Flowing through the Swiss Epic

The Swiss Epic organisers believe they have an answer to that with the Swiss Epic Flow (lets call them “Flow” and “Epic” to avoid confusion), aimed towards gravity orientated riders the Flow has less climbing and more descending by using vehicles and ski lifts for riders throughout the event. After a fantastic experience in 2014 in the Epic race, we headed back to tackle the Flow event in 2015 and find out how it compares to the full-fat Swiss Epic.

The Swiss Epic is flat out with lots of climbing, and lots of technical descents. The Flow race takes the sting out of some climbs, and accesses some even better descents.

Get the low down on Switzerland

Switzerland is known for being an expensive country to visit and on the face of it, the Swiss Epic doesn’t help that stereotype. The entry fee for a pair starts at $4000 for a “budget” shared accommodation option but many will opt for the Comfort package, which converts to $6000 per pair. Priced at the upper end of the market, what can riders expect? The Swiss Epic organisation call it “all-inclusive” and they really do mean that. Good quality accommodation, food, lifts and shuttle transfers, mechanical support, feed stations, bike washes, massages, pre and post race parties and of course everything to do with the organisation of the race is included within the entry fee. From the moment you sign on, to the moment you leave you may not need to touch your wallet. While “value for money” is a subjective term, the race does offer far more than other races with a similar entry fee.

The number of stage races around the world keeps growing, so organisers are increasingly having to create events that are truly special to tempt riders to make trips overseas. Switzerland is famous for their alpine terrain and outdoor sports and its XC mountain bikers are totally dominant at present. There is no doubt that the terrain they have available to train on will certainly help. This terrain and level of technicality is brought to the race and the organisers, which includes mountain bike legend Thomas Frischknecht, have tried to create a stage race that mixes physical as well as technical demands. The Swiss Epic follows a standard point-to-point timed format, but the Flow race differs from all other events out there, since it isn’t a full-on XC marathon stage race and it isn’t an enduro format stage race. Using the existing ski-lift infrastructure they are able to take out some of the longer, demanding climbs that are present in the Epic and in many cases go higher and on trails that are more technical than your average stage racer would be comfortable with. Unlike enduro stage races like the Trans Provence there are sections of racing on climbs and stages on the whole will be longer.

The Flow race doesn’t take out the climbing – you’ll still climb about 8000m in the week.

The 2015 route connected the same host towns in the Valais region as the previous year, which meant starting in the ski town of Verbier for the prologue before then spending 2 nights at both Leukerbad and Graechen and finally finishing in the spectacular car free alpine town of Zermatt.

Racing finished in Zermatt in 2015 – but will start here in 2016.

Although the Flow race is aimed at gravity riders, looking at the stats it is no walk in the park and anyone thinking that “gravity” means just downhill would be mistaken. The Prologue in Verbier is a mere 14km, but has an evil 800m of climbing! It is in fact the same course of the Epic race, but is the only day of the week where the courses are the same. Any riders grumbling about the climbing would most likely be satisfied following the prologue descent. Around 5km of non-stop, flat-out trail in the Verbier Bike Park, all crafted below the main lift with plenty of tricky, technical features to reward all the pedalling effort that gained the altitude.

The Prologue – a tough 14km whatever category you’re in!

Prologue aside, Flow is essentially a different race to the Epic and run on a timed stages format rather than point-to-point. Descending capabilities are pushed to the limits, racing blind on some of the most technical trails in the areas. Enduro racing I hear you say? Well no, not at all. A typical enduro timed stage might be 3-10 minutes, where as in the Swiss Epic Flow race you are racing for an hour, or longer on each stage with up to 4 stages every day. Endurance Enduro!

The trails near Leukerbad mixed natural old trails with a purpose built Flow trail.

The style of racing is completely different to a point-to-point race, as you can completely forget about pacing or saving yourself. Every stage is best tackled flat out, with just enough time on the uplift shuttles or chair lifts between stages to recover ready for the next onslaught.

Like any stage race should, the Swiss Epic takes you places – right through the Valais canton in this case.

From Stage 1 the riding went up a notch, with high-paced racing from the start covering long sections of suonen, which are ancient waterways used for irrigation in the valleys below. Lots of tight turns and huge root infested singletrack, making them perhaps the most technical “flat” trails that we have ever raced on. The final timed section on Stage 1 was the most man-made of the week, a run down the “Flow Trail” into Leukerbad. Full of everything you would expect from a bike park such as berms, jumps and big grins. The town actually built this trail especially for the Swiss Epic Flow category.

Each following stage offers more in the way of natural riding with endless kilometres of narrow singletrack, both in high alpine meadows, areas of dense forest and rockier trails nearer the valley bottom. Stage 3 from Leukerbad to Graechen is memorable for one utterly incredible descent. From valley top, around 2200m to valley bottom, at just 600m on one single sinew of steep, switchback riddled track that seemed to go on forever with the smell or sequel of brake pads filling the clean mountain air. For the Flow riders, most of whom were riding bikes more suited to descending it was a blast and a highlight of the week.

We raced high, we raced low. The variety in terrain was astonishing.

A WORLD APART

Needless to say, the riding at the Swiss Epic is in a class of its own if you enjoy technical singletrack. While other high profile events will flatter the climbers and the physically fit, the Swiss Epic in both formats really suits the all-round rider. Away from the riding, everything else prepared by the organisation is also fantastic. The accommodation bases used are mostly high quality hotels and the food is superb with portion sizes you would hope for given such a demanding event. Every town and every person we met along the way went out of their way to ensure the racers were happy and able to keep riding.

Experience alpine life

The smaller touches, such as the efficient bike washes or the laundry service all help to create an event that very few other events are able to match in any area. The one slight downside of having hotel-based accommodation is the lack of a camp atmosphere that you will get at other events such as the Cape Epic or the Crocodile Trophy. The event does still manage to create a sense of camaraderie and especially so in the Flow category where you can recount your stage tales to other between timed sections.

Along with the creature comforts – the riding is top shelf as well!

The format and the timing worked flawlessly and we came away having enjoyed the Flow every bit as much, or perhaps even more so than the Epic. For anyone who loves technical riding as well as a physical challenge, the Swiss Epic needs to be on your bucket list. The only choice is whether you go Flow or go Epic.

What bike for the Swiss Epic?

The Swiss Epic Flow is very different to most stage races, so what type of bike is most suitable?

With 8000m over the 6 days, but over 15000m of technical, fast descending bike choice is a difficult one. Too much travel or too much weight and you will suffer on the climbs, but too light or flimsy and you won’t really be able to enjoy the fantastic descents. We tested the Canyon Strive CF during the event.

• 100mm to 150mm dually
• Dropper seatpost, ideally with remote
• Strong, but reasonably fast tyres
• Tubeless with plenty of spare tubes and tyre repairs
• Knee pads that are comfortable to pedal in

We had Matt’s team mate Stu Spies test the Canyon Strive CF at the Swiss Epic Flow.

Tips for Swiss Epic preparation

Regardless of whether you want to enter the full-climbing option Swiss Epic, or the Epic Flow we have a few tips to help you survive:

• Practice as much as possible on fast, rocky descents.
• Get climbing! On both events you will encounter lots of long, steady climbs.
• Understand your body and learn what nutrition works for you on multiple long days in the saddle.
• Take the basic spares across with you as spare parts are expensive to buy if you need them. Disc pads, tyre, tubes and chain as a minimum.

Travel Details to the Swiss Epic

Travelling to Switzerland from Australia does not need be as epic as it sounds.

Flights to either Geneva or Zurich are available from around $1500 from most major capitals if you book early enough, and with one of the best public transport networks in the world, getting to the start is pain-free.

For 2016 the event start/finish areas switch, so the start will be Zermatt, around 3hrs by train from Geneva or Zurich. Wherever, or however, you travel bikes either in or out of bags are welcome on all public transport and the trains in particular are fantastic, offering quick and reliable transport options throughout the country. Some fast trains may have limits to the number of built bikes they can take but head to myswitzerland.com/rail and you can find out specific details.

For lots of specific mountain bike details, you should head to My Switzerland’s site.

Flow vs Epic 

In 2016 the route not only heads in reverse, but the distances of the Epic are scaled back a little, and the event runs from 12-17 September. Full event details are at swissepic.com