World Champion Schurter wins Lenzerheide World Cup
Absalon and Marotte round out podium
Newly crowned world champion Nino Schurter (Scott-Odlo) took his third World Cup win of the season on Sunday, in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, holding off a late charge by Julien Absalon (BMC). Maxime Marotte (BH-SR Suntour-KMC) took third.
Lenzerheide takes the riders to heat and altitude on a fast but rough and rooty course. Many a rider has gone out hard only to pay for it later in the race.
The eight lap race did not start well for Schurter, who pulled his foot out of his pedal at the start, immediately losing more than a dozen spots as his main rivals sprinted at the front. However, he was able to quickly make his way back to the leaders, joining Absalon and defending Lenzerheide champion Jaroslav Kulhavy (Specialized Racing) at the front.
Kulhavy set a hard pace on the second lap, gapping the other two on the main climb. Schurter bridged across but Absalon couldn't respond, eventually getting passed by Marotte and Victor Koretzky (BH-SR Suntour-KMC), who both joined Kulhavy and Schurter at the front.
On the third lap Schurter attacked, with Kulhavy chasing, followed by the two BH-Suntour riders, however, the Czech then flatted, dropping to nearly a minute back before getting a wheel change, joining Absalon. Kulhavy got a slight gap on Absalon, but the race order looked to be set as the riders began the second half, with Schurter out in front, followed by Marotte, then Koretzky, then Kulhavy and finally Absalon.
Absalon then began a late race surge with two and a half laps remaining, passing and dropping both Kulhavy and Koretzky to move into third. With half a lap to go, Absalon had caught and dropped Marotte to move into second, and in the final lap made up more than 40 seconds on Schurter.
"I had a really bad start," agreed Schurter, "I couldn't get into my pedals and then by the top of the first climb I was maybe 20th, and it took quite a bit of energy to get to the front. It was amazing to race back home, I love this track. I didn't know that [Kulhavy] had punctured, but I just did my own race and went as fast as I could. I've had two great races in a row now, so it gives me confidence as I go into my final preparations for Rio."
"It was a really hard race today, and Nino was very strong," said Absalon. "I was not so strong at the beginning, but I did a really good finish, so I'm happy about that. Now we go to Mont-Ste-Anne, and Nino will not race there, so it could be possible for me to take the lead."
Schurter, with his third win of the season continues to lead the standings with 900 points, however, Absalon is only 90 back, and Marotte remains in third at 720 points.
Results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Nino Schurter (Swi) | 1:27:26 |
2 | Julien Absalon (Fra) | 0:00:27 |
3 | Maxime Marotte (Fra) | 0:00:45 |
4 | Jaroslav Kulhavy (Cze) | 0:01:16 |
5 | David Valero Serrano (Spa) | 0:02:13 |
6 | Florian Vogel (Swi) | 0:02:21 |
7 | Stéphane Tempier (Fra) | 0:02:29 |
8 | Carlos Coloma Nicolas (Spa) | 0:02:35 |
9 | Lukas Flückiger (Swi) | 0:02:49 |
10 | Ondrej Cink (Cze) | 0:02:54 |
11 | Daniel McConnell (Aus) | 0:02:58 |
12 | Jan Skarnitzl (Cze) | 0:03:10 |
13 | Victor Koretzky (Fra) | 0:03:11 |
14 | Thomas Litscher (Swi) | Row 13 - Cell 2 |
15 | Luca Braidot (Ita) | 0:03:53 |
16 | Andrea Tiberi (Ita) | 0:04:15 |
17 | Karl Markt (Aut) | 0:04:17 |
18 | Leandre Bouchard (Can) | 0:04:26 |
19 | Alexander Gehbauer (Aut) | 0:04:31 |
20 | Jhonnatan Botero Villegas (Col) | 0:04:35 |
21 | Hugo Drechou (Fra) | 0:04:51 |
22 | Pablo Rodriguez Guede (Spa) | 0:05:02 |
23 | Jordan Sarrou (Fra) | 0:05:11 |
24 | Fabian Giger (Swi) | 0:05:16 |
25 | Markus Schulte-Luenzum (Ger) | 0:05:25 |
26 | Marco Aurelio Fontana (Ita) | 0:05:31 |
27 | Rudi Van Houts (Ned) | 0:05:33 |
28 | Grant Ferguson (GBr) | 0:05:39 |
29 | David Joao Serralheiro Rosa (Por) | Row 28 - Cell 2 |
30 | Matthias Stirnemann (Swi) | 0:05:58 |
31 | Miguel Martinez (Fra) | 0:06:06 |
32 | Moritz Milatz (Ger) | 0:06:17 |
33 | Daniele Braidot (Ita) | 0:06:21 |
34 | Manuel Fumic (Ger) | 0:06:26 |
35 | Anton Sintsov (Rus) | 0:06:30 |
36 | Christian Pfäffle (Ger) | Row 35 - Cell 2 |
37 | Kohei Yamamoto (Jpn) | 0:06:41 |
38 | Martin Gujan (Swi) | 0:06:51 |
39 | Reto Indergand (Swi) | 0:06:57 |
40 | Martin Loo (Est) | 0:07:15 |
41 | James Reid (RSA) | 0:07:28 |
42 | Nicholas Pettina (Ita) | 0:07:38 |
43 | Mathias Flückiger (Swi) | 0:07:48 |
44 | Sebastien Carabin (Bel) | 0:07:54 |
45 | Martin Fanger (Swi) | 0:08:03 |
46 | Ruben Scheire (Bel) | 0:08:13 |
47 | Ivan Seledkov (Rus) | 0:08:15 |
48 | Mirko Tabacchi (Ita) | 0:09:05 |
49 | Catriel Andres Soto (Arg) | 0:09:48 |
50 | Gregor Raggl (Aut) | 0:10:13 |
51 | Daniel Eymann (Swi) | Row 50 - Cell 2 |
52 | Marcel Wildhaber (Swi) | Row 51 - Cell 2 |
53 | Pierre-Geoffroy Plantet (Fra) | Row 52 - Cell 2 |
54 | Henrique Avancini (Bra) | Row 53 - Cell 2 |
55 | Kevin Van Hoovels (Bel) | Row 54 - Cell 2 |
56 | Nicola Rohrbach (Swi) | Row 55 - Cell 2 |
57 | Florian Chenaux (Swi) | Row 56 - Cell 2 |
58 | Sakari Lehtinen (Fin) | Row 57 - Cell 2 |
59 | Martin Gluth (Ger) | Row 58 - Cell 2 |
60 | Bart De Vocht (Bel) | Row 59 - Cell 2 |
61 | Bartlomiej Wawak (Pol) | Row 60 - Cell 2 |
62 | Andrey Fonseca (CRc) | Row 61 - Cell 2 |
63 | Frank Beemer (Ned) | Row 62 - Cell 2 |
64 | Cameron Ivory (Aus) | Row 63 - Cell 2 |
65 | Philipp Hediger (Swi) | Row 64 - Cell 2 |
66 | Michael Stünzi (Swi) | Row 65 - Cell 2 |
67 | Simon Gegenheimer (Ger) | Row 66 - Cell 2 |
68 | Lukas Winterberg (Swi) | Row 67 - Cell 2 |
69 | Emilien Barben (Swi) | Row 68 - Cell 2 |
70 | Andras Parti (Hun) | Row 69 - Cell 2 |
71 | Marc Stutzmann (Swi) | Row 70 - Cell 2 |
72 | Severin Saegesser (Swi) | Row 71 - Cell 2 |
73 | Edoardo Bonetto (Ita) | Row 72 - Cell 2 |
74 | Christian Helmig (Lux) | Row 73 - Cell 2 |
75 | Phillip Pearce (GBr) | Row 74 - Cell 2 |
76 | Sebastian Alejandro Miranda Maldonado (Chi) | Row 75 - Cell 2 |
77 | Zdenek Vobecky (Cze) | Row 76 - Cell 2 |
78 | Maximilian Maier (Ger) | Row 77 - Cell 2 |
79 | Maximilian Holz (Ger) | Row 78 - Cell 2 |
80 | Wolfram Kurschat (Ger) | Row 79 - Cell 2 |
81 | Russell Nankervis (Aus) | Row 80 - Cell 2 |
82 | Roger Jenny (Swi) | Row 81 - Cell 2 |
83 | Florian Thie (Swi) | Row 82 - Cell 2 |
84 | Lysander Kiesel (Ger) | Row 83 - Cell 2 |
85 | Zhen Wang (Chn) | Row 84 - Cell 2 |
86 | Fabian Paumann (Swi) | Row 85 - Cell 2 |
87 | Andrea Righettini (Ita) | Row 86 - Cell 2 |
88 | Yannick Lincoln (Mri) | Row 87 - Cell 2 |
89 | Tobias Rotermund (Ger) | Row 88 - Cell 2 |
90 | Sipho Madolo (RSA) | Row 89 - Cell 2 |
91 | Ingvar Omarsson ISL | Row 90 - Cell 2 |
92 | Phetetso Monese (Les) | Row 91 - Cell 2 |
93 | Pascal Nay (Swi) | Row 92 - Cell 2 |
94 | Nick Albrecht (Swi) | Row 93 - Cell 2 |
95 | Mathias Alig (Swi) | Row 94 - Cell 2 |
96 | Teboho Khantsi (Les) | Row 95 - Cell 2 |
97 | Luca Formoso (Swi) | Row 96 - Cell 2 |
98 | Jacques Dahm (Lux) | Row 97 - Cell 2 |
99 | George-Vlad Sabau (Rom) | Row 98 - Cell 2 |
DNF | José Antonio Hermida Ramos (Spa) | Row 99 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Jeff Luyten (Bel) | Row 100 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Michiel Van Der Heijden (Ned) | Row 101 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Mario Luis Miranda Costa (Por) | Row 102 - Cell 2 |
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