Schurter wins Swiss Cup opener ahead of teammate Vogel

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Nino Schurter and Sabine Spitz opened the Swiss Cup in Buchs with victories in their respective elite races. In total, 741 racers competed in good conditions.

In the men's race, Schurter and his Scott Swisspower teammate Florian Vogel got away on lap two of seven laps total. Fabien Giger (Rabobank) struggled to hang on with them and eventually fell off their pace. Schurter attacked on the final lap as the home crowds wildly cheered him on.

"It was tough but a great race," said Schurter. "Florian and Fabian asked a lot of me. It was fun the race incredibly close to my home."

"Nino was incredibly strong and deserved to win," said runner-up Vogel.

Third place finisher Giger said, "To be able to stand near these two athletes on the podium is like a victory."

The best U23 men's rider was in 10th place, German Julian Schelb, who finished ahead of Marc Stutzmann and Matthias Stirnemann.

Spitz solos to win

Olympic Champion Sabine Spitz was virtually unchallenged from the start and she went on to take her first Swiss Cup victory since 2008 in Gränichen.

"I'm completely satisfied," she said. "I am very pleased that I managed do well on this tough and demanding track."

Czech Tereza Hurikova was second thus giving the Haibike pro team a one-two finish. Kathrin Leumann was the best Swiss rider in third.

Juniors

In the juniors, the decision was not until the final lap when Andri Frischknecht got away decisively and won. n the junior women's race, Andrea Waldis was victorious.

The next BMC Cup race will be on April 21-22 in Lugano / Tesserete.

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