With Nove Mesto (CZ) and Albstadt (GER), the 2017 World Cup season is about to take off! Openers without Jenny Rissveds.
Nove Mesto, Czech Republic. With the two “classics” of mountain bike cross-country racing, the World Cup starts late but with a boom into the 2017 season! The SCOTT-SRAM team is looking forward to a big showdown.
Both Nove Mesto and Albstadt (pictured) attract huge enthusiastic crowds.
All team members have great memories from racing in Nove Mesto. Nino Schurter claimed his 2016 World Champion title in Nove Mesto after having already won several World Cups on the same course. Matthias Stirnemann placed 6th at last year’s World Championships. Michiel van der Heijden remembers well the U23 World Cup victory on this track. Also Andri Frischknecht with a 3rd place had his best U23 World Cup finish in Nove Mesto. These are good reasons to be confident that the team will do well there in 2017.
Michiel van der Heijden has some winning experience in Nove Mesto.
The big question is more about who will take the win this year. Is it going to be a battle of the three giants or will a new face claim the first World Cup leaders jersey? Local hero Jaroslav Kulhavy is always the man to beat. He is super motivated for this one and has already won several times in front of his home crowd. Julien Absalon is expected to be up there for a win. But the record winner in Nove Mesto is still Nino Schurter. He loves this track.
Will we see the famous battle between Julien Absalon (left) and Nino Schurter again?
After winning the legendary Cape Epic in South Africa in March, Nino Schurter has the next target on his eyes. Even the preparation was different than prior years, he can look optimistic towards the World Cup start.
“It’s great to have an early success in the books with winning the Cape Epic. But the big show starts now. Even I did few things different in preparation I think I’m ready for it and excited the big races finally take off.”
World Cup Albstadt sprint finish with Julien Absalon and Nino Schurter.
Sad news reaches us from Jenny Rissveds. In less than a month she has lost two close family members. Still in shock about this big loss, she is not in condition to race and will unfortunately not be able to be part of the first two World Cup races. Everyone from the team wishes her from our hearts all the best during this difficult time.
The Olympic Champion will miss the first two World Cup races.
The Race Bikes of SCOTT-SRAM- Spark and Scale 900 RC Worldcup
For most races, SCOTT-SRAM MTB Racing uses the multiple title and media award winning Spark 900. Nino & Co chose the 100% race dedicated RC 900 World Cup version. Its frame is the lightest full suspension race bike to date and packed with top-of-the-line specs. For less technical race tracks the team rides the Scale RC 900 World Cup.
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