PROTECTIVE Factory Team @UCI Gravel Suisse
On 28 June, the UCI Gravel Suisse in Aigle was one of the toughest races of the year on the calendar. Only just under 100 kilometres long but with 3,400 metres of climbing, the race at the foot of the Alps was seen as a true climbing festival. Luca Dressler, Theresa Rindler-Bachl and Andreas “Schrotti” Schrottenbaum started for the Protective Factory Team and delivered good performances on the selective course around the UCI headquarters.
A strong 5th place for Luca
Luca Dressler impressively proved that he can compete at the front even in climbing-heavy races. On the very first long 20-minute climb, he followed an early attack that would later prove decisive. Together with five other riders he broke away and formed a powerful leading group.
“We worked together superbly over the first 30 rolling kilometres and built up a good lead,” said Luca.
When the final 45 kilometres with more than 2,000 metres of climbing began, the attacks started within the group. Luca wisely decided to ride his own pace so as not to blow up too early. The rest of the race became a solo mountain time trial for him. “I paced the race well and brought home 5th place in the end. Given the course profile, as a non-climber, it is a result I am really happy with.
Theresa’s form keeps heading upwards
A solid performance is good for 18th place
Andreas “Schrotti” Schrottenbaum knew in advance that the UCI Gravel Suisse would be an outlier in the race calendar: not a flow course but an
endurance test in the mountains. The start went well, and after the first long climb he positioned himself in a chasing group of six. But from kilometre 50 the group broke up, and Schrotti was mostly on his own.
A jammed chain at kilometre 70 cost around 90 seconds and brought four riders back up to him. Even so, he fought his way through and finished in 18th place, a solid result in the top 20. “I am happy with the performance, even though in hindsight I would rather have gone for 45 mm tyres: the 40 mm G-One RS were fast but borderline in the technical sections,” was his verdict.
Three strong individual performances and a course that will be remembered
The gravel race in Switzerland was not a typical UCI classic but a genuine mountain race: breathtaking scenery, technically demanding and physically extremely tough. Luca in 5th place, Theresa in 7th and Andreas in the top 20 show that the Protective Factory Team delivers even in exceptional challenges.
The focus now turns to the next UCI stops, with confidence and a tailwind from the Swiss Alps.
