Nino Schurter (Scott Swisspower) got his season off to a good start at the test event in South Africa one week before the World Cup opener. In a tight battle with Burry Stander (Specialized), Schurter got a few seconds advantage in the last half lap and rode on to win. Schurter's teammate Florian Vogel had been in the lead group until about the halfway point of the race, but he although he dropped off the two other leaders, he still finished in third.
"It's been a long time since I last raced," said Schurter. "Even though I know I trained well over the whole winter, it's always nice to get the proof."
"To be on the podium in the first race of the season feels good and gives me confidence for next week's start of the World Cup," said Vogel. "This is what really counts on the way to the Olympics in London this year."
In the women's race, Frenchwoman Cécile Ravanel won by 15 seconds ahead of Brit Annie Last. Nathalie Schneitter if Switzerland was third at 1:52.
Full Results
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nino Schurter (Swi) | 1:44:14 |
| 2 | Burry Stander (RSA) | 0:00:06 |
| 3 | Florian Vogel (Swi) | 0:00:45 |
| 4 | Moritz Milatz (Ger) | 0:01:36 |
| 5 | Patrik Gallati (Swi) | 0:01:52 |
| 6 | Lukas Flückiger (Swi) | 0:02:07 |
| 7 | Ralph Naef (Swi) | 0:04:53 |
| 8 | Wolfram Kurschat (Ger) | 0:05:06 |
| 9 | Mathias Flückiger (Swi) | 0:05:11 |
| 10 | Nicola Rohrbach (Swi) | 0:05:42 |
| 11 | Cédric Ravanel (Fra) | 0:06:05 |
| 12 | Liam Killeen (GBr) | 0:06:28 |
| 13 | Kohei Yamamoto (Jpn) | 0:06:42 |
| 14 | Kevin Van Hoovels (Bel) | 0:07:03 |
| 15 | Philip Buys (RSA) | 0:07:05 |
| 16 | Milan Spesny (Cze) | 0:07:35 |
| 17 | Reto Indergand (Swi) | 0:07:42 |
| 18 | Jochen Kass (Ger) | 0:07:58 |
| 19 | Stephen Ettinger (USA) | 0:07:59 |
| 20 | Rourke Croeser (RSA) | 0:08:30 |
| 21 | Fabien Canal (Fra) | 0:09:19 |
| 22 | Sebastien Carabin (Bel) | 0:09:34 |
| 23 | Steffen Thum (Ger) | 0:09:49 |
| 24 | Martin Gujan (Swi) | 0:09:51 |
| 25 | Marc Bassingthwaighte (Nam) | Row 24 - Cell 2 |
| 26 | Matous Ulman (Cze) | 0:10:15 |
| 27 | Manuel Fumic (Ger) | 0:10:48 |
| 28 | Julien Trarieux (Fra) | 0:11:29 |
| 29 | Jeff Luyten (Bel) | 0:11:43 |
| 30 | Robert Mennen (Ger) | 0:12:11 |
| 31 | Andras Parti (Hun) | 0:12:13 |
| 32 | Julien Taramarcaz (Swi) | 0:12:19 |
| 33 | Ondrej Cink (Cze) | 0:12:32 |
| 34 | Matthys Beukes (RSA) | 0:12:34 |
| 35 | James Reid (RSA) | 0:12:38 |
| 36 | Kenta Gallagher (GBr) | 0:13:20 |
| 37 | Grant Ferguson (GBr) | 0:14:09 |
| 38 | Christian Pfäffle (Ger) | 0:14:54 |
| 39 | Renay Groustra (RSA) | 0:15:13 |
| 40 | Luke Roberts (RSA) | 0:16:19 |
| 41 | Louis-Bresler Knipe (RSA) | 0:17:52 |
| 42 | Markus Schulte-Luenzum (Ger) | 0:19:49 |
| 43 | Travis Walker (RSA) | Row 42 - Cell 2 |
| 44 | Sebastian Batchelor (GBr) | Row 43 - Cell 2 |
| 45 | Martin Gluth (Ger) | Row 44 - Cell 2 |
| 46 | Robert Gehbauer (Aut) | Row 45 - Cell 2 |
| 47 | Zsolt Juhasz (Hun) | Row 46 - Cell 2 |
| 48 | Andrew Warr (RSA) | Row 47 - Cell 2 |
| 49 | Roger Walder (Swi) | Row 48 - Cell 2 |
| 50 | Simon Gegenheimer (Ger) | Row 49 - Cell 2 |
| 51 | Gert Heyns (RSA) | Row 50 - Cell 2 |
| 52 | Szilard Buruczki (Hun) | Row 51 - Cell 2 |
| 53 | David Fletcher (GBr) | Row 52 - Cell 2 |
| 54 | Marek Rauchfuss (Cze) | Row 53 - Cell 2 |
| 55 | Kazuhiro Yamamoto (Jpn) | Row 54 - Cell 2 |
| 56 | Christopher Wolhuter (RSA) | Row 55 - Cell 2 |
| 57 | Shaun Craig Silver (RSA) | Row 56 - Cell 2 |
| 58 | Stuart Marais (RSA) | Row 57 - Cell 2 |
| 59 | Jedson Tooms (RSA) | Row 58 - Cell 2 |
| 60 | Callan Deacon (RSA) | Row 59 - Cell 2 |
| 61 | Connor Young (RSA) | Row 60 - Cell 2 |
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cécile Ravanel (Fra) | 1:49:58 |
| 2 | Annie Last (GBr) | 0:00:15 |
| 3 | Nathalie Schneitter (Swi) | 0:01:52 |
| 4 | Lea Davison (USA) | 0:02:51 |
| 5 | Rie Katayama (Jpn) | 0:04:35 |
| 6 | Julie Krasniak (Fra) | 0:05:33 |
| 7 | Tanja Zakelj (Slo) | 0:06:00 |
| 8 | Lene Byberg (Nor) | 0:08:07 |
| 9 | Judy Freeman (USA) | 0:09:27 |
| 10 | Samantha Sanders (RSA) | 0:09:51 |
| 11 | Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjaa (Nor) | 0:10:24 |
| 12 | Laura Turpijn (Ned) | 0:10:44 |
| 13 | Vivienne Meyer (Swi) | 0:10:57 |
| 14 | Barbara Benko (Hun) | 0:11:58 |
| 15 | Lee Craigie (GBr) | 0:12:14 |
| 16 | Candice Neethling (RSA) | 0:13:43 |
| 17 | Willow Rockwell (USA) | 0:18:22 |
| 18 | Krista Park (USA) | 0:20:02 |
| 19 | Fanny Bourdon (Fra) | Row 18 - Cell 2 |
| 20 | Julie Berteaux (Fra) | Row 19 - Cell 2 |
| 21 | Julia Colvin (RSA) | Row 20 - Cell 2 |
| 22 | Melanie Palframan (RSA) | Row 21 - Cell 2 |
| 23 | Simone Vosloo (RSA) | Row 22 - Cell 2 |
| 23 | Angela Egeland (RSA) | Row 23 - Cell 2 |
| 25 | Ashleigh Parker-Moffatt (RSA) | Row 24 - Cell 2 |
| 26 | Chloe Woodruff (USA) | Row 25 - Cell 2 |
| 27 | Lauren Hoyer (RSA) | Row 26 - Cell 2 |
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