Christoph Sauser confirmed his status as one of the fastest mountain bike racers in the world by taking a win in the UCI Mountain Bike Marathon World Championships in Montello, Italy last weekend.

“The Cape Epic experience made me confident that I could do 4.5 hours full on,” said Sauser, who was representing Switzerland. “It was just incredible to win here.”

Meanwhile in the women’s race, from Denmark Annika Langvad took the much coveted World Champions jersey.

In front of huge crowds, Sauser, already Marathon World Champion in 2007 and Olympic cross-country World Champion in 2008, once again claimed the rainbow jersey. He covered the 115.7 km course in 4hrs 24mins 48secs, finishing 3min 10secs in front of Jaroslav Kulhavy (CZE). Last year’s silver medallist, Mirko Celestino (ITA), took the bronze medal.

In the Elite Women’s race, the podium was made up of the same three athletes as last year but in a different order. Surprising more than a few, last year’s bronze medallist Annika Langvad, became the new World Champion, covering the 98.3km in 4hrs 20mins 33secs. Germany’s Sabine Spitz took silver for the second year running while the 2010 World Champion Esther Süss (SUI) finished third.

The 2011 UCI Mountain Bike Marathon World Championships were raced in hot, sunny conditions, drawing a large crowd of enthusiastic spectators.

Sauser rode his Specialized S-Works Stumpjumper 29er hardtail with S-Works Renegade tires (1.95″) inflated to 26 psi and 27psi on the front and rear respectively. His complete bike weighed 8.5kg. Take a closer look at his bike here.

“Definitely our 29er played a big factor,” said Sauser, who has consistently been aboard a 29er hardtail all this season. “The big wheels made me feel relaxed and stable and like I was just rolling along. I loved it.”