Schurter bests Absalon in Val di Sole

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Once again, the men's race came down to World Champion Nino Schurter (Scott-Swisspower) against World Cup leader Julien Absalon (Orbea) in a sprint, and Schurter both won the race and took over the World Cup lead. This makes it three times that Schurter has beaten Absalon in a sprint in the past 12 months.

The 6.3-kilometre course was dominated by a series of steep, climbs, which took their toll on the fields. In the men's race, only 88 of 190 starters finished on the same lap as the winner.

The men's six-lap race came down to three riders by the mid-point: Schurter, Absalon and last week's winner Florian Vogel, Schurter's teammate. Jose Antonio Hermida (Multivan Merida) tried a move on the second lap, briefly setting the pace, but couldn't sustain it and fell back to eventually finish eighth.

The lead three worked well together for the first four laps, distancing themselves from everyone except Under 23 series leader Mathias Flückiger (Trek World Racing) and Ralph Näf (Multivan Merida). These two were the only riders to stay within two minutes of the leaders and eventually took fourth and fifth, respectively. Näf took over fifth from fellow Swiss rider Christoph Sauser (Specialized), the World Champion in Val di Sole on this course in 2008. Sauser was riding strongly until a drivetrain problem took him out of contention on the fourth lap; he eventually finished 63rd.

At the front, as the race entered the final two laps, Absalon was getting increasingly nervous at being stuck with the two rivals and teammates. He launched a series of attacks, but the steep climbs made it impossible to gain any sort of meaningful gap on his rivals. Vogel went off the front at the end of lap five, forcing Absalon to chase, and pull Schurter up with him.

The French rider was able to drop Vogel on the final lap, but the gap was small, so he had to stay at the front, while Schurter sat on his wheel. Absalon tried a series of attacks, but Schurter was able to respond to every one and, as they entered the final feed zone, with less than a kilometre and a half to the finish line, Schurter made his own move, getting in front for the series of turns on the final flat section, with nowhere left for Absalon to pass before the finish line.

"It was very good for both Florian and I to be together," agreed Schurter. "I think Julien was actually the strongest rider out there today, but we were able to work together against him. I knew that the place to attack was at the last feed zone, because there was nowhere to pass after that. And, I have been pretty good against Julien in sprints lately, so I was confident I could get by him there."

Absalon agreed that having Vogel there certainly helped Schurter, and virtually conceded the World Cup title to Schurter. "It was two against one, and they were very good together. I tried to attack a number of times, but on these steep climbs it is impossible to get a gap. You cannot get enough power to get away. The feed zone was the place where you had to be in front, but Nino was just a little bit faster and was able to get there first.

"But, I'm happy with my form, and now I will just focus on the World Championships; I have four weeks to prepare. I will ride Windham, of course, but the focus is the World Championships."

Schurter now has 936 points to Absalon's 910, with European champion Jaroslav Kulhavy third at 790.

American Adam Craig (Rabobank-Giant) was the top North American, in 17th, followed by Todd Wells (Specialized) in 19th. Wells now becomes the top North American in the World Cup series standings, moving up to 18th place after former top-ranked Geoff Kabush (Maxxis-Rocky Mountain) dropped out at the halfway mark in the race.

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