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Mountain Bike

Schurter considers racing on the road in 2014

By Cycling News

published 13 November 2013

Mountain bike world champion may test his legs in new discipline

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Nino Schurter leads Jaroslav Kulhavy(Image credit: Marius Maasewerd)

Nino Schurter celebrates an overall World Cup win(Image credit: Marius Maasewerd)

2013 World Cup overall and world champion Nino Schurter(Image credit: Armin Küstenbrück)

Cross country mountain bike world champion and World Cup overall winner Nino Schurter (Scott-Swisspower) is considering racing some road events in 2014 according to Solobike.it.

Schurter renews contract ahead of world title defence

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Schurter wraps up season with World Cup title

Schurter and Peat among racers at Enduro World Series last round

Schurter, who is presently enjoying an off-season break after a very successful 2013 season, is reportedly considering whether to make a debut with the Orica-GreenEdge team in 2014. Orica-GreenEdge also races Scott bikes, so there would not be a conflict with his mountain bike team sponsor.

Schurter's possible candidate road events include the Tour of Romandie and the Tour de Suisse, both Swiss events where he could theoretically test his legs against the roadies and decide whether to race more road events in subsequent years or even try to double up on road and mountain bike racing at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

There are a few issues with that plan. First, the Tour of Romandie, scheduled for April 23 to April 28, 2014 conflicts with the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Cairns, Australia, scheduled for April 24-27, 2014. Secondly, per the UCI regulations, riders cannot join WorldTour teams for a week here and there.

Schurter renewed his contract with his current Scott-Swisspower mountain bike team just ahead of his winning the 2014 world championship title in August.

Last year, Olympic mountain bike champion Jaroslav Kulhavy (Specialized) mulled over a switch to road racing, but the Czech rider decided to stay with mountain biking in 2013.