We woke bright and early, ate a bit of yogurt and muesli in bed, and then rode to the race site in Mendrisio. On our way, we got to see the first group of riders go by – they started at seven in order to do the 94-kilometre route. We cheered for our speedy teammate, Roman, in his red and white X.O-Felt kit as he zoomed by at the head of the back. Go Roman! He would eventually finish fourth, after a disappointing flat tire caused him to lose contact with the front guys.

Martina and I started with 13 other women along with the U23 Men (which included our other speedy teammate, Nico!) and the Junior Men. The first 20 or so kilometers were on the road and the group stayed mostly together until we hit the climb. Then the boys started taking off and the women dropped back a little. There was a mountain prime for the first man and first woman to hit the top of the climb (which was around 15 km long), so the pace was pretty high. I knew the climb was long – and so was the race – so I wasn’t too enthusiastic about killing myself at the beginning and then dragging myself through the remaining 40 kilometres half-bonked. I climbed steadily for what seemed like forever and then reached the top following a brutally steep hike-a-bike. What a view from up there! Snowy peaks, rolling green hills, sparkling lakes, ancient towns perched on the mountainsides…. What followed was a fantastic descent of singletrack, switchbacks, rough, rocky sections and high-speed fun. Wheeeeeee!

Martina and I hung out together quite a bit during the race, motivating one another and also asking, “What happened to Andri?” He was supposed to meet us at several points along the course to give us bottles and gels.

“What’s your water situation, Sandra?”

“Uh, I have about half a bottle left. What’s yours, Martina?”

“Low.”

“I bet Andri got lost.”

We were correct in our assumption. Andri was too late arriving at the first feed zone and then the next one was in Italy and he didn’t really want to cross the border without his passport (in fact, the racers were supposed to carry ID with them in case of running into a border check during the race. I did not take my passport with me, however, because I was afraid to lose it or get power gel on it). Andri finally got to us at around kilometer 40, near the bottom of the final (seven-kilometre) climb. At that point, Martina and I had reeled in the third-place woman, Tatjana Doid (GER, Fuji), and were battling between the three of us for third spot.

We climbed together in a train on that last big climb, with Doid in front, followed by Martina and me. Despite the feeling that I still had a lot of energy and strong legs, I found the pace hard. We weren’t even going that fast, but I just couldn’t hold on. I had reached the top, helped part of way (after being dropped by Doid and a charging Martina) by riding on the wheel of a friendly junior dressed in yellow, who I later discovered was Nico’s brother. Thanks Oliver!

The final 10 kilometres or so were mostly ripping fast downhill, and it was then that I realized I had hardly any air left in my rear tire. I was afraid the tire would roll off the rim on the high-speed corners, so I stopped and topped it up with a CO2 cartridge, hoping the tire would seal again. It kept losing air, however, but I had enough to get me down the mountain and over the finish line. I looked afterwards and noticed a slit in the tire, which was a little too big for the sealant handle. Martina would eventually finish fourth (nice work, teamie!) and I was fifth. Nico was fourth in the U23 Men’s cat. Way to go team!

I had a great time, exploring the countryside and riding some sweet trails in the Tessin sunshine! The big loop format was a nice change from the multi-lap races I’ve been doing most of this season. I’m looking forward to the marathon in Schleitheim on July 2 nd.