REGISTRATIONS ARE OPEN
Get your early bird discount!
UNIQUE GRAVEL EVENT IN THE HEART OF THE ALPS
A breathtaking event course, delicious food and pumping music all day long. Octopus Gravel is the meeting point for gravel enthusiasts and mountain lovers.
01 JULY 2023
ANDERMATT, SWITZERLAND
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The Route
The event course consists of 7 spectacular dead-end gravel road passes.
All of them lead back to the main event, allowing you the chance to rest, have some food and drinks, listen to some great beats and soak up the atmosphere at the event expo, before tackling the next segment.
Decide the amount of riding yourself!
Challenge yourself and find out how many of the 7 gravel passes you can do in a day. The maximum amount of riding would be 155km and 4350hm.
Let's race!
Octopus Gravel also offers 3 timed climbs between 4km and 7km in the spirit of a special race. There is a women’s category and a men’s category, the fastest will receive prizes.
Anterior
Siguiente
LOCATION
Andermatt is known as the mecca of road riding in Switzerland. It is the door to some of the most impressive road passes in Europe, such as Gotthard, Furka, Susten, Grimsel or Oberalp. However, you will soon discover during the event that Andermatt offers even more spectacular dead-end gravel roads. You’ll find yourself immersed in an unexplored dreamland.
Find out more: www.andermatt.ch
MUSIC
A perfect day needs great beats!
DJ
Throughout the day, a DJ will provide chill-out music in the main Square.
Live Music
At 7pm, a live band will play to close out the day of riding in style.
After party
At 10pm, we will have an after party in town. All participants have the enter for free, and can rock the eighth segment all night long. It will be the icing on the cake after a memorable day of riding in the alps.
PROGRAM
- FRIDAY 30st of June
- 5pm Bib Collection opens
- 7pm Cycling Movie Night
-
9pm Bib Collection closes
SATURDAY 1st of July 6am Bib Collection opens - 8am Start Gravel
- 9am Start eBike
- 3pm Work shops
- 6pm Cut off time
- 7pm Live music starts
- 8pm Podium ceremony
-
10pm After party starts
SUNDAY 2nd of July - 10am hang-over ride 1 (optional)
- 11am hang-over ride 2 (optional)
HOTEL / CAMPING
There are different levels of accommodations in Andermatt
Camping
Considered as one of the most beautiful located camping spots in Switzerland. The rate is 13 CHF a night. Either for tent or camper van. Contact: mail@gotthard-camping.ch
HotelDirectly located next to the event area is the Radisson Blu. The luxury hotel offers a great discount of 20% by booking directly on their website.
There are plenty of more hotel options or mountain huts in the area.SERVICES
Included in the entry fee
- Route indication (signs & GPX file)
- Feed zones with high variety of food
- 15 CHF voucher for food in the main square
- Timing
- Prizes for the first-place racers
- Goodie bag
- Participation Summiteer Raffle
- Live music and after party
-
Event photos
= Everything you need for a legendary day
CONCEPT
Octopus Gravel delivers a unique format, providing you the freedom to choose the amount of riding and climbing yourself.
Imagine the main event area to be the head and body of the Octopus, and the segments to be the arms. All segments are dead-end gravel road passes and lead back to the main event area, allowing you the chance to rest, have some food and drinks, listen to some great beats and check out the event expo, before then tackling the next segment. The 7 turnaround points are in between 8 - 17km away from the event area.
That racers also come into their own, Octopus Gravel offers 3 enduro-style timed uphill sections of 4-7km. The top 3 of each category in the overall ranking will receive prizes.
The overall time will not be recorded. This allows you to tackle the descents at your speed, enjoy the spectacular landscape, the feed zones on top of every segment and the company of your fellow riders.
The idea is that every participant does as much as they can or feel like. To complete all 7 passes will be a serious challenge and deserves the title of Queen or King of Octopus Gravel. As you probably know, a real Octopus has 8 arms. To be the ultimate Queen or King of Octopus Gravel, you also have to make it to the after party and rock it all night.
The event area will be located at the Piazza in Andermatt. We expect a busy and entertaining atmosphere throughout the entire day.
THE WALL CHALLENGE
Extra challenge
On the Gotthard trail there is a very steep and rough 200m uphill section. All participants who make it up there without putting a foot down will be entered into an extra fun game at the end of the event day. It is expected that no more than 10% of the participants will make it up there. Are you up for the challenge?
SUMMITEER RAFFLE
Raffle draw for each climb
There is a chance to win 7 different great prizes / one from each sponsor. For every climb a participants completes, the rider qualifies for a raffle draw of the completed pass. This means the more climbs you do the more raffles you can take part in.
ARRIVAL
Even though Andermatt is located in the middle of the Alps, it is easily accessible by car, train or bike.
Bike packing
Why not coming by bike to the event venue? It is a beautiful ride through Switzerland no matter from which direction you come. If you have the time, we highly recommend you put your bags on the bike and ride to Andermatt.
Get inspired: Push bottom Komoot Collection
Train
Switzerland is not only known for its stunning landscape, but also for its very reliable and wide train network. It is fairly easy to arrive in Andermatt by train, and all trains in Switzerland allow bike transportation. As some trains need a reservation for bicycles, just make sure you book your bike ticket a few days in advance.
Car
As Andermatt is above the Gotthard tunnel, the main connection between Italy and Western Europe is easily reachable by car. Just make sure you don’t miss the last exit before the Gotthard tunnel ;). Please consider car sharing.
Flight
The nearest airports are in Zurich or Milan. Also flying to Geneva or Basel is an option, as you can just hop on the train from either of these locations to get to Andermatt.
Bike packing
Why not coming by bike to the event venue? It is a beautiful ride through Switzerland no matter from which direction you come. If you have the time, we highly recommend you put your bags on the bike and ride to Andermatt.
Get inspired: Push bottom Komoot Collection
Train
Switzerland is not only known for its stunning landscape, but also for its very reliable and wide train network. It is fairly easy to arrive in Andermatt by train, and all trains in Switzerland allow bike transportation. As some trains need a reservation for bicycles, just make sure you book your bike ticket a few days in advance.
Car
As Andermatt is above the Gotthard tunnel, the main connection between Italy and Western Europe is easily reachable by car. Just make sure you don’t miss the last exit before the Gotthard tunnel ;). Please consider car sharing.
Flight
The nearest airports are in Zurich or Milan. Also flying to Geneva or Basel is an option, as you can just hop on the train from either of these locations to get to Andermatt.
Sponsors
REGISTRATIONS ARE OPEN
Get your early bird discount!
FAQ
Yes you can! We believe a Gravel bike is the perfect bike for this course. But if you are worried of the steep uphill sections, a hardtail MTB with smaller gearing might be also a good choice.
You are also welcome to take part on an eGravel or eMTB. The only difference is that the timed sections won’t be counted for the competition.
We recommend a gravel bike or a hardtail MTB. The perfect setup would be a disc brake-equipped gravel bike with 45mm tires, a tubeless set up and 2 bar/30psi.
Also gravel bikes with 35mm tires and tubes will bring you around the course absolutely fine. For some of you the smaller gears of a hardtail MTB can make it also a great choice.
In general we highly recommend you to mount a small cassette. It will make your life much easier towards the end of a long day of climbing.
No, it is cristal clear that you have to expect on coming traffic at all times and should never cut corners. On all segments where you ride in both directions, the road will be at least 2m wide. There is no timing for downhill sections.
No, the course consists out of smooth gravel fire roads, rough tarmac, and easy single trails. There is one optional descent for more advanced riders.
Up the Gotthard trail some experience with steep bumpy trails will help you, but if you don’t make it you can easily push your bike for that part.
- Indication of stunning race course
- Feed zones with a wide variety of food
- 15 CHF voucher for food on the main square
- Timing for the 3 segments
- Prizes for the first racers
- Goodie bag
- Presentation from Jonas Deichmann on main square
- Participation at Summiteer Raffle
- Live music and after party
- Event photos (tips appreciated)
Yes, he first three women and the first three men will receive some great prizes.
Of course, you should have a valid health, travel and liability insurance.
Yes, you can.
155km and 4450hm of climbing. Most participant will not do 4-5 of the 7 climbs, but we recommend that you give it a try to do it all. Every meter of the course is worth the effort.
You will have the following three options.
- Transfer of the participation fee to 2023
- Refund of the participation fee, minus 20 CHF administration costs
- Donation of the participation fee in favor of the event