Longo, Osl victorious in Switzerland

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750 cyclists from 13 nations competed in the opening round of the Swiss national series, also known as the Racer Bikes Cup. Italian Tony Longo and Austrian Lisi Osl won the elite men's and women's events.

In the men's race Longo (Full Dynamix) defeated German Wolfram Kurschat (Topeak-Ergon Racing Team) and Belgian Roel Paulissen (Cannondale Factory Racing) for the top three spots. Italian Marco Aurelio Fontana and German Manuel Fumic (both Cannondale Factory Racing) rounded out the top five.

One of the favorites, European champion Ralph Naef (Multivan Merida), started the race, despite being sick the previous week, but he ended up having to withdraw. "I still felt not quite fit. I was dizzy and it made no sense to ride the race to the finish," he said.

The Italians and Germans dominated the front of the peloton. The 26-year-old Longo, despite a flat on the fourth lap, during which Paulissen and Kurschat managed to catch him, used his skills descending to re-take the lead and defend it until the end.

“It was a good start to the season. My climbing form was there," said Kurschat. "The conditions though today were the deciding factor and I am sure I could have had Longo on the climb, on the decent it wouldn’t have been worth a crash.  The German had just finished recovering from a wound on his arm sustained in a training accident 10 days prior.

21-year-old Thomas Litscher was the best Swiss rider and the best Under 23 rider in sixth place. He was the only Swiss rider in the top 10. Many of Switzerland's top riders were racing in South Africa at the Cape Epic this weekend.

In the women's race, favorite and defending World Cup overall champion Lisi Osl (central Pro Team) of Austria, finished ahead of two Swiss racers, Nathalie Schneitter (Colnago Arreghini Südtirol) and Kathrin Leumann (goldwurst-power / Sputnik).

Jolanda Neff (ewz-Giant MTB-Team) was the best junior women and Stefan Peter (Zentralschweiz) topped the junior field.

Full Results