Nino Schurter wins Vallnord World Cup

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World champion bests Flueckiger with Sarrou in third

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World Cup leader Nino Schurter with his golden bike(Image credit: Robert Jones)

World and Olympic champion Nino Schurter (Scott-SRAM) continues to dominate men's field at the Mountain Bike World Cup, taking his third consecutive victory of the season at Round 3 in Vallnord, Andorra, on Sunday.

Defending World Cup overall champion Julien Absalon (BMC) was missing from the start line after breaking his collarbone in a training crash. However, this race was owned Schurter, who holds a perfect win record this season. Schurter powered away from the rest of the field on the first lap of the seven lap race and had opened almost a minute lead within a lap. He easily held this gap until the final lap, when he backed off to cruise in to victory, his 23rd World Cup win.

"I'm super happy," said Schurter. "I love this course; it's super technical and I really feel home here. I had an awesome start and was at the front from the beginning. Here at altitude it's really important to pace your race, and when I had the gap I was able to do my own race. It was a perfect race for me. With three World Cup wins it is already an amazing season, and I just hope it can get better and better."

Behind, an initial chase group of ten was gradually whittled down through attrition - with the exception of Number-2 ranked David Valero (MMR Factory) who flatted while leading the chase. Eventually the chase came down to three riders - Mathias Flueckiger (Radon Factory), Jordan Sarrou (BH SR Suntour KMC) and Sam Gaze (Specialized). Gaze was dropped on the last lap when the other two began attacking, and Flueckiger outsprinted Sarrou for second.

Schurter now has a perfect score of 750 points, and is close to uncatchable in the standings. Valero, despite his flat and finishing 22nd, remains in second with 412 points, just two points in front of Maxime Marotte (Cannondale Factory). 

Full Results

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#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Nino Schurter (Swi) Scott-SRAM MTB Racing Team1:23:28
2Mathias Flueckiger (Swi) Radon Factory XC Team0:00:18
3Jordan Sarrou (Fra) BH-Srsuntour-KMC0:00:19
4Samuel Gaze (NZl) Specialized Racing0:00:33
5Florian Vogel (Swi) Focus XC Team0:00:51
6Pablo Rodriguez Guede (Spa) MMR Factory Racing Team0:00:59
7Maxime Marotte (Fra) Cannondale Factory Racing XC0:01:08
8Carlos Coloma Nicolas (Spa) Primaflor Mondraker0:01:10
9Anton Sintsov (Rus) JBG - 2 Professional MTB Team0:01:11
10Henrique Avancini (Bra) Cannondale Factory Racing XC0:01:24
11Stephane Tempier (Fra) Bianchi Countervail0:01:46
12Lukas Flueckiger (Swi) BMC Mountainbike Racing Team0:02:02
13Howard Grotts (USA)0:02:19
14Marcel Guerrini (Swi) Focus XC Team0:02:27
15Jens Schuermans (Bel) Scott Creuse Oxygene Gueret0:02:32
16Luca Braidot (Ita)0:02:34
17Daniel McConnell (Aus)Row 16 - Cell 2
18Anton Cooper (NZl) Trek Factory Racing XCRow 17 - Cell 2
19Hugo Drechou (Fra) Massi0:02:36
20Jan Skarnitzl (Cze) SRAM Mitas Trek0:02:54
21Lars Forster (Swi) BMC Mountainbike Racing Team0:03:09
22David Valero Serrano (Spa) MMR Factory Racing Team0:03:21
23Grant Ferguson (GBr) CST Sandd American Eagle MTB Racing Team0:03:30
24Martin Fanger (Swi)0:03:37
25Victor Koretzky (Fra) BH-Srsuntour-KMC0:03:45
26Leandre Bouchard (Can) BH-Srsuntour-KMC0:03:46
27Thomas Litscher (Swi) JB Brunex Felt Team0:04:00
28Hans Becking (Ned) CST Sandd American Eagle MTB Racing TeamRow 27 - Cell 2
29Reto Indergand (Swi) BMC Mountainbike Racing Team0:04:01
30Gerhard Kerschbaumer (Ita) Torpado Gabogas0:04:11
31Matthias Stirnemann (Swi) Scott-SRAM MTB Racing Team0:04:29
32Manuel Fumic (Ger) Cannondale Factory Racing XC0:04:35
33Michiel Van Der Heijden (Ned) Scott-SRAM MTB Racing Team0:04:47
34Ben Zwiehoff (Ger)0:04:52
35Daniele Braidot (Ita)0:05:02
36Ruben Scheire (Bel) Habitat Mountainbike Team0:05:07
37Martin Loo (Est)0:05:08
38Kevin Panhuyzen (Bel) Habitat Mountainbike Team0:05:20
39Moritz Milatz (Ger)0:05:24
40Karl Markt (Aut) Moebel Maerki MTB Pro Team0:05:26
41Mario Costa (Por) Primaflor Mondraker0:05:34
42Andrea Tiberi (Ita) Team NOB Selle Italia0:05:38
43Fabian Giger (Swi) Kross Racing TeamRow 42 - Cell 2
44Titouan Carod (Fra) BMC Mountainbike Racing Team0:05:39
45Didier Bats (Bel) CST Sandd American Eagle MTB Racing Team0:05:53
46Catriel Soto (Arg) Primaflor MondrakerRow 45 - Cell 2
47Markus Schulte-Luenzum (Ger) Focus XC TeamRow 46 - Cell 2
48Florian Trigo (Fra) Massi0:06:06
49Mirko Tabacchi (Ita)0:06:15
50Jhonnatan Botero Villegas (Col)0:06:23
51Gregor Raggl (Aut) Moebel Maerki MTB Pro Team0:06:30
52Ivan Diaz Buj (Spa)0:06:39
53Marek Konwa (Pol) Volkswagen Samochody Uzytkowe MTB Team0:06:45
54Andri Frischknecht (Swi) Scott-SRAM MTB Racing Team0:06:54
55Sergio Mantecon Gutierrez (Spa) Trek Factory Racing XC0:07:02
56Florian Chenaux (Swi)0:07:15
57Arnis Petersons (Lat) ZZK0:07:38
58Bartlomiej Wawak (Pol) Kross Racing Team0:07:43
59Andrea Righettini (Ita)0:08:06
60Christian Pfaffle (Ger) Moebel Maerki MTB Pro Team0:08:11
61Kohei Yamamoto (Jpn) BH-Srsuntour-KMC0:08:14
62David Rosa (Por)0:08:28
63Thomas Griot (Fra) Materiel-Velo.com0:08:56
64Sebastien Carabin (Bel) Merida Wallonie MTB Team0:09:11
65Edoardo Bonetto (Ita) Elios-Srsuntour Pro Team0:09:37
66Fco. Javier Poza Ruiz (Spa)Row 65 - Cell 2
67Arthur Tropardy (Fra) Look - Beaumes De VeniseRow 66 - Cell 2
68Adelino Moll Mut (Spa)Row 67 - Cell 2
69Andrew L'esperance (Can)Row 68 - Cell 2
70Bart De Vocht (Bel) KTM Bike VisionRow 69 - Cell 2
71Adria Noguera Soldevila (Spa)Row 70 - Cell 2
72Cameron Ivory (Aus)Row 71 - Cell 2
73Antoine Le Coq (Fra) Cube Pro Fermetures SeficRow 72 - Cell 2
74Dario Gasco (Arg)Row 73 - Cell 2
75Simon Gegenheimer (Ger) Rose Vaujany Fueled by UltrasportsRow 74 - Cell 2
76Israel Nuaez Baticon (Spa) MassiRow 75 - Cell 2
77Maximilian Holz (Ger) German Technology RacingRow 76 - Cell 2
78Chris Baddick (GBr)Row 77 - Cell 2
79Tobias Rotermund (Ger)Row 78 - Cell 2
80Mario Sinues Mico (Spa)Row 79 - Cell 2
81Victor Selles Pardo (Spa)Row 80 - Cell 2
82Antoine Bouqueret (Fra) Scott Creuse Oxygene GueretRow 81 - Cell 2
83Gerrit Rosenkranz (Ger)Row 82 - Cell 2
84Zdenek Vobecky (Cze)Row 83 - Cell 2
85Guy Diaz Grollier (And)Row 84 - Cell 2
86Jose Dias (Por)Row 85 - Cell 2
87Russell Nankervis (Aus)Row 86 - Cell 2
88Oriol Domenech Fernandez (Spa)Row 87 - Cell 2
89Robin Vanden Abeele (Bel) Cube Pro Fermetures SeficRow 88 - Cell 2
90Francisco Javier Macias Bonano (Spa)Row 89 - Cell 2
91Roberto Ferreira (Por)Row 90 - Cell 2
92Alberto Mingorance Fernandez (Spa)Row 91 - Cell 2
93Kevin Guillermo Ingratta Diaz (Arg)Row 92 - Cell 2
94Robert Schwenk (Ger)Row 93 - Cell 2
DNFMathieu van der Poel (Ned)Row 94 - Cell 2
DNFFrancesco Guerra Carretero (Spa)Row 95 - Cell 2
DNFMarco Aurelio Fontana (Ita) Bianchi CountervailRow 96 - Cell 2
DNFMartin Gluth (Ger) OMX Pro TeamRow 97 - Cell 2
DNFRamon Sagues Portabella (Spa)Row 98 - Cell 2
DNFDaniel Carreno Nin De Cardona (Spa) MMR Factory Racing TeamRow 99 - Cell 2
DNSJaroslav Kulhavy (Cze) Specialized RacingRow 100 - Cell 2
DNSSaul Lopez Alvarez (Spa)Row 101 - Cell 2

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