Redemption for Engadin La Punt Locals on Stage 1 of the 2026 Swiss Epic

Engadin La Punt’s Fadri Barandun and Andrin Beeli won the opening stage of the Swiss Epic on Wednesday, 19 August 2026. The Stage 1 victory is the first for both Swiss riders in their home stage race and was made sweeter for Barandun after narrowly missing out in 2024, also on a day that finished in his hometown of La Punt. KTM Spada | Brenta Brakes – Olympia’s European Marathon Champion, Anna Weinbeer, and her Italian Champion teammate, Claudia Peretti, took the first orange CIOVITA jerseys in the elite women’s race.

Anna Weinbeer and Claudia Peretti were a class apart on Stage 1. Photo by Marius Holler.

Swiss Epic Break Out Stars – 32ers?

Stage 1 of the 2026 Swiss Epic saw three Swiss riders atop the podium, as Fadri Barandun and Andrin Beeli won in the Elite Men’s category, before Anna Weinbeer and the Italian Marathon Champion Claudia Peretti claimed victory in the Elite Women’s. To make the day more special, Barandun and Beeli are representing the host region for the opening two and a half days, Engadin La Punt. Their winning margin was an impressive 4 minutes and 25 seconds, positioning Barandun and Beeli well for the coming four days, though their advantage is less secure than the commanding 11 minutes and 57 seconds Weinbeer and Peretti created.

The 83-kilometre course for the opening stage appeared on paper to be one of the toughest of the race. It included 2 650 metres of climbing, including the ascent to Lej Alv at 2 545 metres above sea level. Preceding the climb to Lej Alv, the Albula Pass provided the first climbing challenge, and it was there that the Engadin La Punt team made their move.

“It’s well deserved; I know Fadri [Barandun] and Andrin [Beeli], and they were super strong today. From the first climb they were pushing a really hard pace,” Swiss XCM champion and defending Swiss Epic champion Casey South praised.

South and his Torpado Kenda FSA teammate, Fabian Rabensteiner, were able to follow on the Albula Pass ascent, but on the descent which followed they were distanced by Barandun and Beeli. “I was in fourth wheel on the descent, and I was getting dropped. I was trying to be fast but be safe as well,” South recounted. “We’re focusing on the general classification, so you can’t risk everything on Stage 1.”

Casey South and Fabian Rabensteiner are quietly confident of their general classification chances, despite the time loss on Stage 1. Photo by Nick Muzik.

For Barandun and Beeli, it was worth going all in. “I don’t know what to say, it’s so incredible,” an emotional Barandun grinned. “We were so close two years ago, and everyone knows what happened then. To be in this situation now with Andrin is incredible.”

Two years ago, Barandun was forced wide while contesting the sprint finish into La Punt. He and Lorenzo Samparisi touched bars, which cost Barandun valuable momentum and allowed Lorenzo and Nicolas Samparisi to claim victory. Winning in La Punt on Stage 1 in 2026 was thus a moment of redemption for Barandun.

“I don’t normally pull a gap on a downhill! But I know the trails really well,” Barandun smiled, continuing his description of the day. “I just followed Fadri [Barandun]’s wheel; he knows every trail super well,” Beeli added. “I didn’t expect to be able to open a gap like that. We didn’t actually know what the gap was either, and I know that Casey [South] is really strong on the flats, so I expected them to come back to us. It was a big surprise when we saw the advantage on the finish line!”

“Like Fadri said, it’s amazing,” Beeli concluded. “I know how much effort Fadri put into his preparation. The Swiss Epic is above every other race for us. To pull off a stage win is incredible. Everything went perfectly today, but now our focus will shift to the overall…”

“You need to make no mistakes for five days to win the overall,” three-time Swiss Epic winner Rabensteiner noted. “The Swiss guys were really strong today, and they deserved the win. I guess they’ll be looking to defend now for the general classification, so we’ll see how the days to come go. With the altitude, you have to manage your efforts for all five days.”

Rabensteiner and South find themselves with a 4 minutes and 25 seconds deficit to make up if they are to defend their title. Yet they have reasons to be positive too, none more so than the strength in depth displayed by the Torpado Kenda FSA team. Rabensteiner and South’s teammates, Gioele de Cosmo and Jakob Dorigoni, were third on the stage, 32 seconds off second. Squad strength could aid the Italian team in their pursuit of the Swiss Engadin La Punt outfit.

Marc Pritzen and Felix Stehli narrowly missed out on a podium place, finishing fourth on Stage 1 after Pritzen had endured a dramatic early crash. Samuele Porro and Marc Stutzmann were fifth, just 3 seconds behind the Honeycomb 226ers, while their highly fancied Klimatiza Orbea teammates, David Valero Serrano and José Dias, lost 21 minutes and are effectively out of the general classification battle.

Other noteworthy teams who endured less than ideal days included the Buff BH pairing of Wout Alleman and Martin Stošek, who finished eighth at 12 minutes back, and the Speed Company combination of Georg Egger and Lukas Pöstlberger, who conceded 17 minutes.

Anna Weinbeer was stronger on the climbs, descents, and flats according to Claudia Peretti. Photo by Nick Muzik.

In the Elite Women’s race, KTM Spada | Brenta Brakes – Olympia was in a class of their own. In 2026, Weinbeer has been the form rider in the women’s marathon discipline, winning four of the five rounds of the UCI Marathon World Cup thus far along with the Swiss and European titles. She continued that dominance alongside Peretti on the trails of the Engadin on Stage 1 of the Swiss Epic.

“Anna is very strong. She is stronger than me in the climb, in the downhill, and on the flat part,” Peretti laughed on the finish line. “It was very hard for me today. But we know mountain biking is a hard sport!”

It may have been hard on the Italian, but Weinbeer made it harder for the other teams in the competition. She and Peretti climbed and then descended faster than their rivals, establishing an advantage they grew to nearly 12 minutes by the finish line. “We will sleep well tonight; we raced hard today,” Weinbeer confessed. “We will take it day by day from here on; it’s a long four days to come with lots of challenges ahead.”

KTM Spada | Brenta Brakes – Olympia won Stage 1 by nearly 12 minutes. Photo by Michael Chiaretta.

The KTM Spada | Brenta Brakes – Olympia team also had time to take in the beauty of the course. “The downhills from the top towards St Moritz were my favourite part,” Weinbeer said. “The trails were amazing, and the view was beautiful. I think Claudia enjoyed it there too.”

Weinbeer and Peretti’s nearest rivals were the Sportograf.com team of Bettina Janas and Kim Ames. Janas is a two-time Swiss Epic champion, but her 2026 campaign got off to a near-disastrous start with a pedal strike on the Albula Trail descent. “I checked my head, then my bones, and then my bike; everything was fine, so I could continue,” Janas stated. “Kim [Ames] asked if we should chase, and I said ‘of course’.”

Chase as they might, Janas and Ames never reeled KTM Spada | Brenta Brakes – Olympia in. Yet they were able to stay well clear of the fight for third. After pacing their efforts on the climbs in the first 50 kilometres of the stage, Katazina Sosna-Pinele and Giorgia Marchet, of Torpado Kenda FSA Women, were able to fight their way from fourth into third in the closing kilometres. They overhauled Tessa Kortekaas and Amanda Bohlin, and then proceeded to put 2 and a half minutes into the Massi ISB Sport team.

The Stage 2 time trial has been shortened from 52km to just 24km due to thunderstorms.

Thursday’s Stage 2-time trial should suit the powerful style of Sosna-Pinele and Marchet. However, the form and class of Weinbeer and Peretti make the women’s race leaders the favourites to double up. The second day of the 2026 Swiss Epic was set to present an interesting 52-kilometre test, but the Alpine weather has forced a change. Due to heavy rainfall and thunderstorms forecast throughout Thursday, 20 August, and in the interest of rider safety, Swiss Epic has made the decision to relocate the start of Stage 2 to La Punt. As a result, the time trial will start and finish in La Punt, rather than at over 2 250 metres above sea level on the Bernina Pass. The first riders will start at 07:30 on a revised 24 km course.

To follow the action from Stage 2, mountain biking fans can tune into the Swiss Epic’s live broadcast on the Epic Series YouTube Channel here. Daily highlights from the race can also be viewed on the YouTube Channel, and the excitement from the trails of Graubünden will be shared on the Swiss Epic Facebook page and @swiss_epic on Instagram. To find out more, visit www.epic-series.com/swissepic.

Photo by Sam Clark.

2026 Swiss Epic Results

Elite Men’s Stage 1 Results

1. Engadin La Punt: Fadri Barandun & Andrin Beeli (3:30:39)
2. Torpado Kenda FSA 1: Fabian Rabensteiner & Casey South (3:35:04 | +4:25)
3. Torpado Kenda FSA 2: Gioele de Cosmo & Jakob Dorigoni (3:35:36 | +4:57)
4. Honeycomb 226ers: Marc Pritzen & Felix Stehli (3:35:37 | +4:58)
5. Klimatiza Orbea 2: Samuele Porro & Marc Stutzmann (3:35:41 | +5:02)

The Elite Women’s podium after Stage 1 of the 2026 Swiss Epic. Photo by Michael Chiaretta.

Elite Women’s Stage 1 Results

1. KTM Spada | Brenta Brakes – Olympia: Anna Weinbeer & Claudia Peretti (4:24:47)
2. Sportograf.com: Bettina Janas & Kim Ames (4:36:44 | +11:57)
3. Torpado Kenda FSA Women: Katazina Sosna-Pinele & Giorgia Marchet (4:45:14 | +20:27)
4. Massi ISB Sport: Tessa Kortekaas & Amanda Bohlin (4:47:50 | +23:03)
5. Royally Exhausted | Seawork Cares: Julika Pahl & Linda Detering (4:53:54 | +29:07)

To view the full results from the 2026 Swiss Epic, click here.