Champions of the World Cup

Kate Courtney & N1NO Schurter are the 2019 World Cup Champions. Lars Forster wins his first ever World Cup race. This is NEXTLEVEL!

Snowshoe, West Virginia, USA. In the 18 years of SCOTT SRAM’s team history there have been many moments we said: “This is next level!” And we always wonder what’s next. It’s clear we just reached one more at World Cup finals in Snowshoe, West Virginia. Truly a weekend to remember!

With both Kate Courtney and N1NO Schurter winning the World Cup Champion title, Lars Forster reaching out for his first World Cup win, N1NO Schurter winning his first XCC short track World Cup ever plus SCOTT-SRAM MTB Racing taking home the “Team of the Day” crown, it doesn’t get any better than this.

This is as good as it gets- SCOTT-SRAM MTB Racing finishing off the 2019 Racing season with a boom. N1NO Schurter and Kate Courtney as the Overall Champions, together with Lars Forster, Andri Frischknecht, and the entire crew at the finish in Snowshoe. Photography: Sven Martin

Lars Forster and N1NO Schurter kicked-off the season by winning the legendary Cape Epic stage race in South Africa in March this year. Both finished the season crossing the line at the very last big race of the season in Snowshoe at the World Cup finals together again, going 1-2. It was Lars’ first ever World Cup win.

After winning his 8th World Champion Title the week prior in Mont Sainte Anne, Canada, N1NO went into the last World Cup with full confidence. Snowshoe Mountain in West Virginia hosted the World Cup finals and proved to be a remote, but superb location for our athletes. A super fast track was waiting for Kate Courtney, N1NO, Lars Forster, and Andri Frischknecht in both the XCC short track and elite races. N1NO had the Overall almost in the pocket already before the weekend. In the absence of Mathieu van der Poel (he did not travel to North America), N1NO won his first ever XCC short track in style, securing with these points the World Cup overall.

Kate however, went into the weekend knowing she had to make up ground to overtake World Cup leader Jolanda Neff in the Overalls, with only 32pts between them. Kate finished the XCC in a strong third, while Jolanda overpaced and fell back. With a great XCC race, Kate led the path for her powerful performance at Sunday’s main event. She then only needed 20 pts to catch Jolanda but had to push beyond her limit to succeed. A task that was eased by the roaring home crowd. And the 23 year old delivered.

With a brave lead during the first laps, Kate Courtney set a high pace from the start. All eyes were on the battle of her and Neff. With thousands of supporters cheering for Kate, the young Californian probably got that extra mental boost which was needed for such a remarkable day. Despite Kate slightly falling back in the middle of the race, she came back in style and finished in 5th. Jolanda Neff finished in 11th, which meant the Overall World Cup victory belonged to Kate Courtney, the winner of three XCO World Cups in 2019!

Kate Courtney on the top step of the podium after the 2019 World Cup season.

“Today was an incredibly special day for me bringing home the World Cup overall title in front of my home crowd. I came into this race 20 points behind and fought with all I had to earn the jersey and finish my 2019 season with a bang. Coming into this season, I never imagined I would find myself in the battle for the overall. This win represents a season of hard work and consistency by each and every member of my team – I am just so proud I could bring it home.”

Kate Courtney
2019 UCI Elite XC World Cup Champion
SCOTT-SRAM MTB Racing

The mens’ race unfolded as a super-fast one, with N1NO Schurter and Lars Forster in the front bunch from the beginning. At the end of lap 4, Brazilian, Henrique Avancini set an attack which only N1NO could follow. For almost two laps, the two rivals rode ahead of the bunch until N1NO faced a mechanical loosing air in his rear wheel. The pit stop cost him a precious 25 seconds. N1NO however fought his way back inside the chasing group. Together with teammate Lars Forster, the two were on the hunt for Avancini. Thanks to an incredible team effort, N1NO and Lars caught the leader already 1.5 laps after the puncture.

In best team work style, the two worked their way to the finish line and managed to distance the chasing group around Avancini, Mnauel Fumic, Stephane Tempier and Maxime Marotte. It was Lars Forster who turned out to be the one with the most power left for a final move. N1NO’s Cape Epic winner companion accelerated in the last steep climb and passed N1NO to take home his first ever World Cup win of his career. A win, truly deserved after going down hard at the World Cup in Albstadt and suffering more lows in the past months.

“I can’t say how big of a release this is for me. After my injury in Albstadt, I had a hard time getting back to where I wanted to be. And with time going by, I was with my back to the wall. I was in good shape at Worlds already, but luck was not on my side. So it was ALL IN here at the final and I nailed it. After all I went through this year, this Word Cup win tastes even sweeter now.”

Lars Forster
Winner of the World Cup Finals in Snowshoe
SCOTT-SRAM MTB Racing

“World Champion and World Cup Champion. I’m super proud earning both big international titles again. And I’m just as happy for my teammate’s success. Sharing this moment together is something very special. In particular my Cape Epic partner, Lars Forster had to go through some dark times this season. He deserves finishing off this season with such a great win more than anyone else.”

Nino Schurter
Olympic Champion, 8x World Champion, 7x World Cup Champion
SCOTT-SRAM MTB Racing

Moments of pure joy- SCOTT-MTB Racing celebrating just another perfect season.

“This is next level!” And we always wonder what’s next. Well, there is always a #nextlevel how we would say. We just reached one more at World Cup finals in Snowshoe, West Virginia. Truly a weekend to remember!”

Thomas Frischknecht
Team Director
SCOTT-SRAM MTB Racing

Overall Results 2019 UCI MTB World Cup

Women Elite XCO:

Kate Courtney: 1772 pts
Jolanda Neff: 1742 pts
Pauline Ferrand Prevot: 1575 pts

Men Elite XCO:

Nino Schurter: 1995 pts
Mathieu van der Poel: 1649 pts
Henrique Avancini: 1565 pts

The World Cup Champions’ Bikes – SCOTT’s 2020 SPARK RC 900 WC N1NO LTD

Snowshoe World Cup winner Lars Forster, World and World Cup Champion Nino Schurter, World Cup Champion Kate Courtney and Andri Frischknecht raced a new Limited Edition, SCOTT’s 2020 Spark RC 900 World Cup LTD frame kit. The exclusive frame kit, which will be on sale soon, comes with several custom features (check all details of the inline model below). Keeping the ride smooth, a RockShox SID Ultimate fork is paired with a custom RockShox NUDE 3-mode rear shock via our TwinLoc Suspension System.

Specs of the inline Spark RC 900 WC N1NO LTD frame kit:

FRAME: HMX Carbon Frame, 1 by only
FORK: RockShox SID Ultimate RLC3 Air – Custom Charger 3-Modes Damper with low Speed Adj. – 15x110mm Maxle Stealth / Tapered steerer / Lockout / Reb. Adj.
TRAVEL: Lockout – 70 – 100mm
REAR SHOCK: RockShox NUDE RLC3 Trunnion – SCOTT custom w. travel / geo adj. – 3 MODES: Lockout-Traction Control-Descend – low Speed Ad.j / Reb. Adj.

Accessories

SRAM XX1 Custom Crankset
SRAM Level Ultimate Custom Brakes
TwinLoc Remote Control Shifter Kit, Syncros
Pro Drop in Headset
Syncros Fraser iC Handlebar
Syncros rear axle
APPROX. FRAME WEIGHT (size M): 1849 g | 4.08 Lbs (incl. shock)
Sizes: S, M, L, XL.