After a successful first edition last year, the Swiss Road Bike Summit in Gstaad will return 1-4 September 2022 with four stages covering 330 kilometres of gravel and asphalt high in the spectacular Swiss Alps.
The event starts on a gravel route designed by world mountain biking champion Christoph Sauser on Thursday 1 September. With 71km and 2500m of climbing, the gritty route includes three timed sections, steep climbs on loose gravel, technical descents and stunning Swiss scenery.
Friday will be be a “recovery” day with an uphill time trial stage between central Gstaad and the Gumm mountain pasture on a timed route of 7.5 kilometres including 700m vertical. With an average road gradient of 10% and maximums at 20%, riders best get a good warm up and prepare to suffer.
At 135km in length and almost 3000m of climbing, Stage 3 on Saturday will tackle The Gruyère Loop with three timed sections. The well balanced stage on narrow smooth asphalt roads with no traffic offers many challenging climbs, fast descents and rolling recovery segments.
The final stage is the legendary BERGKÖNIG course of 115km, +2800m and two timed segments. Featuring very long climbs that wind up Swiss valleys on small intimate mountain roads far away from civilization and traffic, this stage will no doubt leave riders breathless.
Pure roadies who want to skip the gravel stage and just bring one bike may sign up for the three day (260km, +6200m) asphalt-only stages running Friday-Sunday.
PHOTOS: Road Bike Summit Gstaad
GRAN FONDO DAILY NEWS 