Les Gets, France, 2022. Going into the World Championships, Nino had it all to fight for. Despite starting the season strong with a record-matching 33rd World Cup win in Brazil, Nino has faced challenges and tough conditions race after race. The men’s Elite field has never seen such competition, creating suspense at every turn. Yet even in the hardest moments, through grit and determination, Nino has battled hard to successfully maintain the World Cup Overall. Heading into the 2022 edition of the World Championships, who knew if he had it in him to defend the title once more. But with a true fighting spirit, it turned out that nothing was going to stand in his way of the rainbow stripes.
The Mountain Bike World Championships 2022 in Les Gets, with its record-breaking crowds, built a spectacular atmosphere heading into the XCO Elite races. The World Championships had already started on a high note with Nino Schurter featuring in the winning Team for Switzerland in the Team Relay competition, but things were about to get more special from here.
The Les Gets XCO circuit will always hold a special significance for Nino Schurter as the location of his first World Champion title in 2004 as a Junior. 18 years later, and with an incredible career in between, Nino has claimed his 10th Elite World Champion title in the same location, once again making history and extending his reign as the oldest XCO World Champion of all time.
In a career that has defined the sport, Nino proves again that he dominates like no other mountain bike athlete in history. With a record-matching 33 World Cup wins, Olympic Champion, European Champion, 7 World Cup Champion titles, and now today, his 10th Elite XCO World Champion title, N1NO has staked the claim as one of sport’s Greatest of All Time.
N1NO was front of the pack straight out of the gates, already holding onto P1 by the end of the first lap. However, his closest rivals proved almost as strong, as Tom Pidcock, the race favorite, battled from P36 to take the lead in Lap 3, even if briefly. Nino crashed in loose corner, leaving Pidcock out front and forcing the defending champion into a determined chase back to the front. Then, the battle was on between N1NO, Tom Pidcock, Luca Braidot and David Valero Serrano. With years of experience behind him, Nino controlled the pace, perfectly crafting the way things would go for the remaining laps.
A mechanical from Pidcock left Nino to seize the moment and attack, forcing a race deciding gap, which, despite an enormous effort in the chase, Pidcock couldn’t close, leaving Nino and Serrano head-to-head going into the final lap. The race was close, with both men fighting hard, before Nino gained a small but important gap in the rock garden. With the finish in sight, N1NO unleashed the power he is known for, widening the gap and pushing all the way to the line to take the win, with Serrano only 9 seconds behind. 10-time World Champion. The Greatest Of All Time.
Nino Schurter
10x World Champion, World Cup Leader 2022
SCOTT-SRAM MTB Racing
The 2022 World Champs Podium – Left to right: David Valero Serrano (2nd), Nino Schurter (1st), Luca Braidot (3rd)
Imagery: Remi Fabregue
World’s Fastest – SCOTT Spark RC World Cup
The Spark RC once again finds itself atop the World Championship podium. Over the years, Nino Schurter has ridden this bike to glory time and time again, with his victory on Sunday making it 10 World Championship titles. Most successful XC race bike ever? Probably. Most successful XC racer ever? Definitely.
SRAM’s latest state-of-the-art wireless shifting AXS technology, RockShox suspension, TwinLoc and Syncros carbon wheels. Just some of the trick bits you’ll find on N1NO’s SCOTT Spark RC, as ridden at the 2022 World Championships in Les Gets.
Kate Courtney, Lars Forster & Andri Frischknecht
As perfect as Nino’s race went, luck was not so much on the side of his team mates. Despite a committed race, Kate was not quite able to meet her goal of finishing Top 10. Lars had an unfortunate crash, injuring the same knee he has been fighting to recover for the past months, and was unable to finish the race. And Andri started with an extremely impressive P6 after lap 1, however a broken seatpost eventually pushed him further down the field.
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