The final stage of the Andorra Epic was poised for drama in the men’s race. Sadly, for mountain biking fans but happily for Davide Foccoli and Stefano Goria, a puncture for their main rivals allowed Scott Racing to race conservatively and safely wrap up the title. Sunday’s drama befell

Klimatiza Orbea, whose challenge for overall victory faltered when David Velero punctured. With the intensity out of the general classification battle, Gioele de Cosmo and Casey South

capitalised and won Torpado Kenda FSA’s third stage of the 2026 race. Two of those victories came in the elite women’s competition, where Katažina Sosna-Pinelė and Giorgia Marchet

added a second stage win on the grand finale, but could not prevent Monica Calderon and Costanza Fasolis from comfortably winning the overall crown.

Stage 4’s route lent itself to attacking racing, and Klimatiza Orbea started the day with a clear plan and goal. Two major climbs took the meters of altitude gained across the 45-kilometre course to 1 650, with the Collada de Muntaner and Coll de la Botella passes providing two opportunities to attack. The famous La Commençal T-Section singletrack was the final feature of the 2026 route, which proved exhilarating for the amateurs, but could have been stressful for an elite team chasing to make or make up time. Sadly, by the time the teams reached La Commençal, the race was all-but settled.

“Our plan was to attack from the start, on the first climb already,” Valero recounted. “We were with Torpado [Kenda FSA] and the leaders, and I thought Scott [Racing] was maybe starting to struggle a bit. Then I punctured on the cross-country course in Pal, and we lost nearly 2 minutes.”

For their part, Scott Racing believed the situation to be entirely under control. “We felt that we’d been climbing well, and after getting caught behind other teams riding conservatively yesterday, we planned to go all-in for the stage win today,” Goria noted. “After Klimatiza [Orbea] punctured, we readjusted, though, and decided to rather ride safely, to avoid puncturing ourselves.”

“We managed to reduce the gap a bit after fixing the puncture, but then we had to stop at the tech zone to change the wheel,” Samuele Porro, Valero’s Klimatiza Orbea teammate, explained. “Then we were 2 plus minutes behind, along with the 50 seconds from the GC, and that would have been very hard to overturn.”

With Scott Racing slowing slightly to avoid mistakes and Klimatiza Orbea out of the hunt for stage victory, Torpado Kenda FSA flew to a relatively uncontested stage victory. The win was, however, not enough to move them up more than one place on the final general classification standings. De Cosmo and South had endured a difficult start to the race, finishing Stage 1 in eighteenth, and as a result, ninth was the best they could do after four days of Pyrenean mountain biking.

Foccoli and Goria crossed the Stage 4 finish line in La Massana in second, on the day, to secure the 2026 Andorra Epic title by 1 minute and 31 seconds. Torpado Kenda FSA 2’s Fabian Rabensteiner and Jakob Dorigoni were third on the stage, but could also not break into the top five overall. Klimatiza Orbea was fourth on the final day and had to settle for second on the general classification. KTM Spada Brenta Brakes took fifth on the day and overall, while Singer KTM Racing and Orbea Speed Company secured third and fourth in the general classification standings, having finished seventh and sixth, respectively, on Stage 4.

Torpado Kenda FSA’s Stage 4 success extended into the women’s race, where Sosna-Pinelė and Marchet were, like Valero and Porro, left wondering what might have been in the absence of bad luck. The pair had lost 25 minutes with a puncture on Stage 1 and had to be content with two stage wins, on Stage 3 and 4, as consolation prizes. Their misfortune did not detract from the success of Massi ISB Sport’s Calderon and Fasolis.

Having won Stages 1 and 2, the pair could afford to conserve energy and descend cautiously on Stages 3 and 4. Second on the final stage was enough to earn both Massi ISB Sport riders their second Andorra Epic titles. Calderon won in 2024 alongside Tessa Kortekaas, while Fasolis’

victory came in 2021 alongside Sandra Mairhofer. “It’s amazing, I didn’t expect this at all at the start of the week,” Fasolis confessed. “I’m very, very happy!”

“The second part of today’s stage was very tough for me, because I ran out of water and it was so hot,” Fasolis continued. “I struggled on the second climb, and I didn’t descend well either, but we managed to stay ahead of the Metallurgica [Veneta – Next Ride] team.”

“Monica [Calderon] is an amazing partner,” Fasolis praised. “After Croatia [where the Massi ISB Sport team placed fourth at the 4Islands Epic], I’m happy to have been able to make her happy with this victory.”

Fasolis and Calderon’s final margin of victory was 7 minutes and 20 seconds over Maria Zarantonello and Chrystelle Baumann. Sosna-Pinelė and Marchet were third, a further 13 minutes back. ISB Cyclistwork Factory’s Meritxell Figueras Garangou and Alba Teruel Ribes were fourth on the final stage and overall, 5 and a half minutes ahead of Claudia Krenn and Veronika Weiss, of Velo Kartell x R-Suspension MTB.

2026 Andorra Epic Results

Stage 4 Elite Men:

  1. TORPADO KENDA FSA: Gioele de Cosmo and Casey South (2:04:38)
  2. SCOTT RACING: Davide Foccoli C Stefano Goria (2:06:43 | +2:05)
  3. TORPADO KENDA FSA 2: Fabian Rabensteiner C Jakob Dorigoni (2:07:07 | +2:29)
  4. KLIMATIZA ORBEA: David Valero C Samuele Porro (2:07:23 | +2:45)
  5. KTM SPADA | BRENTA BRAKES: Lorenzo Samparisi C Jacopo Billi (2:07:59 | +3:21)

Stage 4 Elite Women:

  1. TORPADO KENDA FSA: KataĹľina Sosna-PinelÄ— C Giorgia Marchet (2:42:31)
  2. MASSI ISB SPORT: Monica Calderon C Costanza Fasolis (2:46:37 | +4:06)
  3. METALLURGICA VENETA – NEXT RIDE: Maria Zarantonello C Chrystelle Baumann (2:46:38 | +4:07)
  4. ISB CYCLISTWORK FACTORY: Meritxell Figueras Garangou C Alba Teruel Ribes (2:56:57 | +14:26)
  5. VELO KARTELL X R-SUSPENSION MTB: Claudia Krenn C Veronika Weiss (2:58:47 | +16:16)

Elite Men’s General Classification after Stage 4:

  1. SCOTT RACING: Davide Foccoli C Stefano Goria (9:18:41)
  2. KLIMATIZA ORBEA: David Valero C Samuele Porro (9:20:12 | +1:31)
  3. SINGER KTM RACING: Simon Stiebjahn C Martin Frey (9:26:21| +7:40)
  4. ORBEA SPEED COMPANY: Lukas Baum C Georg Egger (9:27:54 | +9:13)
  5. KTM SPADA | BRENTA BRAKES: Lorenzo Samparisi C Jacopo Billi (9:33:40 | +14:59)

Elite Women’s General Classification after Stage 4:

  1. MASSI ISB SPORT: Monica Calderon C Costanza Fasolis (12:13:59)
  2. METALLURGICA VENETA – NEXT RIDE: Maria Zarantonello C Chrystelle Baumann (12:21:19 | +7:20)
  3. TORPADO KENDA FSA: KataĹľina Sosna-PinelÄ— C Giorgia Marchet (12:34:19 | +20:20)
  4. ISB CYCLISTWORK FACTORY: Meritxell Figueras Garangou C Alba Teruel Ribes (12:57:31 | +43:32)
  5. VELO KARTELL X R-SUSPENSION MTB: Claudia Krenn C Veronika Weiss (13:03:01 | +49:02)
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