Les Gets, France. The World Cup track in Les Gets holds a special significance for the SCOTT-SRAM Team, and especially for N1NO Schurter. One of the highlights of the season, this course always guarantees first-class racing in front of the wild French crowds. It was also the place where N1NO crowned himself as the Greatest Of All Time, with his 10th World Championship win in 2022.
Now, a year later, the team returned to Les Gets with the great memories from the year before, to face the punchy parcours in near perfect conditions and under a blazing September sun.
After missing the Short Track race due to illness, no one knew what to expect from N1NO Schurter. He had been suffering from illness since the World Cup in Andorra, taking time to recover right up until the XCO race start on Sunday, where, with no Short Track result, he had to start right back on the 4th row. However, the moment the starting lights turned green, N1NO fired up, putting an exceptional performance off the line. Showing us his strength, power and experience, it took only 2 minutes for N1NO to lead the pack, where he continued to put on the pressure to quickly carve out a leading group.
In the first laps, it was clear every man in this large leading group of riders was fighting hard for the World Cup win. After some time, the heat and the high speed broke this group further apart, to form a leading trio around Victor Koretzky, the eventual winner, Joshua Dubau and N1NO, as they broke far away from the rest.
The pace was high, even as the elastic snapped on Koretzky, leaving Schurter and Dubau on the chase, until Nino suffered an unfortunate rear flat. A short pit stop and quickly back on the bike, it was time for Schurter to turn up the heat. Catching onto a fast chasing group, N1NO put the hammer down to close the gap on Dubau. Once the final lap bell rung, Nino dug even deeper to overtake Dubau into second place and gain every possible inch of dirt on Koretzky. Gaining to only 17 seconds back, N1NO crossed the line in a hard-fought 2nd Place, extending his overall World Cup lead.
With only 2 races left in the current World Cup season, these are important points in the fight for overall World Cup success in the 2023 season.
Nino Schurter
Overall World Cup Leader
SCOTT-SRAM MTB Racing
Filippo Colombo showed the field he is making gains on his comeback form. Starting back of the grid, in 82nd position, Filippo moved further and further up the pack as each lap went by, using his fierce climbing skills to his best advantage on this tough course. Eventually toeing into the Top 20, Filippo was briefly taken out by a flat tyre, forcing him to increase the effort once more. Fighting hard in the heat to get every hard-earned position back, Filippo crossed the line in an impressive 23rd place.
For the World Cup overall leader Nino Schurter, his all-new Spark RC in the unique Endorphin Special Edition design ticks all the boxes! Some of the finest parts available, well balanced with an eye for details.
This Spark RC comes with a very special setup featuring all-new SRAM XX Eagle AXS Drivetrain, the Syncros Silverton SL (30mm) carbon wheels, Fraser iC SL combo, and even a lighter version of his Tofino saddle saving 50g.
