The Swiss Epic was the culmination of the mountain biking careers of two Durangoans.
Nick Gould, 39, and Caleb Thompson, 33, visited the mecca of mountain biking for the Swiss Epic, a six-stage mountain bike race in Switzerland that features a team format. When the race finished Sept. 16 in Zermatt, the Durango duo rode to a 17th-place finish, the best result for an American team ever in the four years of the race. They finished the 220 miles with 52,000 feet of climbing in 23 hours, 10 minutes, 35 seconds, which was 5:12:22 behind the winning team of Austria’s Danmiel Geismayr and Germany’s Jochen Käss.
The Durangoans called their team CRC/Ska-Zia, produced by 2nd Ave Sports, to honor all the Durango businesses who helped fund the trip.
“It was insanely hard,” Gould said. “Super technical. All the climbs and descents were much steeper than anything we’re used to. It was pretty much the peak of both of our cycling careers to be there and do that.”
In the team format, riders had to finish within two minutes of their partner, and the slowest rider’s time was the time that counted. It was a good format for Gould and Thompson, who regularly compete with each other in races in Colorado and around the U.S.
Both men considered the Swiss Epic a bucket-list race they wanted to conquer since they first learned about it three years ago. With their matching abilities and desire to compete in Switzerland, the team quickly formed.
“It was my first time actually doing an event like that where you had to have a teammate,” Thompson said. “It was a whole ’nother dynamic. We had to kind of work off each other’s strengths. I ended up having one bad day where I didn’t feel good, but Nick kept me positive. We really had to help each other out.”
The two avoided any major mechanical problems. Each rider suffered a flat tire, but both came in the final kilometers of the stage and they both were able to ride to the finish with a slow leak.
Gould, who rides for the Durango Ska/Zia/Trek MTB race team, and Thompson, who competes for CRC Janitorial, battled closely with a Brazilian team the entire week. The Durangoans got the better of the Brazilians in three stages, while the Brazilians were better in three others.
In the end, the Brazilian team of Uirá Ribeiro de Castro and Guilherme Rabelo Bueno edged the Durango team by 27:15.
“Coming from Colorado and the mountains, we knew that we were gonna be pretty strong on the climbs,” Thompson said.
“Our strategy was to play it conservative and use our strengths on the climbs. We were able to hang in there with some of the top guys on a lot of climbs, and we really battled the Brazilian guys. We would pass them, and then later in the race after about four hours they would turn on a switch.”
The highlight of the trip was the final stage that went around the Matterhorn. The iconic peak rises 14,692 feet, and the race reached an elevation of roughly 8,600 feet with pristine views.
“I’ve been riding for like 20 years,” Thompson said. “That was kind of the pinnacle of the 20 years of racing. A really cool experience racing with people from 40 different countries, meeting people from all over the world and racing in Switzerland.”
It wasn’t certain Gould and Thompson would even make it together to Switzerland. In previous years, plane tickets and the entry fee were too steep for them to consider the race. With flights to Europe much cheaper in 2017 and with the Swiss Epic entry fee being cut in half to $1,600 per rider with all expenses paid for, the timing was right to make the trip.
But when the two arrive at Denver International Airport, Gould was informed his passport wasn’t valid with it set to expire in early December and was told he couldn’t fly internationally if his passport was within three months of its expiration. He was one week off.
So Thompson boarded the flight while Gould raced to the state passport office in Aurora. Without an appointment, he was able to secure a new passport within 50 minutes of the office opening. He drove back to DIA and boarded the next available flight. Thompson had a five-hour layover in New York and Gould caught a 90-minute layover in Atlanta. The two landed in Switzerland within five minutes of each other as their bags and bikes both arrived successfully.
“I had no idea. I thought an expiration date was an expiration date, but apparently some European countries require you to have it three months or more out,” Gould said.
“Caleb got on the flight without a teammate, and you can’t race this alone. Everything was non-refundable, and so it was pretty tense. He had to get on the flight not knowing if I would make it.”
Two other U.S. teams competed in the men’s race and finished as the bottom two teams out of the 38 that competed.
While Gould and Thompson fell in love with Swiss mountain biking, they said living in Durango helped make the dream possible. Whether it is being able to train on abundant trails in the area or having the support of local businesses to pursue their dreams.
“We’re so grateful to come from a place like here and have all the experience,” Gould said. “To have the support of CRC Janitorial team that got Caleb there and Ska/Zia that got me there along with 2nd Ave Sports getting our bikes dialed, it was special. It’s the culmination of everything we’ve ever done on the bike. “
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
