Schurter wins battle with Absalon at Heubach Bundesliga round

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After another battle with Julien Absalon (BMC), world champion Nino Schurter (Scott-Swisspower) took the victory in the 13th edition of the Bike The Rock Festival, round three of the MTB-Bundesliga International. Schurter's teammate Florian Vogel finished third.

Just like last week, Maja Wloszczowska (Giant Pro XC) won women's race in front of Adelheid Morath (Sabine Spitz-Haibike). Third place went to London Olympic silver medallist Sabine Spitz (Haibike).

Men

The men's race provided the expected duel between two big names of the sport - Julien Absalon and Nino Schurter. It began in the second lap of the six-lap race. No one could follow their blistering pace.

"It was a hard fight between us, with the luck on my side," Schurter said later. His luck was the bad luck of Absalon. The Frenchman started to have problems with mud in his front derailleur. In lap four of six, Absalon had to jump off the bike and Schurter rode away.

"I only could shift the chain by foot or by hand," Absalon said as to why he had no chance of closing the gap again to Schurter. "But I am happy with my shape. I think we are both in a good shape. I am excited for the World Cup opener in Albstadt."

Schurter crossed the finish line as the winner, 43 seconds in front of Absalon. "I felt tip top. The descent was very tricky, but funny. I took a bit more risks on the downhills," said Schurter, who is the number-one ranked rider in the world.

Florian Vogel was able to leave the chase group to take the third spot on the podium. "I think it's getting better and better. After the Cape Epic, I was sick, but my coach was very clever, and now I am heading in a good direction toward Albstadt," Vogel said.

Vogel was also lucky because Sergio Mantecon (Trek Wildwolf) crashed while sitting in third place. He then had a bigger mechanical with his handlebar and lost all his chance of being on the podium.

European Champion Moritz Milatz (BMC Racing) had a very bad first lap, passing the split time on 24th place.

"My legs were kind of dead. Suddenly in the second lap, it made 'plopp' and I could ride how I wanted to. Maybe my training was a bit too hard this week," Milatz said.

Rudi van Houts (Multivan-Merida) defended fifth spot on the podium. "I could ride consistently and felt very confident in the downhills. I am happy to get fifth place, while in the last lap there was a lot of pressure from behind me," said the Dutch man.

Women

The women's race presented two completely different pictures. Every lap when the lead women passed the start / finish area at the bottom of the venue, it looked like Maja Wloszczowska was dominating the race.

However, for those watching at the top of the 2.5-kilometer climb, it looked like the Polish woman was always accompanied by Adelheid Morath.

The 28-year-old Morath, closed the 20 to 30-second gap to Wloszczowska every lap on the climb, including the final lap.

"Adelheid was very strong on the uphill. I knew if I could go into the downhill in the front position, I would have the chance to win, if I didn't make a mistake. [It's] super to win here, the atmosphere was great," said Wloszczowska after her second in as many weeks.

So Wloszczowska put all her energy into a counterattack when Morath passed her at the top.

"I know, my technical skills are my handicap, but I'm working on them. Anyway, I am very, very happy about my the second place in a HC race," said Morath.

Sabine Spitz stepped onto the podium in third spot. The three-time Olympic medal winner was surprised about her result. "I didn't expect that. This is not a course for me, but maybe that's the key. I came to Heubach without any expectations," Spitz said.

On the downhill, U23 world champion Jolanda Neff (Giant Pro XC) would pass Spitz, but at the end, the young gun couldn't hold the speed. Alexandra Engen (Ghost Factory Racing) took fourth place.

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