Schurter solos to victory in Les Gets

With a last lap attack, Nino Schurter (Scott-SRAM) scored the 32nd World Cup victory of his career on Sunday in Les Gets, France. Schurter has moved to within one win of Julien Absalon's all-time record.

The race proved to be tactical, with a select group forming at the front on the first lap. Dry, dusty and hot conditions at 1,200 metres of altitude on a circuit with lots of climbing seemed to make riders cautious from attacking too early.

A group formed containing Schurter, Gerhard Kerschbaumer (Torpado Ursus), Henrique Avancini (Cannondale Factory), Stephane Tempier (Bianchi Countervail), Ondrej Cink (Kross Racing), Jordan Sarrou (Absolite-Absalon), David Valero (MMR Factory) and Peter Disera (Norco Factory). Significantly, World Cup number-two ranked Mathieu van der Poel (Corendon-Circus) did not make the lead group, and seemed to been struggling from the start, dropping as low as 45th before finally recovering slightly in the last two laps to finish 16th.

Avancini and Kerschbaumer did most of the work on the climbs, with Schurter content to follow. Cink attacked on the fifth lap, splitting the group, with only Schurter, Avancini, Kerschbaumer and Tempier able to stay with him. Kerschbaumer then surged on the next lap, dropping Tempier, and on the seventh, penultimate, lap, Schurter went to the front for the first time, dropping everyone but Kerschbaumer.

He attacked again just before the start of the final lap, but Kerschbaumer clawed his way back, so Schurter backed off until the final climb of the race, and this time Kerschbaumer could not respond to Schurter's attack. Avancini held on for third, just ahead of Tempier, who out-sprinted Cink.

"It was a tough race, a tough course – very physical," said Schurter, who won his first world title in Les Gets as a junior back in 2004. "Gerhard was super strong, and I was a bit surprised when I dropped him on the second-to-last lap. That gave me confidence that I was the strongest today. On a physical track like this, it’s hard to get gaps, so for a long time it was an open race. Today was a big step towards the overall title."

In the overall standings, Schurter now leads by 245 points, with Avancini moving into second ahead of Van der Poel by 16 points. Mathias Fluckiger (Thomus RN) drops to fourth overall from second, after finishing ninth.   

Full Results

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#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Nino Schurter (Swi)1:22:10
2Gerhard Kerschbaumer (Ita)0:00:04
3Henrique Avancini (Bra)0:00:38
4Stephane Tempier (Fra)0:00:48
5Ondřej Cink (Cze)Row 4 - Cell 2
6Peter Disera (Can)0:01:08
7Jens Schuermans (Bel)0:01:21
8Jordan Sarrou (Fra)0:01:22
9Mathias Flueckiger (Swi)0:01:29
10David Valero Serrano (Spa)0:01:46
11Victor Koretzky (Fra)0:02:00
12Anton Sintsov (Rus)0:02:27
13Milan Vader (Ned)0:02:38
14Florian Vogel (Swi)0:02:45
15Luca Braidot (Ita)0:03:03
16Mathieu Van Der Poel (Ned)0:03:13
17Manuel Fumic (Ger)Row 16 - Cell 2
18Lars Forster (Swi)0:03:21
19Martins Blums (Lat)0:03:22
20Georg Egger (Ger)0:03:38
21Andri Frischknecht (Swi)0:03:39
22Carlos Coloma Nicolas (Spa)0:03:46
23Matthias Stirnemann (Swi)Row 22 - Cell 2
24Reto Indergand (Swi)0:03:47
25Luca Schwarzbauer (Ger)0:04:04
26Maxime Marotte (Fra)0:04:10
27Jan Vastl (Cze)0:04:16
28Thomas Litscher (Swi)0:04:17
29Sebastian Fini Carstensen (Den)0:04:18
30Keegan Swenson (USA)0:04:32
31Karl Markt (Aut)0:04:50
32Ben Zwiehoff (Ger)0:04:51
33Thomas Griot (Fra)0:04:57
34Lukas Flueckiger (Swi)0:05:07
35Daniele Braidot (Ita)0:05:11
36Anton Cooper (NZl)0:05:12
37Fabian Giger (Swi)Row 36 - Cell 2
38Andrea Tiberi (Ita)0:05:30
39Nicola Rohrbach (Swi)0:05:33
40Hugo Drechou (Fra)0:05:42
41Jan Škarnitzl (Cze)Row 40 - Cell 2
42Gioele Bertolini (Ita)0:06:13
43Alan Hatherly (RSA)0:06:16
44Martin Fanger (Swi)0:06:24
45Markus Schulte-Lünzum (Ger)0:06:32
46Noah Blöchlinger (Swi)0:06:55
47Erik Hægstad (Nor)0:06:59
48Martin Loo (Est)0:07:02
49Titouan Carod (Fra)0:07:29
50Grant Ferguson (GBr)0:07:33
51Guy Sessler (Isr)0:07:44
52Nicholas Pettina' (Ita)0:07:49
53Ivan Filatov (Rus)0:07:51
54Maxime Loret (Fra)0:07:53
55Denis Fumarola (Ita)Row 54 - Cell 2
56David Menut (Fra)0:07:54
57Severin Disch (Swi)0:08:08
58Mirko Tabacchi (Ita)0:08:23
59Lorenzo Pellegrini (Ita)0:08:35
60Andrew L'Esperance (Can)0:08:48
61Simon Vitzthum (Swi)0:09:08
62Mário Costa (Por)0:09:31
63Nick Vanpol (Bel)Row 62 - Cell 2
64Florian Chenaux (Swi)Row 63 - Cell 2
65Erno Mccrae (Bel)Row 64 - Cell 2
66Christian Pfäffle (Ger)Row 65 - Cell 2
67Daniel James Mcconnell (Aus)Row 66 - Cell 2
68Andrin Beeli (Swi)Row 67 - Cell 2
69Martin Gluth (Ger)Row 68 - Cell 2
70Joshua Dubau (Fra)Row 69 - Cell 2
71Tom Bell (GBr)Row 70 - Cell 2
72Mattia Setti (Ita)Row 71 - Cell 2
73Davide Clerici (Ita)Row 72 - Cell 2
74Moritz Bscherer (Aut)Row 73 - Cell 2
75David Rosa (Por)Row 74 - Cell 2
76Zdeněk Vobecký (Cze)Row 75 - Cell 2
77Marc Andre Fortier (Can)Row 76 - Cell 2
78Bruno Vitali (Swi)Row 77 - Cell 2
79Bastien Rolland (Fra)Row 78 - Cell 2
80Rob Vanden Haesevelde (Bel)Row 79 - Cell 2
81Ben Oliver (NZl)Row 80 - Cell 2
82Jordan Meier (Fra)Row 81 - Cell 2
83Maximilian Foidl (Aut)Row 82 - Cell 2
84Adrien Chenaux (Swi)Row 83 - Cell 2
85Léo Lhomme (Swi)Row 84 - Cell 2
86Edoardo Bonetto (Ita)Row 85 - Cell 2
87Joseph De Poortere Emelien (Fra)Row 86 - Cell 2
88Anthony Zaragoza (Fra)Row 87 - Cell 2
89Lucas Dubau (Fra)Row 88 - Cell 2
90Harold Flandre (Fra)Row 89 - Cell 2
91Raphael Gagne (Can)Row 90 - Cell 2
92Anthony Ralle (Fra)Row 91 - Cell 2
93Kevin Panhuyzen (Bel)Row 92 - Cell 2
94Samuel Gaze (NZl)Row 93 - Cell 2
95Raphael Gay (Fra)Row 94 - Cell 2
96Jan Schär (Swi)Row 95 - Cell 2
97Thibaud Saint Guilhem (Fra)Row 96 - Cell 2
98Sebastian Jayne (Aus)Row 97 - Cell 2
99Vincent Sibille (Fra)Row 98 - Cell 2
100Pedro Rodriguez Mesa (Spa)Row 99 - Cell 2
101Antoine Orchampt (Fra)Row 100 - Cell 2
102Fabien Bragagia (Fra)Row 101 - Cell 2
103Rodolphe Lestievent (Fra)Row 102 - Cell 2
104Ingvar Omarsson (Isl)Row 103 - Cell 2
105Cyril Bourdon (Fra)Row 104 - Cell 2
106Leandre Bouchard (Can)Row 105 - Cell 2
107Arthur Tropardy (Fra)Row 106 - Cell 2
108Rémi Groslambert (Fra)Row 107 - Cell 2
109David Duggan (GBr)Row 108 - Cell 2
110Tumelo Makae (Les)Row 109 - Cell 2
111Wout Alleman (Bel)Row 110 - Cell 2
112Clément Noel (Fra)Row 111 - Cell 2
DNFNadir Colledani (Ita)Row 112 - Cell 2
DNFSergio Mantecon Gutierrez (Spa)Row 113 - Cell 2
DNFJakub Zamrozniak (Pol)Row 114 - Cell 2
DNFBartlomiej Wawak (Pol)Row 115 - Cell 2
DNFPablo Rodriguez Guede (Spa)Row 116 - Cell 2
DNSGregor Raggl (Aut)Row 117 - Cell 2

 

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