skills over and above just how good your legs are on the smooth bits. I personally loved the last 10km of proper rough stuff down to the finish. Karl Platt took the win today for the men with Nadia Walker taking the women’s top spot.
Day 3 and another 75k with around +2400. Overnight there had been snow at the top so the route had to be altered chopping 6km and around 300m off. Again the start was more like the final 5k bunch race at a tour de France stage. I just tried to keep out of trouble and guard my own space. The trail snaked round a couple of lakes before doubling back and heading up the mountain, much of the trails at this point ended up being hike a bike due to the steepness and terrain, then we would end up on a few jeep track descents. Seemed a pity in some ways as the whole lot would be ridable the other way round. Quick progress in the 1st half again before heading up some monster climbs but not quite to the top due to the route change. The cherry in the cake today for me was the Fopettas flow trail, not dissimilar to the WM flow the day before, fast bermed singletrack with few rock gardens, jumps, and Northshore, magic fun and a definite antidote for a tired body. From the bottom it was literally 10 minutes to the finish. Plenty food and drinks on offer, a lot of happy riders relaxing in the sun. Final podiums saw Karl Platt take the day and the overall win for the man and Nadia Walker making it 3 wins in 3 and the overall for the women.
All in all a great event, hard to go wrong with such fantastic surroundings and over 400km of mtb trails in the area. The organisation and marshalling was second to none. For some it’s quite a drive as even once in Switzerland it takes a few hours of driving to wind your way up to St Moritz, but with 3 days of riding on offer its worth the effort in my book. With water sports, hiking or more cycling and uplifts available extend the 3 days to a week and breath in some more of that clean Swiss air. I’m home now and already thinking about another trip back.
Photographs by Sportograf and Madlaina Walther.
