The Escape – Swiss Alps with Nino Schurter

In the latest episode of The Escape, the Olympic and multiple World Champion takes us on one of his favorite road loops in his local backyard. Epic climbs in front of stunning mountain ridges will put this one on every rider’s list!

Chur, Switzerland. Nino Schurter is arguably the best mountain biker of all time. Many people still don’t know that he’s a keen road cyclist as well and spends a lot of his time training on a road bike. He’s lucky in that his home region is not just amazing for mountain biking, but also offers incredible road rides.
It is mid-September; the mountain bike race season is almost over and the day greets with blue skies and warm temperatures. The perfect day to get out on your road bike and enjoy a big loop in the mountains. Follow Nino and his SCOTT-SRAM teammate Andri Frischknecht on a training ride on home soil. Get inspiration for some of your next bikes trips and you might just be able to challenge the Champion on these climbs one day. Discover the full story written by Nino Schurter further below.

“The Escape” provides cycling enthusiasts inspiration for their next weekend escape. This SCOTT road series highlights some of the most beautiful road and gravel rides worldwide.To be able to ride it yourself, we provide a download of the GPX or Garmin file at the end of the article and provide additional information about the difficulty of the loop.

‘Most people are surprised to hear that I do around 45% of my training rides on a road bike. Especially recovery or base mile rides are mainly done on the road. It is easier to keep a certain cadence without too much intensity. But the ones I really enjoy are the rides in the high mountains. To wind up some alpine passes in spectacular landscapes and enjoy the high speed of the descents, that’s what makes this sport so beautiful for me. My first love will always stay mountain biking, but road cycling is also something I truly love.'(…)

Words by Nino Schurter

SCOTT-SRAM’s Andri Frischknecht and Nino Schurter – not only are good teammates on WC circuits, but also on training rides on tarmac
Photography: Gaudenz Danuser

‘Andri Frischknecht, my teammate at SCOTT-SRAM came for the day to join the ride. It is always great to have a good training buddy especially for a ride like this. Andri is quiet, but also a funny guy and has the power to push me to my limits, simply the perfect riding buddy.’ (…)

The Route

The route starts in Tiefencastel and immediately begins with a 30km climb up to Albulapass with 1500hm followed by a fast descent to La Punt. From there it is rolling terrain for the next 28km to the start of Füelapass. The second climb of the day is 14km long with 1000hm of climbing. After a fast descent you will reach Davos. From there it is lumpy profile for the last 33km to the starting point in Tiefencastel. In total it is 129km and 2750hm. Nino and Andri added another 15km and 180hm to Casa Caminada.