World Champion Nino Schurter (Scott-SRAM MTB Racing Team) secured a solo victory in the second round of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup at Lenzerheide.
Schurter's victory marked a record-breaking 34th World Cup win on home soil in Switzerland. He also took the series' overall leader’s jersey in the process.
"There's definitely no better place to do this than here. It's taken me a long time to get to 34 wins. I was really looking forward to this race, to race one last time in Lenzerheide. It was already emotional knowing that we might not race here again. I wanted to give it all and hopefully get the win here. The crowd was insane," Schurter said following the race.
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"They definitely pushed me on today. Feeling the people and the energy definitely gave me so much. I really enjoy these moments. I need to say a big thank you to everyone who came out to cheer for me, to all the fans, to Lenzerheide. It's insane."
South Africa’s Alan Hatherly (Cannondale Factory) was the fastest of the chasing pack in a finish-line sprint, 15 seconds behind Schurter, to take second place. France’s Jordan Sarrou (Team BMC) finished in third.
"I have done this race many times and I won World Championships here as a U23, so I know how to race this course well," Hatherly said.
"I could see the pace was high from the start, but I knew it would slow eventually. I just paced myself and tried to keep the front of the race in sight. I just clawed my way back to the front. I was suffering with cramps towards the end but still had legs for the sprint to take second.
"I'm feeling good about Leogang off the back of today. It was a tough week for me. I had a fall earlier in the week that left my knee super swollen, then had a stupid fall in the short track that damaged some ribs. To turn that around is unbelievable."
Schurter now leads the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup with 475 points, Sarrou is in second with 410 points, and Thomas Griot (Canyon CLLCTV) is in third with 336 points.
The series continues at Saalfelden, Leogang in Austria, with the formats of Cross-country, Downhill and Enduro from June 15-18.
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