Honeycomb 226ers became the first team to win a stage at an Epic Series stage race on 32-inch wheels when Marc Pritzen and Felix Stehli won Stage 2 of the 2026 Swiss Epic. The South African/Swiss pairing charged through a shortened 24-kilometre time trial course to win the day in 43 minutes and 13 seconds and move up to third in the general classification standings.
The Elite Women’s race leaders, Anna Weinbeer and Claudia Peretti, of KTM Spada Brenta Brakes – Olympia, doubled up, adding Stage 2 honours to their Stage 1 victory, firming up their grip on the orange CIOVITA jerseys in the rain and mud of La Punt.
Thursday, 20 August, presented significant challenges to the Swiss Epic race organisers and the 2026 participants. Thunderstorms had rolled across the Alps, bringing lightning with them and making it dangerous to race at high elevations. As a result, the 52-kilometre time trial course, which had been set to start on the Bernina Pass, 600 metres higher than La Punt in the Engadin Valley, was shortened to just 24 kilometres and confined to the lower altitudes around La Punt, Samedan, and Bever.
This suited the Honeycomb 226ers and KTM Spada Brenta Brakes – Olympia teams to perfection as they charged to stage victories. In the process, Marc Pritzen, the reigning South African marathon champion, and Felix Stehli made history, as the first team to win aboard 32-inch wheels, while Anna Weinbeer and Claudia Peretti added a further 41 seconds to their general classification advantage.
“Today I suffered for only one hour, rather than 4 and a half hours,” Peretti joked after crossing the finish line. “As always, Anna [Weinbeer] is super strong. She made all the racing, with me behind suffering. But we managed to finish with the others, so we took the win.”
With the course changes and the threat of lightning predicted to intensify in the afternoon, the usual time trial rules were relaxed. Teams were allowed to draft one another and started at 20-second intervals, making it inevitable that there would be some collaboration on course. Torpado Kenda FSA’s men’s teams were best placed to exploit these factors, but it also aided the women in orange.
Starting last of the Elite Women’s teams, Weinbeer and Peretti charged through the early kilometres until they caught the Torpado Kenda FSA Women and Massi ISB Sport teams. The Sportograf.com pairing of Bettina Janas and Kim Ames had dropped out of contention for stage honours, and were in a battle against themselves, fighting to avoid catastrophic time losses. Janas and Ames were passed early in the stage by Weinbeer and Peretti, while ahead, Katazina Sosna-Pinele and Giorgia Marchet had caught Tessa Kortekaas and Amanda Bohlin.
The stage result saw KTM Spada | Brenta Brakes – Olympia gain 41 seconds over Torpado Kenda FSA Women, with Massi ISB Sport third at 61 seconds back. Vitally, Sportograf.com lost 4 minutes and 36 seconds on the day, but managed to hang onto second overall.
Janas, who may have been struggling after her crash on Stage 1, and Ames slipped to 16 minutes and 32 seconds off the race leaders, Weinbeer and Peretti. Sosna-Pinele and Marchet are 4 minutes and 35 seconds down on Janas and Ames heading into Stage 3. Kortekaas and Bohlin remain fourth, a further 3 minutes back, and the Royally Exhausted Seawork Cares team of Julika Pahl and Linda Detering are fifth overall.
In the Elite Men’s race, the day one winners, Fadri Barandun and Andrin Beeli, were under pressure from the off as they watched Klimatiza Orbea set blistering times at the early time checks. Having lost 21 minutes on Stage 1, David Valero and José Dias were among the first men off the start ramp. Their times would later be eclipsed, but they set the benchmark to chase.
SCOTT Racing 2’s Stefano Goria and Davide Foccoli, as well as Wout Alleman and Martin Stosek, of Buff-BH, went faster than Valero and Dias. Both squads had been solid, if not spectacular, on the first day and were eager to make amends on the time trial. The short course meant that they had limited opportunity to gain time, but Goria and Foccoli did move up on the general classification standings after setting the third-best time on the day.
Torpado Kenda FSA were second fastest, besting all but the stage winners, the Honeycomb 226ers. “It was a short day, a fast day, but a good day,” Casey South began, as he explained how Stage 2 played out. “We had a plan with Gioele [de Cosmo] and Jakob [Dorigoni of Torpado Kenda FSA 2]. They started just 20 seconds ahead of us, so they took the first kilometres easy, and we went full gas to catch them as soon as possible. Together the four of us were able to swap off, and it was a big help.”
Working together, the Torpado Kenda FSA squad made short work of the first 22 kilometres, setting the best time to that point, but once Gioele de Cosmo and Jakob Dorigoni were spent, South and Fabian Rabensteiner were unable to match the speed of the flying Honeycomb 226ers pair. Pritzen and Stehli even recovered from a wrong turn, where they went briefly off course. The error saw them receive a 10-second time penalty because they rejoined the course in a different place than where they departed it. Nonetheless, Pritzen and Stehli set the fastest time by 21 seconds.
“It’s great! After our stage win at the Absa Cape Epic, winning a stage at the Swiss Epic and now with Marc [Pritzen] on the 32-inch too, it’s cool,” Stehli beamed, referencing his Stage 3 victory at the Absa Cape Epic on the Stoll P32.
Pritzen joined Stehli for a Swiss training camp ahead of the Swiss Epic and used the time to not only acclimatise to the altitude and trails of the Swiss Alps but also to familiarise himself with the 32-inch wheels of his new bike. “I think once the 32-incher starts rolling it’s really an advantage,” Pritzen noted.
“But we also had good legs today,” the South African XCM champion acknowledged. “We caught the team who started ahead of us, [Klimatiza Orbea 2’s Marc Stutzmann and Samuele Porro] and then Marc was just hammering it,” Stehli continued. “There are still three stages to go. We’ll be giving our best, and we know the trails quite well from the recons we did over the last couple of weeks, so we’ll see what we can achieve by the time we reach the final Davos finish line on Sunday.”
The Honeycomb 226ers have already gained a place on the general classification standings, moving up to third as Torpado Kenda FSA 2 slipped out of the top five. Pritzen and Stehli are now 3 minutes and 21 seconds off the race leaders, Barandun and Beeli. SCOTT Racing 2 are fourth, and Klimatiza Orbea 2 are fifth.
Perhaps more pertinently, after their storming ride on Stage 1, Barandun and Beeli lost time on Stage 2. The Engadin La Punt pair could only manage the eighth fastest time on the day, ceding 94 seconds to Pritzen and Stehli, as well as 75 seconds to Rabensteiner and South. Engadin La Punt thus holds a 3 minutes and 10 seconds advantage over Torpado Kenda FSA 1 going into Stage 3. “Tomorrow will be a hard, tough stage on the Scaletta Pass, if the weather permits, with a long tough uphill!” Rabensteiner forecast.
Concerningly, rain is expected to fall throughout the day and into Friday, with the Swiss Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology issuing a rainfall warning for the high mountains around the Scaletta Pass. The highest point of the race, at 2 606 metres above sea level, is particularly exposed to high winds, low clouds, lightning strikes, and dangerously low temperatures even in summer. “Due to continued adverse weather conditions forecast for Friday, 21 August, Swiss Epic has made the decision to adapt Stage 3,” the official statement reads.
“Stage 3 will now start and finish in La Punt and will no longer follow the planned route to Davos via Scaletta Pass. Riders will take on a revised route of approximately 61km with 1 650 metres of climbing, utilising trails not ridden during the previous two race days. The start time for the first riders will be 07:30. Following the stage, riders will be transferred to Davos by shuttle/bus. Bikes will be transported separately by truck.”
“This decision has been made in consultation with local authorities and weather experts. Key considerations included the forecast of low cloud cover, which will limit helicopter rescue capabilities if required, continued rainfall increasing the risk of trail deterioration and localised landslides, and cold conditions at higher elevations along the original route. Thunderstorm activity also remains a factor. The event organisers, together with local authorities and weather experts, continue to monitor conditions closely. The safety of our riders, volunteers and event staff remains our highest priority,” the statement concluded.
To witness the drama, unfold on Stage 3, 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 2 Results:
- Honeycomb 226ers: Marc Pritzen & Felix Stehli (43:13 | +10 Time Penalty)
- Torpado Kenda FSA 1: Fabian Rabensteiner & Casey South (43:34 | +21)
- SCOTT Racing 2: Stefano Goria & Davide Foccoli (43:54 | +41)
- Buff-BH: Wout Alleman & Martin Stosek (44:17 | +1:04)
- Klimatiza Orbea: David Valero & José Dias (44:33 | +1:20)
Elite Women’s Stage 2 Results:
- KTM Spada | Brenta Brakes – Olympia: Anna Weinbeer & Claudia Peretti (51:51)
- Torpado Kenda FSA Women: Katazina Sosna-Pinele & Giorgia Marchet (52:32 | +41)
- Massi ISB Sport: Tessa Kortekaas & Amanda Bohlin (52:52 | +1:01)
- Sportograf.com: Bettina Janas & Kim Ames (56:27 | +4:36)
- Royally Exhausted | Seawork Cares: Julika Pahl & Linda Detering (56:37 | +4:46)
Elite Men’s General Classification after Stage 2:
- Engadin La Punt: Fadri Barandun & Andrin Beeli (4:15:29)
- Torpado Kenda FSA 1: Fabian Rabensteiner & Casey South (4:18:39 | +3:10)
- Honeycomb 226ers: Marc Pritzen & Felix Stehli (4:18:50 | +3:21)
- SCOTT Racing 2: Stefano Goria & Davide Foccoli (4:19:37 | +4:08)
- Klimatiza Orbea 2: Samuele Porro & Marc Stutzmann (4:20:16 | +4:47)
Elite Women’s General Classification after Stage 2:
- KTM Spada | Brenta Brakes – Olympia: Anna Weinbeer & Claudia Peretti (5:16:39)
- Sportograf.com: Bettina Janas & Kim Ames (5:33:11 | +16:32)
- Torpado Kenda FSA Women: Katazina Sosna-Pinele & Giorgia Marchet (5:37:46 | +21:07)
- Massi ISB Sport: Tessa Kortekaas & Amanda Bohlin (5:40:42 | +24:03)
- Royally Exhausted | Seawork Cares: Julika Pahl & Linda Detering (5:50:31 | +33:52)
To view the full results from the 2026 Swiss Epic, click here.
Source: Epic Series Media & PR
