World and Olympic champion Nino Schurter (Scott-SRAM) continued his domination of the Nove Mesto course at the opening round of the Cross-country World Cup on Sunday, taking his fifth win in the seven years of racing at this Czech Republic venue (six World Cups and one world championship, last year).
Last year, Schurter won the world title here and, on a course little changed, the Swiss rider once again showed that he is the top rider in the world at this time. The start was marred by a crash in the first few metres, when Matthias Stirnemann (Scott-SRAM) went over the bars after his chain broke, causing a pileup behind him.
Thomas Litscher (JB Brunex Felt) jumped into the lead on the start loop, but he was quickly overtaken by Schurter and David Valero (MMR Factory) once the riders began their six laps of the course. Valero hung on with Schurter for the first half of the race as the pair opened a gap on a chase group containing Julien Absalon (BMC), Maxime Marotte (Cannondale Factory) and Jordan Sarrou (BH-SR Suntour-KMC), but when Schurter put the hammer down on a climb the Spaniard was quickly dropped.
Schurter cruised to his 21st World Cup victory, with Valero holding on for second. Absalon dropped the rest of the chase group to take third.
"I had a really good start and I felt pretty good," said Schurter. "This course really suits me well, it's a perfect course, one of my favourites. David showed a great performance. The first lap or so he attacked quite hard and made me suffer. I'm really happy to win here again. For me it is totally different this year. I have much less pressure, I had a great winter, did some good training but everything comes with less pressure, less expectations. It is going well so far and I'm really stoked."
Full Results
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nino Schurter (Swi) Scott-SRAM MTB Racing Team | 1:27:35 |
| 2 | David Valero Serrano (Spa) MMR Factory Racing Team | 0:00:26 |
| 3 | Julien Absalon (Fra) BMC Mountainbike Racing Team | 0:01:46 |
| 4 | Maxime Marotte (Fra) Cannondale Factory Racing XC | 0:01:51 |
| 5 | Jordan Sarrou (Fra) BH-Srsuntour-KMC | 0:01:59 |
| 6 | Stephane Tempier (Fra) Bianchi Countervail | 0:02:09 |
| 7 | Titouan Carod (Fra) BMC Mountainbike Racing Team | 0:02:41 |
| 8 | Mathieu Van Der Poel (Ned) | 0:02:51 |
| 9 | Anton Cooper (NZl) Trek Factory Racing XC | Row 8 - Cell 2 |
| 10 | Marco Aurelio Fontana (Ita) Bianchi Countervail | Row 9 - Cell 2 |
| 11 | Pablo Rodriguez Guede (Spa) MMR Factory Racing Team | 0:02:59 |
| 12 | Manuel Fumic (Ger) Cannondale Factory Racing XC | 0:03:04 |
| 13 | Carlos Coloma Nicolas (Spa) Primaflor Mondraker | 0:03:18 |
| 14 | Reto Indergand (Swi) BMC Mountainbike Racing Team | 0:03:27 |
| 15 | Hans Becking (Ned) CST Sandd American Eagle MTB Racing Team | 0:03:44 |
| 16 | Gerhard Kerschbaumer (Ita) Torpado Gabogas | 0:04:01 |
| 17 | Gregor Raggl (Aut) Moebel Maerki MTB Pro Team | 0:04:05 |
| 18 | Lukas Fluckiger (Swi) BMC Mountainbike Racing Team | 0:04:06 |
| 19 | Andrea Tiberi (Ita) Team Nob Selle Italia | 0:04:08 |
| 20 | Arnis Petersons (Lat) ZZK | 0:04:12 |
| 21 | Thomas Litscher (Swi) Jb Brunex Felt Team | 0:04:27 |
| 22 | Andri Frischknecht (Swi) Scott-SRAM MTB Racing Team | 0:04:33 |
| 23 | Hugo Drechou (Fra) Massi | 0:04:41 |
| 24 | Marcel Guerrini (Swi) Focus XC Team | 0:04:49 |
| 25 | Bartlomiej Wawak (Pol) Kross Racing Team | 0:04:56 |
| 26 | Florian Chenaux (Swi) | 0:05:07 |
| 27 | Jan Skarnitzl (Cze) SRAM Mitas Trek | 0:05:36 |
| 28 | Derek Zandstra (Can) Cannondale-3Rox Racing | 0:05:42 |
| 29 | Ruben Scheire (Bel) Habitat Mountainbike Team | Row 28 - Cell 2 |
| 30 | Mario Costa (Por) Primaflor Mondraker | 0:05:50 |
| 31 | Mathias Fluckiger (Swi) Radon Factory XC Team | 0:05:53 |
| 32 | Martin Loo (Est) | 0:06:00 |
| 33 | Daniele Braidot (Ita) | 0:06:09 |
| 34 | Martin Fanger (Swi) | Row 33 - Cell 2 |
| 35 | Karl Markt (Aut) Moebel Maerki MTB Pro Team | Row 34 - Cell 2 |
| 36 | Jose Dias (Por) | 0:06:15 |
| 37 | Bart De Vocht (Bel) KTM Bike Vision | 0:06:18 |
| 38 | Nicola Rohrbach (Swi) | 0:06:23 |
| 39 | Leandre Bouchard (Can) BH-Srsuntour-KMC | 0:06:25 |
| 40 | Michiel Van Der Heijden (Ned) Scott-SRAM MTB Racing Team | 0:06:26 |
| 41 | Christian Pfaffle (Ger) Moebel Maerki MTB Pro Team | 0:06:27 |
| 42 | Wolfram Kurschat (Ger) Kurschat Consulting Racing Team | 0:06:46 |
| 43 | Ivan Seledkov (Rus) | 0:06:48 |
| 44 | Marek Konwa (Pol) Volkswagen Samochody Uzytkowe MTB Team | 0:06:49 |
| 45 | Moritz Milatz (Ger) | 0:06:53 |
| 46 | Kevin Panhuyzen (Bel) Habitat Mountainbike Team | 0:07:03 |
| 47 | Martin Gluth (Ger) Omx Pro Team | 0:07:05 |
| 48 | Fabian Giger (Swi) Kross Racing Team | Row 47 - Cell 2 |
| 49 | Jan Nesvadba (Cze) Expres Cz-Scott Team Kolin | 0:07:17 |
| 50 | Luiz Henrique Cocuzzi (Bra) | Row 49 - Cell 2 |
| 51 | Jhonnatan Botero Villegas (Col) | 0:07:27 |
| 52 | Andrea Righettini (Ita) | Row 51 - Cell 2 |
| 53 | Jens Schuermans (Bel) Scott Creuse Oxygene Gueret | 0:07:33 |
| 54 | Thomas Griot (Fra) Materiel-Velo.Com | 0:07:35 |
| 55 | Jaroslav Kulhavy (Cze) Specialized Racing | 0:07:38 |
| 56 | Mirko Tabacchi (Ita) | 0:08:00 |
| 57 | Marek Rauchfuss (Cze) | 0:08:03 |
| 58 | Andras Parti (Hun) Nella Trek Team | 0:08:15 |
| 59 | Michael Stunzi (Swi) | 0:08:26 |
| 60 | Florian Trigo (Fra) Massi | 0:08:38 |
| 61 | Catriel Soto (Arg) Primaflor Mondraker | 0:08:48 |
| 62 | Sebastien Carabin (Bel) Merida Wallonie MTB Team | 0:08:59 |
| 63 | Tomas Paprstka (Cze) Expres Cz-Scott Team Kolin | 0:09:09 |
| 64 | Raphael Gagne (Can) Cannondale-3Rox Racing | 0:09:14 |
| 65 | Matthias Stirnemann (Swi) Scott-SRAM MTB Racing Team | 0:09:17 |
| 66 | Cameron Ivory (Aus) | 0:10:05 |
| 67 | Guilherme Gotardelo Muller (Bra) | 0:10:20 |
| 68 | Martin Frey (Ger) Team Bulls | 0:10:25 |
| 69 | Kirill Kazantsev (Kaz) | 0:10:38 |
| 70 | Jan Withaar (RSA) | 0:10:39 |
| 71 | Shlomi Haimy (Isr) | 0:10:48 |
| 72 | Stuart Marais (RSA) | 0:11:15 |
| 73 | Frank Beemer (Ned) Habitat Mountainbike Team | 0:11:26 |
| 74 | Evan McNeely (Can) | 0:11:42 |
| 75 | Grant Ferguson (GBr) CST Sandd American Eagle MTB Racing Team | 0:11:58 |
| 76 | Martin Stosek (Cze) | 0:12:31 |
| 77 | David Rosa (Por) | 0:12:50 |
| 78 | Lysander Kiesel (Ger) German Technology Racing | Row 77 - Cell 2 |
| 79 | Maximilian Vieider (Ita) Torpado Gabogas | Row 78 - Cell 2 |
| 80 | Edoardo Bonetto (Ita) Elios-Srsuntour Pro Team | Row 79 - Cell 2 |
| 81 | Zdenek Vobecky (Cze) | Row 80 - Cell 2 |
| 82 | Sakari Lehtinen (Fin) | Row 81 - Cell 2 |
| 83 | Rubens Donizete Valeriano (Bra) | Row 82 - Cell 2 |
| 84 | Maximilian Holz (Ger) German Technology Racing | Row 83 - Cell 2 |
| 85 | Dario Gasco (Arg) | Row 84 - Cell 2 |
| 86 | Steffen Thum (Ger) Rose Vaujany Fueled By Ultrasports | Row 85 - Cell 2 |
| 87 | Simon Gegenheimer (Ger) Rose Vaujany Fueled By Ultrasports | Row 86 - Cell 2 |
| 88 | Victor Selles Pardo (Spa) | Row 87 - Cell 2 |
| 89 | Louis Wolf (Ger) | Row 88 - Cell 2 |
| 90 | Russell Nankervis (Aus) | Row 89 - Cell 2 |
| 91 | Kohei Yamamoto (Jpn) BH-Srsuntour-KMC | Row 90 - Cell 2 |
| 92 | Tobias Rotermund (Ger) | Row 91 - Cell 2 |
| 93 | Farzad Khodayari (IRI) | Row 92 - Cell 2 |
| 94 | Keegan Swenson (USA) Cannondale-3Rox Racing | Row 93 - Cell 2 |
| 95 | Andrew L'Esperance (Can) | Row 94 - Cell 2 |
| 96 | Manfred Zoger (Aut) | Row 95 - Cell 2 |
| 97 | Maciej Jeziorski (Pol) | Row 96 - Cell 2 |
| 98 | Philipp Wetzelberger (Aut) | Row 97 - Cell 2 |
| 99 | Faraz Shokri (IRI) | Row 98 - Cell 2 |
| 100 | Antoine Le Coq (Fra) Cube Pro Fermetures Sefic | Row 99 - Cell 2 |
| 101 | Ondrej Glajza (Svk) | Row 100 - Cell 2 |
| 102 | Pavel Priadein (Rus) | Row 101 - Cell 2 |
| 103 | Fabian Paumann (Swi) Fischer-BMC | Row 102 - Cell 2 |
| 104 | Murray Spink (Aus) | Row 103 - Cell 2 |
| 105 | Antoine Bouqueret (Fra) Scott Creuse Oxygene Gueret | Row 104 - Cell 2 |
| 106 | Robin Vanden Abeele (Bel) Cube Pro Fermetures Sefic | Row 105 - Cell 2 |
| 107 | Sajad Taheri (IRI) | Row 106 - Cell 2 |
| 108 | Artyom Golovachshenko (Kaz) | Row 107 - Cell 2 |
| 109 | Ingvar Omarsson ISL | Row 108 - Cell 2 |
| 110 | Vadim Zhuravlev (Rus) | Row 109 - Cell 2 |
| 111 | Oriol Domenech Fernandez (Spa) | Row 110 - Cell 2 |
| 112 | Sebastian Jayne (Aus) | Row 111 - Cell 2 |
| 113 | Philipp Hediger (Swi) Fischer-BMC | Row 112 - Cell 2 |
| 114 | Robert Schwenk (Ger) | Row 113 - Cell 2 |
| 115 | Dmitry Zhirnov (Rus) | Row 114 - Cell 2 |
| 116 | George-Vlad Sabau (Rom) | Row 115 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Victor Koretzky (Fra) BH-Srsuntour-KMC | Row 116 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Samuel Gaze (NZl) Specialized Racing | Row 117 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Luca Braidot (Ita) | Row 118 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Ruslan Boredskiy (Rus) | Row 119 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Lars Forster (Swi) BMC Mountainbike Racing Team | Row 120 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Markus Schulte-Luenzum (Ger) Focus XC Team | Row 121 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Ben Zwiehoff (Ger) | Row 122 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Anton Sintsov (Rus) Jbg - 2 Professional MTB Team | Row 123 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Daniel McConnell (Aus) | Row 124 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Kevin Ingratta (Arg) | Row 125 - Cell 2 |
| DNS | Florian Vogel (Swi) Focus XC Team | Row 126 - Cell 2 |
| DNS | Sergio Mantecon Gutierrez (Spa) Trek Factory Racing XC | Row 127 - Cell 2 |
| DNS | Didier Bats (Bel) CST Sandd American Eagle MTB Racing Team | Row 128 - Cell 2 |
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