Schurter caps off perfect season with Val di Sole victory
Tempier, Absalon round out podium in final World Cup round
Olympic and world champion Nino Schurter (Scott-SRAM) finished an unprecedented perfect World Cup season on Sunday when he completed his sweep of all six rounds of the 2017 Mountain Bike World Cup series in Val di Sole, Italy.
Schurter came into the final round having already assured himself of the World Cup title with five straight wins - a record for the cross-country World Cup. However, winning the final round would further cement his status as the top male mountain biker in the world.
The men raced a start loop plus seven laps of the four kilometre circuit, and Schurter immediately went to the front, joined by Manuel Fumic (Cannondale Factory). The duo had opened a gap on the chasers by the start of the first lap, however, Fumic suffered a drivetrain problem on the opening lap and fell out of contention.
Stephane Tempier (Bianchi Countervail) bridged up from the chase group to join Schurter at the front on the second lap, and the pair rode away from the rest of the field. Schurter was content to ride on Tempier's wheel for most of the race, before attacking on the final climb of the last lap to open a four second gap and take the title.
The chase group began with 11 riders and was gradually whittled down over the laps. 2012 Olympic champion Jaroslav Kulhavy (Specialized) did much of the work at the front of the group, before he was joined by two-time Olympic champion Julien Absalon (BMC), who bridged up to the group on the fourth lap. Absalon, the defending World Cup champion, was out of contention for the overall title after breaking his collarbone and missing two rounds, however, he showed that he is rapidly returning to form with a strong third place finish, just ahead of Kulhavy.
"It's amazing and unbelievable," admitted Schurter. "I have an awesome team around me and that's a big part of this success. It's impossible to get through the whole season without them. I wasn't too fresh this race; I'm starting to feel the long season, so I couldn't get away [from Tempier]. I just tried to stay with him. So I did the same as two years ago when I attacked [Julien] Absalon on that section before the downhill and it worked."
In the overall standings, Schurter won the title with a perfect 1500 points. Tempier jumped ahead of fellow Frenchman Maxime Marotte (Cannondale Factory) to take second in the final standings with 850 points, followed by Marotte at 772. Absalon jumped from 14th to eighth, despite missing two rounds.
Elite Men
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Nino Schurter (Swi) Scott-Sram Mtb Racing Team | 1:24:30 |
2 | Stephane Tempier (Fra) Bianchi Countervail | 0:00:04 |
3 | Julien Absalon (Fra) Bmc Mountainbike Racing Team | 0:00:47 |
4 | Jaroslav Kulhavý (Cze) Specialized Racing | 0:00:53 |
5 | Lars Forster (Swi) Bmc Mountainbike Racing Team | 0:00:54 |
6 | Thomas Litscher (Swi) Jb Brunex Felt Team | 0:01:11 |
7 | Florian Vogel (Swi) Focus Xc Team | 0:01:27 |
8 | Titouan Carod (Fra) Bmc Mountainbike Racing Team | 0:01:35 |
9 | Luca Braidot (Ita) | 0:01:49 |
10 | Jordan Sarrou (Fra) Bh-Srsuntour-Kmc | 0:01:59 |
11 | Carlos Coloma Nicolas (Spa) Primaflor Mondraker | 0:02:03 |
12 | Pablo Rodriguez Guede (Spa) Mmr Factory Racing Team | 0:02:04 |
13 | Daniel McConnell (Aus) | 0:02:09 |
14 | Lukas Flueckiger (Swi) Bmc Mountainbike Racing Team | 0:02:28 |
15 | Henrique Avancini (Bra) Cannondale Factory Racing Xc | 0:02:32 |
16 | Jan Škarnitzl (Cze) Sram Mitas Trek | 0:02:38 |
17 | Maxime Marotte (Fra) Cannondale Factory Racing Xc | 0:02:47 |
18 | Hans Becking (Ned) Cst Sandd American Eagle Mtb Racing Team | 0:02:51 |
19 | David Rosa (Por) | 0:02:53 |
20 | Anton Cooper (NZl) Trek Factory Racing Xc | 0:02:54 |
21 | Sergio Mantecon Gutierrez (Spa) Trek Factory Racing Xc | 0:02:57 |
22 | Reto Indergand (Swi) Bmc Mountainbike Racing Team | 0:03:02 |
23 | Manuel Fumic (Ger) Cannondale Factory Racing Xc | 0:03:23 |
24 | Daniele Braidot (Ita) | 0:03:29 |
25 | Jens Schuermans (Bel) Scott Creuse Oxygene Gueret | 0:03:34 |
26 | David Valero Serrano (Spa) Mmr Factory Racing Team | 0:03:39 |
27 | Karl Markt (Aut) Moebel Maerki Mtb Pro Team | 0:03:42 |
28 | Thomas Griot (Fra) Materiel-Velo.Com | 0:03:46 |
29 | Markus Schulte-Lünzum (Ger) Focus Xc Team | 0:03:52 |
30 | Marcel Guerrini (Swi) Focus Xc Team | 0:03:58 |
31 | Andrea Tiberi (Ita) Team Nob Selle Italia | Row 30 - Cell 2 |
32 | Florian Chenaux (Swi) | 0:03:59 |
33 | Martin Loo (Est) | 0:04:04 |
34 | Hugo Drechou (Fra) Massi | 0:04:23 |
35 | Catriel Soto (Arg) Primaflor Mondraker | 0:04:34 |
36 | Marek Konwa (Pol) Volkswagen Samochody Uzytkowe Mtb Team | 0:04:38 |
37 | Marco Aurelio Fontana (Ita) Bianchi Countervail | Row 36 - Cell 2 |
38 | Michiel Van Der Heijden (Ned) Scott-Sram Mtb Racing Team | 0:04:45 |
39 | Matthias Stirnemann (Swi) Scott-Sram Mtb Racing Team | 0:04:56 |
40 | Gerhard Kerschbaumer (Ita) Torpado Gabogas | 0:04:58 |
41 | Julian Schelb (Ger) | 0:05:05 |
42 | Mirko Tabacchi (Ita) | 0:05:15 |
43 | Kevin Panhuyzen (Bel) Habitat Mountainbike Team | 0:05:25 |
44 | Jhonnatan Botero Villegas (Col) | 0:05:35 |
45 | Jan Nesvadba (Cze) Expres Cz-Scott Team Kolin | 0:05:59 |
46 | Fabian Giger (Swi) Kross Racing Team | 0:06:13 |
47 | Christian Pfäffle (Ger) Moebel Maerki Mtb Pro Team | 0:06:22 |
48 | Bart De Vocht (Bel) Ktm Bike Vision | 0:06:23 |
49 | Martin Fanger (Swi) | 0:06:25 |
50 | Andri Frischknecht (Swi) Scott-Sram Mtb Racing Team | 0:06:31 |
51 | Nicola Rohrbach (Swi) | 0:06:55 |
52 | Gregor Raggl (Aut) Moebel Maerki Mtb Pro Team | 0:07:07 |
53 | Martin Gluth (Ger) Omx Pro Team | 0:07:10 |
54 | Raphael Gagne (Can) Cannondale-3Rox Racing | 0:07:25 |
55 | Martin Frey (Ger) Team Bulls | 0:07:28 |
56 | Victor Koretzky (Fra) Bh-Srsuntour-Kmc | 0:08:08 |
57 | Wolfram Kurschat (Ger) Kurschat Consulting Racing Team | 0:08:27 |
58 | Tomáš Paprstka (Cze) Expres Cz-Scott Team Kolin | 0:08:39 |
59 | Denis Fumarola (Ita) | 0:08:57 |
60 | András Parti (Hun) Nella Trek Team | 0:09:30 |
61 | Ismael Ventura Sanchez (Spa) | 0:10:04 |
62 | Maximilian Holz (Ger) German Technology Racing | 0:10:57 |
63 | Antoine Le Coq (Fra) Cube Pro Fermetures Sefic | Row 62 - Cell 2 |
64 | Moritz Milatz (Ger) | Row 63 - Cell 2 |
65 | Tom Bell (GBr) | Row 64 - Cell 2 |
66 | Antoine Bouqueret (Fra) Scott Creuse Oxygene Gueret | Row 65 - Cell 2 |
67 | Michele Casagrande (Ita) | Row 66 - Cell 2 |
68 | Tobias Dominik Rotermund (Ger) | Row 67 - Cell 2 |
69 | Lorenzo Samparisi (Ita) | Row 68 - Cell 2 |
70 | Lysander Kiesel (Ger) German Technology Racing | Row 69 - Cell 2 |
71 | Edoardo Bonetto (Ita) Elios-Srsuntour Pro Team | Row 70 - Cell 2 |
72 | Zdenek Vobecký (Cze) | Row 71 - Cell 2 |
73 | Corentin Fromont (Fra) Team Vtt Vca Anjos | Row 72 - Cell 2 |
74 | Robin Vanden Abeele (Bel) Cube Pro Fermetures Sefic | Row 73 - Cell 2 |
75 | Alexandre Vialle (Can) | Row 74 - Cell 2 |
76 | Grant Ferguson (GBr) Cst Sandd American Eagle Mtb Racing Team | Row 75 - Cell 2 |
77 | Samuel Gaze (NZl) Specialized Racing | Row 76 - Cell 2 |
78 | Michael Stünzi (Swi) | Row 77 - Cell 2 |
79 | Artem Shevtsov (Ukr) Bps Mtb Team | Row 78 - Cell 2 |
80 | Maxime Latourte (Fra) Sa Verdun Vtt | Row 79 - Cell 2 |
81 | Lucian Logigan (Rom) | Row 80 - Cell 2 |
82 | Robert Schwenk (Ger) | Row 81 - Cell 2 |
83 | Maciej Jeziorski (Pol) | Row 82 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Bartlomiej Wawak (Pol) Kross Racing Team | Row 83 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Mathias Flueckiger (Swi) Radon Factory Xc Team | Row 84 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Andrea Righettini (Ita) | Row 85 - Cell 2 |
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Latest on Cyclingnews
-
Tadej Pogačar preparing to start 'serious training' after winning fifth top Slovenian cyclist trophy
Worlds will be 'the most difficult race to defend', Pogačar says, ahead of December training camp -
Olav Kooij confident in future at Visma-Lease a Bike but Tour de France debut still 'not the most likely' in 2025
Dutch sprinter talks Grand Tour plans, recovery from injury and his new lead-out man Dan McLay with Cyclingnews -
'Massively underpaid' - Tadej Pogačar deserves far more for 'star power' role in cycling, argues Tejay van Garderen
Former US Tour de France rider sparks debate on NBC 'Beyond the Podium' cycling podcast -
'Don't give up' - the driving force behind Mark Cavendish's success
"The majority of athletes will never get to go out on a fairytale ending" says Manxman as he starts to enjoy retirement