Back In The Game

In THE classic of all mountain bike races, conditions were again demanding. With a strong warrior spirit, the SCOTT-SRAM athletes overcame their own obstacles along the way and each survived the challenge.

Mont Saint Anne-Canada, August 7th 2022. The last race before heading into the finale of the season was a test for both athletes and their equipment. With European and World Championships just around the corner later this month, it was also the last check for who’s on fire. For N1NO, it was all about keeping an eye on the prize for the overall. For the others, to keep their confidence on track.

N1NO’s terrible crash in Snowshoe was still sitting in his bones at the MSA race weekend. Bruised ribs still make his breathing painful. Therefore, the XCC on Friday did not go very well, setting him back to a 4th row starting position for the XCO. With a less then ideal start, it took him some time to get going. But once he did, he was back on fire moving from 15th all the way up to second place. By that time, the eventual winner Titouan Carod from France already had a huge lead on his followers.

Imagery: Michal Cerveny

Going into the last lap, N1NO was facing Filippo Colombo, David Valero, Luca Bradoit and Pierre de Froidmont as contenders for the second spot on the podium. The World Champion pushed hard to get rid of the others. However, the last little bit that he usually reveals in such a situation was just not there. And on the last tricky descent over the slippery rocks, he crashed again. This was the end of the chase for 2nd place. Through the pain, he managed to get to the finish in 6th. Not quite the happy ending he pushed for, but considering he wasn’t even sure he could finish this race, these points are highly valuable. The two closest contenders for the overall gained less points in this round than N1NO. Alan Hatherly finished 17th, and Vlad Dasclu was unfortunately not even able to start after his crash in Snow Shoe.

All in all, a good weekend for N1NO, putting him one step closer to wrapping up the 2022 World Cup overall title in Val di Sole in September.

“I really wasn’t sure what to expect from this race. If someone told me before the race 6th place, I would take it right away. How the race unfolded, it actually could have been a better result at the end. However, I’m just happy to be back racing. Now I still have the best cards securing the overall title. Something that was very uncertain a week ago.”

Nino Schurter
World Champion 2021
World Cup Leader 2022
SCOTT-SRAM MTB Racing

Kate Courtney

After a strong 6th place in the XCC, Kate’s ambitions for the XCO were high. She found a good rhythm into the race until two things happened that were not in her favor. Pouring rain and a dropper seat post that was out of function. This Mont Saint Anne race track is highly demanding on bike handling skills in the dry. When it’s wet, the athletes are on the edge getting over the slippery rocks and roots. A missing dropper post make a lot of sections too dangerous. Fighting like a warrior, Kate was making up time on the climbs, while losing positions on the descent. Several times she went down.

Her 8th place finish therefore is a highly respectful outcome. Kate sure made the best out of it.

Lars Forster & Andri Frischknecht

After a good start, Lars was fading back a bit. Too bad, as he recovered well and showed a super strong finale. After a very strong race in Snow Shoe and a 11th place finish in MSA, we have proof his form is coming around to have a fair chance of defending his European Champion title in two weeks time.

Andri’s race started as fast as it was over. With a whole shoot start he was leading a World Cup for the first time in his career. Being in front for the entire start loop looked like a breakthrough race for him. Unfortunately, that did not last very long. A wrong turn put him from 1st back to 35th, where he usually fights in first lap. The focus was gone. The moral down. He crossed the line in P25.

SCOTT-SRAM – Moments from Mont Saint Anne

Take a look behind the scenes of SCOTT-SRAM in preperation of the World Cup with the video edit from Mont Saint Anne linked below.
Video by RaineduponMedia

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European Games Munich

On August 19th, the European Championships will be held within the multi sport discipline European Games in Munich. Lars as the defending champion and Andri will represent our colors. Nino wants to use the remaining time until Worlds to get 100% healthy and focus on defending his title in Les Gets, France at the end of the month.

Stay tuned!