Christoph Sauser (born April 13, 1976 in Sigriswil, Switzerland) [1] is a cross-country mountain biker who won the bronze medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. He currently races on the Specialized Cross Country Team.
He was the overall winner of the UCI World Cup in 2004 and 2005, along with taking 2nd in 2002 and 2003, with a 3rd place in 2001. He has won a total of 10 World Cups.
In 2006 Sauser won his first Absa Cape Epic with partner Silvio Bundi. He then partnered up with Burry Stander winning back to back in 2011 and 2012.[2] Sauser partnered up with Jaroslav Kulhavy in 2013, once again claiming 1st in the marathon stage race. At the 2015 Absa Cape Epic Sauser rode himself in the race’s history books by becoming the first person to win it a landmark five times, after which he retired from professional racing. In March, 2017, Sauser came out of retirement in a bid to win his sixth Absa Cape Epic. In spite of being in good form he and partner Jaroslav Kulhavy (Investec Songo Specialized) finished second to Nino Schurter and Matthias Stirnemann (Scott-Sram). The Sauser/Kulhavy combination was hampered by punctures at critical times.
He won first place in the 2008 Mountain Bike World Championships, came second in the 2005 edition, and third in 2001. He has been Swiss champion four times. In his early years of racing he started in both XC and DH races. He is one of the top mountain bikers in the last few years.