Mauro Schmid crowns himself Swiss road champion on the circuit near Aire-la-Ville. The Zurich native crossed the finish line solo after 185 km near Geneva.
In doing so, the 24-year-old Schmid also sent a signal to the Olympic selectors, who will nominate the two riders for Paris next week. Stefan Küng seems to be set.
Schmid had broken away with Sébastien Reichenbach and Jan Christen around 30 km before the finish. In the final phase, it looked as if the chasing group around Marc Hirschi would join forces. But Schmid attacked again and resisted being caught. Jan Christen waited for his teammate Hirschi. The latter attacked vehemently on the short climb before the finish, but was unable to catch up with Schmid and abandoned the attempt.
Schmid finished 18 seconds ahead of Simon Pellaud and 25 seconds ahead of Stefan Bissegger. "I had no teammates. That's why I chose an offensive riding style," he said in a TV interview with RTS. He did not say anything about a possible participation in the Olympic Games.
