Schurter wins elite men's mountain bike world title
Kerschbaumer second, Van der Poel third
The final day of XCO competition in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, at the 2018 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships presented by Mercedes Benz, saw Swiss hero Nino Schurter delight the home crowd with a victory in the elite men. The Swiss finished the XCO portion of the world championships with four wins in seven races.
Schurter came into the elite men's race with six world titles already, but this was a chance to win before a home crowd, and he did not disappoint. The Swiss rider, who lives only 20 minutes away from Lenzerheide, attacked on the opening lap, and only Gerhard Kerschbaumer of Italy was able to go with him.
The pair rode together at the front for the entire race, until Schurter attacked with a lap and half to go. At the start of the final lap, his lead was a slim six seconds, but Schurter continued to push the pace and Kerschbaumer could not respond, finishing 11 seconds back as Schurter rolled across the finish line to the cheers of thousands of Swiss fans. Mathieu van der Poel of the Netherlands came back from a slow start to move into third on the fourth lap, and held it to the finish line for the final podium spot.
"This is definitely a special win, and I would say the best one," said Schurter. "Getting to race here with so many people out there cheering for me was incredible. It was so loud out on the course. I didn't have the freshest legs today after the Team Relay [won by Switzerland], so I was suffering quite a bit. I tried to wait, and my plan was to attack in the last lap, but I saw in the second last one that he started to struggle in the technical sections, so I just pushed as hard as I could, and the people were cheering me to the finish line."
Full Results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Nino Schurter (Switzerland) | 1:29:21 |
2 | Gerhard Kerschbaumer (Italy) | 0:00:11 |
3 | Mathieu Van Der Poel (Netherlands) | 0:01:14 |
4 | Henrique Avancini (Brazil) | 0:01:53 |
5 | Florian Vogel (Switzerland) | 0:01:54 |
6 | Mathias Flueckiger (Switzerland) | 0:02:00 |
7 | Titouan Carod (France) | 0:02:16 |
8 | Jordan Sarrou (France) | 0:02:38 |
9 | Daniele Braidot (Italy) | 0:02:45 |
10 | Thomas Litscher (Switzerland) | 0:03:04 |
11 | Stephane Tempier (France) | 0:03:36 |
12 | Luca Braidot (Italy) | 0:03:44 |
13 | Andri Frischknecht (Switzerland) | 0:03:47 |
14 | Maxime Marotte (France) | 0:04:02 |
15 | Howard Grotts (United States Of America) | 0:04:24 |
16 | Ondrej Cink (Czech Republic) | 0:04:25 |
17 | Jens Schuermans (Belgium) | 0:04:30 |
18 | Carlos Coloma Nicolas (Spain) | Row 17 - Cell 2 |
19 | Kevin Panhuyzen (Belgium) | 0:04:31 |
20 | Jan Škarnitzl (Czech Republic) | Row 19 - Cell 2 |
21 | Victor Koretzky (France) | 0:04:47 |
22 | Karl Markt (Austria) | 0:04:48 |
23 | Maximilian Foidl (Austria) | 0:04:50 |
24 | Gregor Raggl (Austria) | 0:04:52 |
25 | Anton Sintsov (Russian Federation) | 0:04:53 |
26 | Leandre Bouchard (Canada) | Row 25 - Cell 2 |
27 | Catriel Soto (Argentina) | 0:05:12 |
28 | Gioele Bertolini (Italy) | 0:05:19 |
29 | Reto Indergand (Switzerland) | 0:05:23 |
30 | Ben Zwiehoff (Germany) | 0:05:33 |
31 | Anton Cooper (New Zealand) | 0:05:51 |
32 | Sergio Mantecon Gutierrez (Spain) | 0:06:06 |
33 | Georg Egger (Germany) | 0:06:15 |
34 | Andrea Tiberi (Italy) | 0:06:16 |
35 | Martin Loo (Estonia) | 0:06:29 |
36 | Lars Forster (Switzerland) | 0:06:41 |
37 | Carlos Herrera Arroyo (Costa Rica) | 0:06:51 |
38 | András Parti (Hungary) | 0:06:59 |
39 | Nicola Rohrbach (Switzerland) | 0:07:16 |
40 | Bartlomiej Wawak (Poland) | 0:07:24 |
41 | Hugo Drechou (France) | 0:07:34 |
42 | Guilherme Gotardelo Muller (Brazil) | 0:07:36 |
43 | Marek Konwa (Poland) | 0:07:37 |
44 | Jaroslav Kulhavý (Czech Republic) | Row 43 - Cell 2 |
45 | Martins Blums (Latvia) | 0:07:47 |
46 | Luke Vrouwenvelder (United States Of America) | Row 45 - Cell 2 |
47 | Keegan Swenson (United States Of America) | 0:07:48 |
48 | Raphael Gagne (Canada) | 0:07:56 |
49 | Peter Disera (Canada) | Row 48 - Cell 2 |
50 | Kohei Yamamoto (Japan) | 0:07:57 |
51 | David Valero Serrano (Spain) | 0:08:35 |
52 | Manuel Fumic (Germany) | 0:08:47 |
53 | Martin Gluth (Germany) | 0:09:08 |
54 | Nadir Colledani (Italy) | 0:09:42 |
55 | Marco Aurelio Fontana (Italy) | 0:10:17 |
56 | Shlomi Haimy (Israel) | Lap |
57 | Fabio Hernando Castañeda Monsalve (Colombia) | Row 56 - Cell 2 |
58 | Grant Ferguson (Great Britain) | Row 57 - Cell 2 |
59 | Timofei Ivanov (Russian Federation) | Row 58 - Cell 2 |
60 | Andrew L'esperance (Canada) | Row 59 - Cell 2 |
61 | Luiz Henrique Cocuzzi (Brazil) | Row 60 - Cell 2 |
62 | Jhonatan Botero Villegas (Colombia) | Row 61 - Cell 2 |
63 | Daniel Mcconnell (Australia) | Row 62 - Cell 2 |
64 | Matthias Wengelin (Sweden) | Row 63 - Cell 2 |
65 | Guy Sessler (Israel) | Row 64 - Cell 2 |
66 | Juan Fernando Monroy (Colombia) | Row 65 - Cell 2 |
67 | Michael Olsson (Sweden) | Row 66 - Cell 2 |
68 | Ivan Seledkov (Russian Federation) | Row 67 - Cell 2 |
69 | Sebastian Alejandro Miranda Maldonado (Chile) | Row 68 - Cell 2 |
70 | Jorge Alvaro Macias (Argentina) | Row 69 - Cell 2 |
71 | Mário Costa (Portugal) | Row 70 - Cell 2 |
72 | Martin Haring (Slovakia) | Row 71 - Cell 2 |
73 | Sebastian Jayne (Australia) | Row 72 - Cell 2 |
74 | Sebastian Fini Carstensen (Denmark) | Row 73 - Cell 2 |
75 | Dario Gasco (Argentina) | Row 74 - Cell 2 |
76 | Lucian Logigan (Romania) | Row 75 - Cell 2 |
77 | Patricio Maximiliano Farias Diaz (Chile) | Row 76 - Cell 2 |
78 | Jose Gabriel Marques De Almeida (Brazil) | Row 77 - Cell 2 |
79 | Seiya Hirano (Japan) | Row 78 - Cell 2 |
80 | Eyair Francisco Astudillo Gallardo (Chile) | Row 79 - Cell 2 |
81 | Till Drobisch (Namibia) | Row 80 - Cell 2 |
82 | Keerati Sukprasart (Thailand) | Row 81 - Cell 2 |
83 | Gareth Mckee (Ireland) | Row 82 - Cell 2 |
84 | Peerapol Chawchiangkwang (Thailand) | Row 83 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Jan Vastl (Czech Republic) | Row 84 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Arnis Petersons (Latvia) | Row 85 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Kirill Kazantsev (Kazakhstan) | Row 86 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Ingvar Omarsson (Iceland) | Row 87 - Cell 2 |
DNS | Dmytro Titarenko (Ukraine) | Row 88 - Cell 2 |
DNS | Viktor Vodolaga (Ukraine) | Row 89 - Cell 2 |
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Latest on Cyclingnews
-
2025 Tour de France to be ‘number one target’ for new Jayco-AlUla recruit Ben O’Connor
Team boss Matt White says team will also take a sprinter to the Tour and aim for Giro GC -
European Cyclocross Championships: Italy take victory in mixed team relay
Filippo Agostinacchio leads team to the win on final leg ahead of France and Spain -
Saitama Criterium - Biniam Girmay sails over line first as Japan gets its taste of the Tour de France
Mark Cavendish, Primož Roglič and Jasper Philipsen among riders lining up for the off-season crowd pleaser -
‘I wanted a Spanish team’ - Pablo Castrillo ready to put transfer saga behind him and push on with Movistar in 2025
Winner of two stages at the 2024 Vuelta a España is pleased that 'long negotiation' after long transfer battle