Kerschbaumer takes Vallnord World Cup XCO win

For only the second time in two years, world champion and World Cup leader Nino Schurter (Scott-SRAM) has been beaten in World Cup competition. Gerhard Kerschbaumer (Torpado Garbogas) took the first Elite World Cup victory of his career on Sunday at Round 5 in Vallnord, Andorra.

As usual, Schurter went out hard on the opening lap of the eight lap race. Kerschbaumer was the only one to bridge up to the Swiss rider, late in the first lap, while a chase group of three formed behind - Mathieu van der Poel (Corendon-Circus), Henrique Avancini (Cannondale Factory) and Jordan Sarrou (KMC-Ekoi-SR Suntour). This set the top-5 for the rest of the race, as the front two steadily pulled away from the chasers.

Kerschbaumer was clearly the stronger on the steep climbs, but Schurter would close the gap with his superior descend skills every time until the sixth lap, when the gap opened to 11 seconds on the first climb, and Kerschbaumer was able to extend it on the second, main climb.

Schurter was clearly struggling with the altitude, and dropping back further at every time split, eventually finishing 1:13 behind the Italian champion. Van der Poel had attacked his chase companions on the fifth lap, and slowly eked out a small lead through the remainder of the race to finish third for the second consecutive weekend, followed by Avancini, fourth also for the second time in back-to-back weekends.

"This win means a lot," admitted Kerschbaumer. "One week ago I was second behind Nino and today ... it was amazing. The altitude I like a lot ... I spent two months at home at altitude and it worked. In the downhills, Nino was stronger than me, but in the long climbs I think I was a little bit better, and I attacked there."

The second place finish has no effect on Schurter's overall lead, and he now has a commanding 1405 points; 325 more than van der Poel. Schurter could wrap up the World Cup title at the next round in Mont-Ste-Anne, Canada, with another strong performance. Avancini, who is having a breakthrough season after winning the XCC short track on Friday, jumps from fifth to third in the standings at 861 points, displacing Cannondale team mate Maxime Marrotte.

Results

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#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Gerhard Kerschbaumer (Ita)1:32:05
2Nino Schurter (Swi)0:01:13
3Mathieu Van Der Poel (Ned)0:02:06
4Henrique Avancini (Bra)0:02:28
5Jordan Sarrou (Fra)0:02:45
6Luca Braidot (Ita)0:03:00
7Florian Vogel (Swi)0:03:14
8Carlos Coloma Nicolas (Spa)0:03:22
9Ondrej Cink (Cze)0:03:32
10David Valero Serrano (Spa)0:03:40
11Sergio Mantecon Gutierrez (Spa)0:03:46
12Thomas Litscher (Swi)0:04:06
13Lars Forster (Swi)0:04:36
14Nicholas Pettina' (Ita)0:04:49
15Andri Frischknecht (Swi)0:04:57
16Mathias Flueckiger (Swi)0:05:08
17Jens Schuermans (Bel)0:05:15
18Samuel Gaze (NZl)0:05:21
19Howard Grotts (USA)0:05:23
20Jan Škarnitzl (Cze)0:05:24
21Nadir Colledani (Ita)Row 20 - Cell 2
22Anton Cooper (NZl)0:05:27
23Hugo Drechou (Fra)0:05:41
24Anton Sintsov (Rus)0:05:52
25Maxime Marotte (Fra)0:05:56
26Lukas Flueckiger (Swi)0:05:57
27Daniel Mcconnell (Aus)0:05:58
28Stephane Tempier (Fra)0:06:00
29Fabian Giger (Swi)0:06:03
30Victor Koretzky (Fra)0:06:15
31Gregor Raggl (Aut)0:06:30
32Daniele Braidot (Ita)0:06:35
33Kevin Panhuyzen (Bel)0:06:50
34Leandre Bouchard (Can)0:06:57
35Bartlomiej Wawak (Pol)0:07:02
36Gioele Bertolini (Ita)0:07:26
37Ruben Scheire (Bel)0:07:30
38Marco Aurelio Fontana (Ita)0:07:35
39Reto Indergand (Swi)0:07:38
40Thomas Griot (Fra)0:07:54
41Keegan Swenson (USA)0:08:09
42Ivan Diaz Buj (Spa)0:08:21
43Peter Disera (Can)0:08:25
44Karl Markt (Aut)Row 43 - Cell 2
45Marek Konwa (Pol)0:08:33
46Kohei Yamamoto (Jpn)0:08:38
47Nicola Rohrbach (Swi)0:09:04
48Marcel Guerrini (Swi)0:09:07
49Grant Ferguson (GBr)0:09:10
50Michiel Van Der Heijden (Ned)0:09:23
51Titouan Carod (Fra)0:09:37
52Jan Vastl (Cze)0:09:45
53Georg Egger (Ger)0:10:23
54Arnold Jeannesson (Fra)0:11:58
55Jhonatan Botero Villegas (Col)Row 54 - Cell 2
56Ismael Esteban Aguero (Spa)Row 55 - Cell 2
57Florian Trigo (Fra)Row 56 - Cell 2
58Raphael Gay (Fra)Row 57 - Cell 2
59Shlomi Haimy (Isr)Row 58 - Cell 2
60Christian Pfäffle (Ger)Row 59 - Cell 2
61Raphael Gagne (Can)Row 60 - Cell 2
62Simon Vitzthum (Swi)Row 61 - Cell 2
63Sebastian Fini Carstensen (Den)Row 62 - Cell 2
64Martin Loo (Est)Row 63 - Cell 2
65András Parti (Hun)Row 64 - Cell 2
66Catriel Soto (Arg)Row 65 - Cell 2
67Erno Jacob Mccrae (Bel)Row 66 - Cell 2
68Martin Gluth (Ger)Row 67 - Cell 2
69Andrew L'esperance (Can)Row 68 - Cell 2
70Mário Costa (Por)Row 69 - Cell 2
71Mario Sinues Mico (Spa)Row 70 - Cell 2
72Martin Fanger (Swi)Row 71 - Cell 2
73Guy Sessler (Isr)Row 72 - Cell 2
74Vincent Sibille (Fra)Row 73 - Cell 2
75Sakari Lehtinen (Fin)Row 74 - Cell 2
76Guy Diaz Grollier (And)Row 75 - Cell 2
77Maxime Loret (Fra)Row 76 - Cell 2
78Tom Bell (GBr)Row 77 - Cell 2
79Ricardo Marinheiro (Por)Row 78 - Cell 2
80Roberto Ferreira (Por)Row 79 - Cell 2
81Zdenek Vobecký (Cze)Row 80 - Cell 2
82Ever Alejandro Gomez Diaz (Bol)Row 81 - Cell 2
83Edoardo Bonetto (Ita)Row 82 - Cell 2
84Adelino Moll Mut (Spa)Row 83 - Cell 2
85Pierre Billaud (Fra)Row 84 - Cell 2
86Arthur Tropardy (Fra)Row 85 - Cell 2
87Manuel Sanchez Aldeguer (Spa)Row 86 - Cell 2
88Victor Selles Pardo (Spa)Row 87 - Cell 2
89Marcel Lehrian (Ger)Row 88 - Cell 2
90Alexandre Vialle (Can)Row 89 - Cell 2
91Pablo Garrido Satorre (Spa)Row 90 - Cell 2
92Robert Schwenk (Ger)Row 91 - Cell 2
93Frédéric Ischard (Fra)Row 92 - Cell 2
DNFMartins Blums (Lat)Row 93 - Cell 2
DNFPablo Rodriguez Guede (Spa)Row 94 - Cell 2
DNFFábio Ribeiro (Por)Row 95 - Cell 2
DNFLukas Baum (Ger)Row 96 - Cell 2
DNFMatthias Stirnemann (Swi)Row 97 - Cell 2
DNFManuel Fumic (Ger)Row 98 - Cell 2
DNFMarkus Schulte-Lünzum (Ger)Row 99 - Cell 2

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