Schurter wins Windham cross country World Cup

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Nino Schurter (Scott-Odlo MTB Racing) won the elite men's cross country race at the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Windham, New York on Sunday afternoon. World Cup overall leader Julien Absalon (BMC) finished second, just six seconds after Schurter while Absalon's teammate Lukas Flückiger was third another 10 seconds later.

"It was a hard battle with Absalon, but I'd say I'd made it happen on the downhill," said Schurter to Cyclingnews. "I'm super stoked to win here on a course that's maybe not the best suited for me."

The "old school" course featured one long climb followed by one long downhill.  It was less technical than many other recent World Cups and had more concentrated climbing.  The downhills were super fast.

Sergio Mantecon (Trek Factory Racing) led the men at the end of the uphill starting section ahead of the first of the seven laps, but soon after, Geoff Kabush (Scott-3Rox) surged to the front to mix it up with Schurter and Absalon.

"I felt solid and while I wasn't as sharp as last week, I got lucky at the start," said Kabush. "It's been frustrating getting caught in the middle of the field in the starts, so when it opened up, I went to the front and rode some smooth lines."

However, it wasn't long before a lead group of four men established themselves during lap one: Schurter, Absalon, Lukas Flückiger and his brother Mathias Flückiger (Stöckli Pro Team).

For much of the first part of the race, the four lined up in that order although Absalon was sometimes leading on the climb while Schurter usually led the descent.

On lap three, Lukas Flückiger went for it at the top of the downhill. The Swiss rider was descending very well and moved to the front, forcing the others to chase. The move proved decisive, perhaps not in the way that he expected, as it forced a gap to him that the other three had to close.

"I had more confidence than last week, so I started better in the race," said Lukas Flückiger. "I felt good on the downhills but was suffering hard on the uphills. So on the third lap, I tried to go, but I wasn't strong enough on the uphill so it was hard to take my speed into the next lap. It was good to try it though as it gave me still more confidence for the next race."

Schurter was not surprised to see his Swiss compatriot make a move. "Lukas is always a strong guy. It was nice when he attacked because he opened up the gap to Absalon so it was great for me."

Schurter was the first to close the gap to Lukas Flückiger and from that point in the race, he was always at the front with Absalon dangling just behind him. Once both riders passed Lukas Flückiger, Absalon would tend to close slightly the gap to Schurter on the climbs, but he'd always lose a bit of time on the next descent. Following his teammate's attack, Absalon was never again at the front of the race.

With the course featuring one big long climb and one big long descent, the differences in riding styles of the two favorites were more pronounced, magnified by the fact that Absalon was on a hardtail and Schurter was on a full suspension.

Schurter said, "It was quite an advantage to have the full suspension on the downhill. I was able to always open the gap, maybe 10 to 15 seconds, and then I'd try to hold it on the uphill."

Absalon said, "I tried to push back to regain the 10-12 seconds I lost on every downhill. I knew that second position would still be good for the World Cup overall and a crash would have been a disaster. I was definitely thinking about the World Cup overall."

"For Nino, it was different. He had nothing to lose," said Absalon. Schurter had skipped a round of the World Cup earlier this season. "If you want to win the overall, you need to do all the races. Two win any race, you have to take risks, but for me that was not the good option."

Behind the leaders, four men chased together for much of the race: Dan McConnell (Trek Factory Racing), Stephane Tempier (BH-Suntour-KMC), Mantecon and Manuel Fumic (Cannondale Factory Racing).

Although the time gaps were never large, Schurter, Absalon and Lukas Flückiger maintained their places in the final few laps, with Absalon always getting close, but never managing to pass Schurter on the climbs and Schurter gaining time back on the descents. Lukas Flückiger kept losing a bit of time on the climbs and making that time back on the descents.

McConnell's strong finish was enough for him to overtake Mathias Flückiger for fourth place. Mathias Flückiger ended up fifth.

"It was a hard seven laps. It was another long race," said McConneloug. "I was lucky enough to have my teammate Sergio in the group so one of us would make the move and the other would sit in and get towed along. That helped. It was about three laps to go that I could sneak away and push toward the top three."

"You have to go into the red on the climbs and then just hold on during the descents. I'm happy to come away with a podium here."

Kabush and Derek Zandstra (Scott-3Rox) led the North Americans in finishing 12th and 13th while Stephen Ettinger (BMC) was the top American finisher on home World Cup soil. Ettinger flatted early in the race.

"I paid a little for my fast start, but 12th is a good result for me, and it was my teammate Derek Zandstra's best World Cup finish with a 13th. It was nice to fight toward the podium - it was a good result, and I'll take it."

Another pre-race favorite Jaroslav Kulhavy (Specialized) was never seen near the front after he was held up in a crash just following the start line.

US National Champion Stephen Ettinger (BMC) was the top American finisher at the US's home World Cup, despite a flat tire.

"I felt good, but when I flatted on lap one, I probably went back to 50th or 60th position. When that happens, you just have to do damage control. I think I made it back to 27th. It was a hard, long race. Seven laps of that was tough though in the end, but if it had been six, it wouldn't have changed much for me."

Absalon's second place meant that he kept his position as leader of the World Cup standings. He has 1290 points to Schurter's 1080 after Schurter skipped a round in Australia to race the road instead. McConnell is third in the standings with 840 points.

"It will be nice to finish the World Cup season in France," said Absalon.

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