Nino Schurter continues to go from strength to strength, successfully defending his Elite men's world title at the Mountain Bike World Championships in Cairns, Australia. Jaroslav Kulhavy of the Czech Republic took silver and Thomas Litscher of Switzerland the bronze.
Coming into the Elite men's race, Schurter was the overwhelming favourite after dominating the World Cup - setting a record by winning all six rounds. The race quickly became a battle between Schurter and Kulhavy. Henrique Avancini of Brazil and Litscher bridged up to join them on the third lap, with the Brazilian dropped a lap later, leaving Kulhavy against two Swiss riders. It wasn't until the final climb on the last lap, when Schurter attacked and Kulhavy made a mistake in a corner, that the Swiss rider was finally able to get away, hanging on to win by a slim seven seconds. It was a record sixth Elite men's title for Schurter. Kulhavy finally dropped Litscher in the final kilometre to take silver.
"It was a really tough one," said Schurter. "Jaroslav was super strong today. I was lucky Thomas was always with us and I was able to leave him the work of leading, and luckily Jaroslav wasn't there at the finish. That last uphill was really hard work and I was glad we were a strong team. I was already from last season super stoked and now this year is even better. I can't believe it; it is going so well at the moment. I am at the pinnacle of my career and I am really enjoying it."
"Yes, it has been an incredible year. I've won seven [six World Cups and the world title] but also the Cape Epic. This year it all came together. It is possible with an amazing team around me. With the Scott SRAM team and the Swiss Cycling team I have the best support, the fastest bike and that makes it possible."
Full Results
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nino Schurter (Switzerland) | 1:27:44 |
| 2 | Jaroslav Kulhavý (Czech Republic) | 0:00:07 |
| 3 | Thomas Litscher (Switzerland) | 0:00:15 |
| 4 | Henrique Avancini (Brazil) | 0:01:04 |
| 5 | Manuel Fumic (Germany) | 0:01:11 |
| 6 | Lukas Flueckiger (Switzerland) | 0:01:13 |
| 7 | Julien Absalon (France) | 0:01:25 |
| 8 | Maxime Marotte (France) | 0:01:34 |
| 9 | Daniel Mcconnell (Australia) | 0:01:54 |
| 10 | Reto Indergand (Switzerland) | 0:02:21 |
| 11 | Catriel Soto (Argentina) | 0:02:39 |
| 12 | Florian Vogel (Switzerland) | 0:02:44 |
| 13 | Gerhard Kerschbaumer (Italy) | 0:02:49 |
| 14 | Michiel Van Der Heijden (Netherlands) | 0:02:59 |
| 15 | Stephane Tempier (France) | 0:03:07 |
| 16 | Anton Cooper (New Zealand) | 0:03:10 |
| 17 | Luca Braidot (Italy) | 0:03:13 |
| 18 | Gregor Raggl (Austria) | 0:03:23 |
| 19 | Marcel Guerrini (Switzerland) | 0:03:25 |
| 20 | David Valero Serrano (Spain) | 0:03:28 |
| 21 | Marco Aurelio Fontana (Italy) | 0:03:46 |
| 22 | Karl Markt (Austria) | 0:03:51 |
| 23 | Arnis Petersons (Latvia) | 0:04:04 |
| 24 | Leandre Bouchard (Canada) | |
| 25 | Mathias Flueckiger (Switzerland) | 0:04:21 |
| 26 | Jordan Sarrou (France) | 0:04:28 |
| 27 | Daniele Braidot (Italy) | 0:04:42 |
| 28 | Lars Forster (Switzerland) | 0:04:43 |
| 29 | Carlos Coloma Nicolas (Spain) | |
| 30 | Andrea Tiberi (Italy) | |
| 31 | Jan Škarnitzl (Czech Republic) | 0:04:47 |
| 32 | Victor Koretzky (France) | |
| 33 | Grant Ferguson (Great Britain) | 0:04:56 |
| 34 | Fabio Hernando Castañeda Monsalve (Colombia) | 0:05:06 |
| 35 | Markus Schulte-Lünzum (Germany) | 0:05:15 |
| 36 | Bartlomiej Wawak (Poland) | 0:05:21 |
| 37 | David Rosa (Portugal) | |
| 38 | Christian Pfäffle (Germany) | 0:05:43 |
| 39 | Howard Grotts (United States Of America) | 0:05:55 |
| 40 | Jan Nesvadba (Czech Republic) | 0:06:15 |
| 41 | Cameron Ivory (Australia) | 0:06:26 |
| 42 | Kohei Yamamoto (Japan) | 0:06:31 |
| 43 | Martin Loo (Estonia) | |
| 44 | Andrew L'esperance (Canada) | 0:06:51 |
| 45 | Derek Zandstra (Canada) | 0:07:09 |
| 46 | Evan Mcneely (Canada) | 0:07:47 |
| 47 | Mário Costa (Portugal) | 0:08:04 |
| 48 | Kevin Panhuyzen (Belgium) | 0:08:16 |
| 49 | Ben Zwiehoff (Germany) | 0:08:24 |
| 50 | Emil Linde (Sweden) | 0:08:45 |
| 51 | Pablo Rodriguez Guede (Spain) | 0:08:47 |
| 52 | Raphael Gagne (Canada) | 0:09:13 |
| 53 | András Parti (Hungary) | 0:09:24 |
| 54 | Jens Schuermans (Belgium) | 0:09:54 |
| 55 | Ruben Scheire (Belgium) | 0:10:43 |
| 56 | Kyle Ward (Australia) | 0:11:55 |
| 57 | Kirill Kazantsev (Kazakhstan) | 0:11:56 |
| LAP | Payson Mcelveen (United States Of America) | |
| LAP | Russell Nankervis (Australia) | |
| LAP | Titouan Carod (France) | |
| LAP | Keerati Sukprasart (Thailand) | |
| LAP | Kohei Maeda (Japan) | |
| LAP | Peerapol Chawchiangkwang (Thailand) | |
| LAP | Phetetso Monese LES | |
| LAP | Sithembiso Masango (South Africa) | |
| LAP | Mark Tupalski (Australia) | |
| LAP | Sebastian Jayne (Australia) | |
| LAP | Yong Liang Mun (Singapore) | |
| LAP | William Mokgopo (South Africa) | |
| LAP | Ivan Chin Seng Tay (Singapore) | |
| DNF | Sergio Mantecon Gutierrez (Spain) | |
| DNF | Jhonnatan Botero Villegas (Colombia) | |
| DNF | Junaidi Bin Hashim (Singapore) | |
| DNF | Luiz Henrique Cocuzzi (Brazil) | |
| DNS | Anton Sintsov (Russian Federation) |
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