The UCI Marathon Series has seen races all over the world, from the European marathon heartland to South Africa and Costa Rica. The series finishes with a bang with two races on the same weekend – Val di Fassa Bike in Italy on Saturday 8 September and then the O-Tour Bike Marathon in Switzerland on the Sunday. Will anyone do both? It could be done, but would be a push, and would probably require a dedicated driver.
Anyway, at MarathonMTB.com we’ve made the choice and will be in attendance at the O-Tour Bike Marathon in Obwalden on Sunday 9th September, which has the distinction of being the last race in the series before the World Championships in Ornans in early October. All of which will help celebrate the 10th running of this race.
It’s a tough-looking course, with 3,000m of climbing in 86km; it starts with a 1,200m climb more or less from the gun.
As with any of the UCI series, the field will be strong, among expected entrants numbering over 1,000; top Swiss racers have already confirmed, including Lukas Buchli, Thomas Stoll and Martin Fanger. Will Sauser be there too? Time will tell – it would be good to see him back to defend his title from 2011. Esther Suess won the women’s full-length race last year.
For online entry, get yourself over to http://www.o-tour.ch/cont/eng/