Tough Racing in Val di Sole

N1NO Schurter defends his overall lead in the World Cup with a fine 3rd place, Kate Courtney had a disappointing weekend, losing her lead in the overall.

Val di Sole, Italy. After a highly successful World Cup in Les Gets the SCOTT-SRAM team was forced to shift a gear down at the Val di Sole World Cup. Nino Schurter again showed an excellent performance. However, this time it was not enough to hold against an outstanding Mathieu Van der Poel and Mathias Flückiger. Kate Courtney, Lars Forster and Andri Frischknecht had a more or less disappointing weekend not riding at their best. Alas, that’s racing.

Eye to eye with the winner – Nino Schurter fighting for the win on Val di Sole’s demanding WC track
Photography: Sven Martin

The newly crowned European Champion, Mathieu van der Poel made a clear statement by winning the XCC short track on Friday. The muddy conditions and rainy weather was not so much to Nino’s taste but he still managed a respectable 5th place. Lars Forster showed a pretty good race in 13th, Andri Frischknecht finished 27th. Van der Poel setting the pace right after the start leading to an early separation which only the Swiss, Mathias Flückiger and Nino Schurter were able to follow. All three of this leading trio had their strong moments attacking for an early decision, but none of them managed to separate themself from the others.

Going into final lap it was N1NO who attacked hard up the long climb. Not being able to crack his competitors, Van der Poel counter attacked and dragged Flückiger along while dropping Nino. This was a mentally hard moment the World Champion could not recover from.

“I was giving 100% but somehow could not overcome that limit like I usually can fighting for the win. I tried hard but it just wasn’t enough today. Respect to the outstanding race of the guys ahead of me. It’s not a shame to lose at such a high level.”

N1NO Schurter
Olympic & 7x World Champion
SCOTT-SRAM MTB Racing

Left to right: Henrique Avancini (4th) Mathias Flückiger (2nd) Mathieu Van der Pole (1st) Nino Schurter (3rd) Luca Bardot (5th)
Photography: Sven Martin

Still trying to find their top shape are Lars Forster and Andri Frischknecht. After a good start both faded on the physically very tough course and finished in 26th (Forster) and 33rd (Frischknecht).

World Champion Kate Courtney Loses World Cup Overall Lead

After a very intense training camp in Massa Vecchia, Tuscany, Kate showed up in Val di Sole not yet 100% recovered. The hard work of the past weeks was primarily an investment towards the World Championship coming up. The World Champion was trying very hard to take over the command of the race on the first lap but soon had to let European Champion, Jolanda Neff and French Champion, Pauline Ferran-Prevot go. At this point it was a pure battle for Kate to make it to the finish. The good thing is she never gave up. Lenzerheide and Snow Shoe are still on the schedule, therefore SCOTT-Sram is looking forward to an exciting end of the season and battle for the world cup overall win.

“It was a disappointing day in Val Di Sole for me. After a really hard training block in Tuscany, I have to be honest that my body didn’t have the time to recover and I had a tough day in the office during Sunday’s challenging XC race. I am proud to have finished and I am grateful for the incredible team around me even more on the hard days.”

Kate Courtney
2018 UCI Elite XC World Champion
SCOTT-SRAM MTB Racing