Switzerland held off Denmark to claim the team relay title on the opening day of action at the European Mountain Bike Championships ©UEC Cycling/Twitter

Switzerland held off Denmark to claim the team relay title on the opening day of action at the European Mountain Bike Championships in the Italian commune of Darfo Boario Terme.

The quintet of Filippo Colombo, Joel Roth, Linda Indergand, Alessandra Keller and Andri Frischknecht clocked an overall time of 1 hour 6min 13.17sec to secure the win.

Denmark’s Sebastian Fini Carstensen, Alexander Young Andersen, Caroline Bohe, Simon Andreassen and Malene Degn were 46.18 seconds behind in the runners-up spot.

Rounding out the podium were hosts Italy whose team of Gerhard Kerschbaumer, Chiara Teocchi, Juri Zanotti, Marika Tovo and Nadir Colledani were a further 29.6 seconds off the pace.

The race saw each national team select five of its athletes, three men and two women, with each doing a lap of the 4,000 metres route.

The event is scheduled to run until Sunday ©UEC
The event is scheduled to run until Sunday ©UEC

A total of 36 nations are expected to compete at the Championships across four days of competition.

The men’s and women’s eliminator competitions are due to take place tomorrow.

Junior races will be held on Saturday (July 29), along with the women’s under-23 race.

The men’s under-23 event and elite races will bring the Championships to a close on Sunday (July 30).