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. 

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.” 

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. 

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.”

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.  

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. 

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) 

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.