Nino Schurter Showtime in His Kingdom

It was not the 33rd World Cup victory Nino Schurter had hoped for at his home World Cup in Lenzerheide, yet one of the greatest XCO racing shows by the king.

Lenzerheide, Switzerland. Still flying high from the World Championship success the weekend prior, the next highlight of the season awaited the SCOTT-SRAM team at our home World Cup in Lenzerheide. This race was special in many ways. Nino Schurter, as the official crowned king and ambassador of Bike Kingdom Lenzerheide, was not only hungry to add another World Cup win to his Palmares, being back in “his” World Champion jersey after a year break meant something special to the guy who lives just down the mountain. The double motivation sure pulled through. Even if in the end, it wasn’t the awaited 33rd World Cup win, Nino delivered an outstanding performance once again.

Imagery by Rémi Fabregue & Michal Cerveny

The local COVID-19 restrictions allowed 10,000 spectators and Sunday’s XCO race was sold out! A huge crowd enjoyed the perfect weather and thrilling races, a long-awaited comeback to normality. Each perrson attending, from fans to athletes, from officials to staff, was excited to soak in racing at its best. A huge part of this excitement was delivered by the athletes that battled in an incredibly tight race. Even Nino was racing very offensive from the beginning, a large lead group stayed together for most of the race. We saw a lot of attacks and movements in the six-man lead group, but nothing definitive until the last two laps.

With two laps to go, a first attack by the World Cup leader, Mathias Flückiger, and the second one of Albstadt winner, Victor Koretzky made the selection. Together with Nino this trio, who also stepped on the World Championship podium together a week ago, showed they are currently the best. The question was whether they would step on the podium in the same order. The eyes were on Flückiger and Schurter. They did most of the leading work while the Frenchman, Koretzky on the other hand was always present, but maybe was a bit underestimated.

Imagery: Michal Cerveny, Remi Fabregue

This worked in the Frenchman’s favor. Koretzky saved all his energy to launch an attack half a lap to go that both Swiss had no answer to.
Like a “déja vu” from Albstadt, Nino was beaten by Koretzky by two seconds and like a “déja vu” from Worlds, Nino overtook Flückiger on one of the last corners. What a finale this was! Racing at the top of its class.

4th Alan Hatherley (RSA) – 2nd Nino Schurter (SUI)- 1st Victor Koretzky (FRA)- 3rd Mathias Flückiger (SUI)- 5th Titouan Carod (FRA)

“It was the almost perfect race. The legs were great, I love the track and I had all the support of the frantic crowd. Surprisingly the demanding course was not selective enough. Eventually, it made for a quite tactical race. Unlike last weekend someone else had the better finale. Still proud of how I delivered today. It was one of the greatest races in a long time and I was a big part of it. Thanks for the support. I very much enjoyed racing in such an amazing atmosphere.”

Nino Schurter
9x World Champion
SCOTT-SRAM MTB Racing

Andri Frischknecht Cracked the Top 20

Also a result he can be proud of delivered Andri Frischknecht. Starting out of the 5th row he first had to fight his way up. He did this in a very consistent way to earn a solid 20th place at the end and 3rd best Swiss rider.

Andri Frischknecht with a solid P20.

Lars Forster with a Flat

European Champion, Lars Forster also was handicapped by bad seating at the start. For quite some time of the race, he joined forces with Andri, but eventually dropped back after a flat tire to finish in disappointing P39. Full focus on Snow Shoe with some postive memories in his pocket.

Kate Courtney – Making the Best Out Of It

It’s not a secret Kate’s physically not where she wants to be at the moment. This required some adjustments in expectations. Instead of going all-in for the win, she changed her strategy to start the race less aggressively but carrying her speed throughout the race. She found some good flow riding well and delivered a very steady race to finish in 13th place. This might not seem like a great result for the outstanding athlete she is, but sure is a step in the right direction.

No time to rest!

After a hectic month of racing, there is only one weekend to recharge the batteries. The World Cup finals are waiting in Snow Shoe, West Virginia, USA. One we are looking forward to.

Below is a friendly reminder of one of the very best days of the SCOTT-SRAM Racing Team with both Kate and Nino taking the World Cup overall and Lars winning his first World Cup race. The team is looking forward to caring some strong momentum and good memories to send out the season on a high note!