Schurter back to winning ways in front of home crowd

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Nino Schurter (Scott-Swisspower MTB Racing) and Sarah Koba (Giant Swiss SR-Suntour) won round six of the Racer Bikes Cup in Chur, Switzerland, on Sunday. A total of 571 racers from 17 nations participated.

In the men's race, two national champions, Schurter of Switzerland and Moritz Milatz (BMC) of Germany, did battle. From the beginning, they established their dominance, getting away on the second of nine total laps.

Almost all of the top racers were fresh from an altitude training camp in Engadin and they seemed to have little trouble with the heat.

Schurter, who did much of the pace-making, made his decisive attack on the last long climb. Racing in front of a home crowd in Chur, spectators celebrated wildly as the former world champion raced to the victory. Milatz was second.

Engelberg-winner Lukas Flückiger (Trek World Racing) was more than two minutes behind in third. The best U23 rider Thomas Litscher (Felt Öztal X-Bionic) finished in eighth ahead of other U23 racers Matthias Stirnemann (Thömus Racing Team) and Frenchman Fabien Canal (GT/Skoda/Chamonix).

In the women's race, Sarah Koba took her first victory since 2006. She was with the leaders from the start of the race and that group included Kathrin Leumann (Ghost Factory Racing Team), Cécile Ravanel (GT Skoda Chamonix) and Alexandra Engen (Team Rothaus Poison-Bikes).

On the third lap, Koba and Leumann were at the front and with three laps to go, Koba got away for the solo victory while Leumann hung on for second at 1:59. Engen was third ahead of Ravenel in fourth.

"I'm a little surprised that that I won on such a fast course," said Koba. She will skip the upcoming World Cups and prepare for the Swiss Championships.

"The dream is the national jersey, and my goal is the podium," she said.

Frenchman Maxime Urruty (Scott les Saisies) won the junior race by narrrowly defeating Andri Frischknecht and Dominic Zumstein (both Scott-Swisspower MTB Racing).

In the junior women's race German Johanna Techt (Ghost Factory Racing Team) celebrated a solo victory. Her lap times during her five-lap race were faster than those of the elite women who did seven laps total. Last year's Swiss U17 champion Andrea Waldis (GU plus/ thomy k/ VC Gersau) was second by over seven minutes.

Matthias Allenspach (Tower Sports-VC Eschenbach) celebrated his first victory among the Amateurs & Masters.

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