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Schurter comes out swinging in Albstadt

World champion makes up for Short Track disappointment

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Nino Schurter (Scott-SRAM MTB Racing) celebrates his win

Nino Schurter (Scott-SRAM MTB Racing) celebrates his win (Image credit: Robert Jones)
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Nino Schurter (Scott-SRAM MTB Racing) and Stephane Tempier (Bianchi Countervail)

Nino Schurter (Scott-SRAM MTB Racing) and Stephane Tempier (Bianchi Countervail) (Image credit: Robert Jones)
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Top team, Cannondale Factory Racing XC

Top team, Cannondale Factory Racing XC (Image credit: Rob Jones)
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Stephane Tempier, Nino Schurter, Mathieu van der Poel

Stephane Tempier, Nino Schurter, Mathieu van der Poel (Image credit: Rob Jones)
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Jordan Sarrou (Fra) KMC-Ekoi-SRSuntour

Jordan Sarrou (Fra) KMC-Ekoi-SRSuntour (Image credit: Rob Jones)
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Marco Aurelio Fontana (Ita) Bianchi Countervail

Marco Aurelio Fontana (Ita) Bianchi Countervail (Image credit: Rob Jones)
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Henrique Avancini (Bra) Cannondale Factory Racing XC

Henrique Avancini (Bra) Cannondale Factory Racing XC (Image credit: Rob Jones)
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Maxime Marotte (Fra) Cannondale Factory Racing XC

Maxime Marotte (Fra) Cannondale Factory Racing XC (Image credit: Rob Jones)
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Nino Schurter (Sui) Scott-SRAM MTB Racing

Nino Schurter (Sui) Scott-SRAM MTB Racing (Image credit: Rob Jones)
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Nino Schurter (Sui) Scott-SRAM MTB Racing

Nino Schurter (Sui) Scott-SRAM MTB Racing (Image credit: Rob Jones)
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Mathieu van der Poel (Ned) Corendon-Circus

Mathieu van der Poel (Ned) Corendon-Circus (Image credit: Rob Jones)
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Podium: Antoine Philipp, Joshua Dubau, Jonas Lindberg

Podium: Antoine Philipp, Joshua Dubau, Jonas Lindberg (Image credit: Rob Jones)
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Joshua Dubau wins U23 Men's XC

Joshua Dubau wins U23 Men's XC (Image credit: Rob Jones)
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Julien Absalon was presented with gifts by Nino Schurter on behalf of the UCI

Julien Absalon was presented with gifts by Nino Schurter on behalf of the UCI (Image credit: Rob Jones)
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Podium: Maxime Marotte, Stephane Tempier, Nino Schurter, Mathieu van der Poel, Jordan Sarrou

Podium: Maxime Marotte, Stephane Tempier, Nino Schurter, Mathieu van der Poel, Jordan Sarrou (Image credit: Robert Jones)

World champion Nino Schurter (Scott-SRAM) had something to prove on Sunday, in Albstadt, Germany, at round 2 of the Mountain Bike World Cup. He had lost the first round of 2018 after sweeping the Series in 2017, and then did not finish the Short Track race on Friday, relegating him to the third row of the start grid.

By the end of the start loop, Schurter was firmly in control at the front of the race. He was joined for the first laps by cyclo-cross pro turned mountain biker Mathieu van der Poel (Corendon-Circus), Maxime Marotte (Cannondale Factory), Mathias Flueckiger (Thomus-RN Racing), Lars Forster (BMC) and round 1 winner Sam Gaze (Specialized).

Gaze flatted and eventually dropped out of the race, while Flueckiger also flatted and Forster could not handle the pace, and were replaced by Stephane Tempier (Bianchi Countervail) and Jordan Sarrou (KMC-Ekoi-SR Suntour).

When Schurter ramped up the pressure on the fourth lap, only Tempier could go with him, leaving van der Poel and Marotte chasing 13 seconds back. Schurter dropped Tempier on the penultimate fifth lap, while van der Poel dropped Marotte for third.

"It's a really good feeling to have my first World Cup win of the year," said Schurter. "I was quite disappointed after the Short Track, with the hard luck with a mechanical. It's a nice relief [to win]. The first lap I was lucky, I was able to ride well and into the first corner I was at the front. It's important to be at the front. Third row was okay, but it definitely makes it more difficult."

Schurter leads the standings with 450 points, a slim 15-point margin over Van der Poel, with Marotte at 385 points and former leader Gaze at 350 points.

Results

#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Nino Schurter (Swi)1:28:07
2Stephane Tempier (Fra)0:00:16
3Mathieu Van Der Poel (Ned)0:00:40
4Maxime Marotte (Fra)0:00:50
5Jordan Sarrou (Fra)0:01:11
6Mathias Flueckiger (Swi)0:01:26
7David Valero Serrano (Spa)0:01:31
8Lukas Flueckiger (Swi)0:01:51
9Manuel Fumic (Ger)0:02:24
10Nicola Rohrbach (Swi)0:02:47
11Lars Forster (Swi)0:03:03
12Reto Indergand (Swi)0:03:27
13Marco Aurelio Fontana (Ita)0:03:42
14Luca Braidot (Ita)0:03:55
15Martin Loo (Est)0:04:05
16Marek Konwa (Pol)0:04:19
17Henrique Avancini (Bra)
18Anton Cooper (NZl)0:04:20
19Gioele Bertolini (Ita)0:04:24
20Titouan Carod (Fra)0:04:32
21Pablo Rodriguez Guede (Spa)
22Maximilian Foidl (Aut)0:04:34
23Anton Sintsov (Rus)0:04:48
24David Rosa (Por)0:04:52
25Thomas Litscher (Swi)0:05:05
26Carlos Coloma Nicolas (Spa)0:05:32
27Catriel Soto (Arg)0:05:38
28Peter Disera (Can)0:05:51
29Hugo Drechou (Fra)0:06:04
30Jhonatan Botero Villegas (Col)0:06:13
31Andrea Tiberi (Ita)0:06:18
32Jan Škarnitzl (Cze)0:06:19
33Andri Frischknecht (Swi)0:06:20
34Leandre Bouchard (Can)0:06:21
35Matthias Stirnemann (Swi)0:06:40
36Marcel Guerrini (Swi)0:06:54
37Victor Koretzky (Fra)0:06:56
38Karl Markt (Aut)0:06:58
39Gerhard Kerschbaumer (Ita)0:07:11
40Fabian Giger (Swi)0:07:16
41Florian Vogel (Swi)0:07:20
42Gregor Raggl (Aut)0:07:21
43Georg Egger (Ger)0:07:24
44Martin Gluth (Ger)0:07:41
45Florian Chenaux (Swi)0:07:43
46Michael Stünzi (Swi)0:07:49
47Julian Schelb (Ger)0:07:54
48Daniel Mcconnell (Aus)0:07:55
49Luiz Henrique Cocuzzi (Bra)0:08:05
50Nicholas Pettina' (Ita)0:08:07
51Daniele Braidot (Ita)0:08:20
52Raphael Gay (Fra)0:08:31
53Bartlomiej Wawak (Pol)0:08:51
54Sergio Mantecon Gutierrez (Spa)0:09:00
55Manuel Fasnacht (Swi)0:09:08
56András Parti (Hun)0:09:14
57Raphael Gagne (Can)0:09:23
58Michiel Van Der Heijden (Ned)0:09:25
59Arnis Petersons (Lat)0:09:36
60Maxime Loret (Fra)0:09:37
61Shlomi Haimy (Isr)0:09:42
62Simon Vitzthum (Swi)0:09:52
63Sebastian Fini Carstensen (Den)0:10:00
64Ismael Esteban Aguero (Spa)0:10:12
65Jan Vastl (Cze)0:10:24
66Andrew L'esperance (Can)0:10:37
67Florian Trigo (Fra)0:10:56
68Mário Costa (Por)0:11:08
69Luke Vrouwenvelder (USA)0:11:09
70Tom Meeusen (Bel)0:12:26
71Grant Ferguson (GBr)0:13:56
72Jens Schuermans (Bel)
73Ruben Scheire (Bel)
74Lorenzo Pellegrini (Ita)
75Arthur Tropardy (Fra)
76Timofei Ivanov (Rus)
77Andrin Beeli (Swi)
78Tomáš Paprstka (Cze)
79Gregor Krajnc (Slo)
80Lukas Baum (Ger)
81Benoît Jeanniard (Fra)
82Sven Strähle (Ger)
83Ivan Diaz Buj (Spa)
84Keegan Swenson (USA)
85Guy Sessler (Isr)
86Denis Fumarola (Ita)
87Dario Gasco (Arg)
88Lorenzo Samparisi (Ita)
89Maximilian Holz (Ger)
90Alexis Paris (Fra)
91Maxim Gogolev (Rus)
92Harold Flandre (Fra)
93Fco. Javier Poza Ruiz (Spa)
94Domenico Valerio (Ita)
95Jasper Ockeloen (Ned)
96Tom Bell (GBr)
97Frank Beemer (Ned)
98Erno Jacob Mccrae (Bel)
99Louis Wolf (Ger)
100Simon Gegenheimer (Ger)
101Sebastian Jayne (Aus)
102Kohei Yamamoto (Jpn)
103Manuel Sanchez Aldeguer (Spa)
104Jakob Hartmann (Ger)
105Tobias Dominik Rotermund (Ger)
106Rubens Donizete Valeriano (Bra)
107Zdenek Vobecký (Cze)
108José Aurelio Hernandez De Jesus (Mex)
109Guilherme Gotardelo Muller (Bra)
110Jaime Miranda Jaime (Mex)
111Jan Withaar (RSA)
112Edoardo Bonetto (Ita)
113Marcel Lehrian (Ger)
114Joseph De Poortere Emelien (Fra)
115Thom Bonder (Ned)
116Robert Schwenk (Ger)
117Titouan Perrin Ganier (Fra)
118Mikhail Besaha (Blr)
119Markus Schulte-Lünzum (Ger)
120Ingvar Omarsson ISL
121Till Drobisch (Nam)
122Pierrick Kersuzan (Fra)
123George-Vlad Sabau (Rom)
124Tobias Sindlinger (Ger)
DNFSamuel Gaze (NZl)
DNFChristian Pfäffle (Ger)
DNFNadir Colledani (Ita)
DNFMartin Fanger (Swi)
DNFMartins Blums (Lat)
DNFOndrej Cink (Cze)
DNFAleksander Stafilov (Rus)
DNFJeff Luyten (Bel)
DNFVincent Sibille (Fra)
DNFJaroslav Kulhavý (Cze)
DNSWolfram Kurschat (Ger)
DNSMartin Stošek (Cze)
DNSFrédéric Ischard (Fra)
DNSBen Zwiehoff (Ger)

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