Schuermans wins U23 cross country World Cup in Nove Mesto

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In the second round of the cross country series for the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, in Nove Mesto na Morave, Czech Republic, a new face topped the under 23 men's podium, with Jens Schuermans (Versluys) taking the victory and the overall lead in the men's standings.

The race began with a mechanical problem for World Cup leader Markus Schulte-Luenzum (Focus XC), who broke his chain and had to run to the first tech zone. His day got worse when he immediately broke a second chain, followed by a flat tire and finally a third broken chain, before, quite deservedly, calling it a day.

At the front, Italy's Luca Braidot had jumped into the lead, opening a few second gap on Schuermans in the first two laps before the Belgian rider caught and dropped him at the halfway point in the race. Schuermans was clearly on fire, setting the fastest lap times for four out of the five laps in the race.

Behind, Reto Indergand (BMC) was steadily overtaking Braidot, moving into second place with a lap and a half to go. The Italian continue to lose ground, with Michiel van der Heijden (Giant Pro XC) also overtaking him to grab the final podium spot.

Schuermans now leads the men's standings after two rounds with 160 points, followed by van der Heijden at 120, Indergand at 97, and former leader Schulte-Luenzum at 90.

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