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August 28, 2021
Mountain Bike World Championships 2021 – XCO ME – Val di Sole
For the first time since 2019, a full UCI Mountain Bike World Championships will take place this week in Val di Sole,
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August 28, 2021
Mountain Bike World Championships 2021 – XCO ME – Val di Sole
For the first time since 2019, a full UCI Mountain Bike World Championships will take place this week in Val di Sole, in the northeast of Italy. This year, the full complement of categories – junior, under-23 and elite – will race in every event. Val di Sole, in the Trentino region, is no newcomer to the top level of the sport, having hosted both the World Championships and multiple World Cups over the past two decades. Usually it is hot and dusty but weather forecasts call for temperatures in the high-teens and rain for the entire week. Nevertheless, riders will face long and steep climbs and steep, root-filled descents that will be more treacherous than usual if the expected rain does materialise. Each lap of the four-kilometre cross-county circuit includes 190 metres of elevation gain.
It is no secret that Nino Schurter has been struggling – for him – in the past year, with no World Cup wins, missing the podium at the 2020 world championships, and finishing out of the medals at the Olympics. However, on Saturday in Val di Sole, Italy, he proved that he is still at the top by winning his ninth elite men’s XCO title. Compatriot Mathias Flückiger took silver and Victor Koretzky of France won the bronze medal.
Despite the absence of both Thomas Pidcock (Great Britain) and Mathieu van der Poel (Netherlands), the list of contenders was large, but Schurter and Flückiger made it clear early on that this was a two-man race. The pair rode away from the rest of the field on the first lap and provided a near-perfect example of a two-up time trial on the dirt.
Flückiger was doing the majority of the pacesetting, with Schurter staying glued to his wheel. Unlike other races this season, in the final lap when Flückiger tried to shake his rival on the climbs, Schurter could not be dropped. Going into the final 500 metres, Flückiger was in front with seemingly few opportunities for Schurter to pass. However, 250 metres out, they had to slow to a near halt for a tight 180-degree turn to the left; Flückiger went a little wide, Schurter immediately dove to the inside to get to the front and then sprinted for the final 200 metres, punching the air as he crossed the line.
“It was a perfect race from the start,” said Schurter. “I was in the lead with Mathias and we were able to work quite nicely together until the last two laps, and then the battle between us started. In the last lap, I was actually quite tired and tried to hang on to Mathias. When I saw that he couldn’t drop me at one of the last steep climbs, I knew I needed to take my chance. I tried to pass him before the last downhill but I couldn’t. From that, point, I knew I would need some luck, a good corner to pass him, and it was incredible to do it and sprint to the line.”
Schurter also admitted to self-confidence issues. “I had some doubts about myself and whether I could still win races. I haven’t been performing as I wanted, so it’s really cool to be back.”
Behind, Ondrej Cink (Czech Republic) was the early solo chaser, before Koretzky bridged across mid-race. Koretzky attacked on Lap 5 (of 6), but at almost the same time, Cink got off his bike and had to run a section of uphill, hammering on his rear shifter. He managed to get back on a ride to the pits, but was down to 16th by the start of the last lap and out of contention.
Results :
1 Nino Schurter (Switzerland) 1:22:31
2 Mathias Flückiger (Switzerland) 0:00:02
3 Victor Koretzky (France) 0:01:08
4 Vlad Dascalu (Romania) 0:01:36
5 Maximilian Brandl (Germany) 0:01:43
6 Samuel Gaze (New Zealand) 0:02:30
7 Henrique Avancini (Brazil)
8 Alan Hatherly (South Africa) 0:02:31
9 Filippo Colombo (Switzerland)
10 Milan Vader (Netherlands) 0:02:35
11 David Valero Serrano (Spain) 0:02:44
12 Titouan Carod (France) 0:02:50
13 Marcel Guerrini (Switzerland) 0:03:12
14 Lars Forster (Switzerland) 0:03:26
15 Jonas Lindberg (Denmark) 0:03:29
16 Ondřej Cink (Czech Republic) 0:03:40
17 Gerhard Kerschbaumer (Italy) 0:03:41
18 Christopher Blevins (United States Of America) 0:03:53
19 Antoine Philipp (France) 0:03:57
20 Gioele Bertolini (Italy) 0:04:00
21 Luca Schwarzbauer (Germany) 0:04:15
22 Martins Blums (Latvia) 0:04:19
23 Nadir Colledani (Italy) 0:04:30
24 Bartlomiej Wawak (Poland) 0:04:32
25 Anton Sintsov (Russian Federation) 0:04:48
26 Jordan Sarrou (France) 0:04:54
27 Thomas Litscher (Switzerland) 0:04:56
28 Leandre Bouchard (Canada)
29 Ben Oliver (New Zealand) 0:05:06
30 Georg Egger (Germany) 0:05:11
31 Thomas Griot (France) 0:05:20
32 Karl Markt (Austria) 0:05:23
33 Niklas Schehl (Germany) 0:05:28
34 Jan Vastl (Czech Republic) 0:05:39
35 David Nordemann (Netherlands) 0:05:49
36 Sergio Mantecon Gutierrez (Spain) 0:06:18
37 Erik Hægstad (Norway) 0:06:25
38 Daniele Braidot (Italy) 0:06:36
39 Reto Indergand (Switzerland) 0:06:42
40 Gregor Raggl (Austria) 0:06:59
41 Marc Andre Fortier (Canada) 0:07:06
42 Maxime Marotte (France) 0:07:13
43 Stephane Tempier (France)
44 Luiz Henrique Cocuzzi (Brazil) 0:07:29
45 Martin Haring (Slovakia) 0:07:34
46 Jens Schuermans (Belgium) 0:07:42
47 Ismael Esteban Aguero (Spain) 0:07:47
48 Anton Cooper (New Zealand) 0:08:09
49 Ulan Bastos Galinski (Brazil) 0:08:17
50 Jose Gerardo Ulloa Arevalo (Mexico) 0:08:38
51 Jan Škarnitzl (Czech Republic)
52 Quinton Disera (Canada) 0:09:06
53 Sebastian Fini Carstensen (Denmark)
54 Lukáš Kobes (Czech Republic) 0:09:07
55 Luke Vrouwenvelder (United States Of America) 0:09:13
56 Arno Du Toit (South Africa) 0:09:18
57 Pierre De Froidmont (Belgium) 0:09:23
58 Tyler Orschel (Canada) 0:09:33
59 Simon Andreassen (Denmark) 0:09:35
60 Joshua Dubau (France) 0:09:37
61 Guilherme Gotardelo Muller (Brazil) 0:10:16
62 Dmytro Titarenko (Ukraine) 0:10:24
63 Peter Disera (Canada) 0:10:41
64 Daniel Mcconnell (Australia) 0:10:59
65 Georwill Pérez Román (Puerto Rico) 0:11:25
66 Alessio Agostinelli (Italy) 0:11:58
67 Luca Braidot (Italy)
68 Rok Naglič (Slovenia)
69 Matthew Beers (South Africa)
70 Sebastian Miranda Maldonado (Chile)
71 Zsombor Palumby (Hungary)
72 Stephan Davoust (United States Of America)
73 Andrew L’Esperance (Canada)
74 Krzysztof Lukasik (Poland)
75 Pablo Rodriguez Guede (Spain)
76 Nicolas Delich Pardo (Chile)
77 Jaime Miranda Jaime (Mexico)
78 Patricio Farias Diaz (Chile)
79 Amando Martinez Galvan (Mexico)
80 Johan Sebastian Canaveral Vargas (Colombia)
81 Maximilian Foidl (Austria)
82 Edson Gilmar De Rezende Junior (Brazil)
83 Eduardo Gelpes Sayavedra (Uruguay)
84 Pedro Aviles Gangas (Chile)
85 Tumelo Makae (Les)
86 Oleksandr Koniaiev (Ukraine)
87 Serdar Depe (Turkey)
88 Volodymyr Kozlovskyy (Ukraine)
89 Arnoldas Valiauga (Lithuania)
DNF Matej Ulik (Slovakia)
DNF Franco Nicolas Adaos Alvarez (Chile)
DNS Manuel Fumic (Germany)
DNS Sean Fincham (Canada)
DNS Juliano Cocuzzi (Brazil)
 and Mathieu van der Poel (Netherlands), the list of contenders was large, but Schurter and Flückiger made it clear early on that this was a two-man race. The pair rode away from the rest of the field on the first lap and provided a near-perfect example of a two-up time trial on the dirt.
Flückiger was doing the majority of the pacesetting, with Schurter staying glued to his wheel. Unlike other races this season, in the final lap when Flückiger tried to shake his rival on the climbs, Schurter could not be dropped. Going into the final 500 metres, Flückiger was in front with seemingly few opportunities for Schurter to pass. However, 250 metres out, they had to slow to a near halt for a tight 180-degree turn to the left; Flückiger went a little wide, Schurter immediately dove to the inside to get to the front and then sprinted for the final 200 metres, punching the air as he crossed the line.
"It was a perfect race from the start," said Schurter. "I was in the lead with Mathias and we were able to work quite nicely together until the last two laps, and then the battle between us started. In the last lap, I was actually quite tired and tried to hang on to Mathias. When I saw that he couldn't drop me at one of the last steep climbs, I knew I needed to take my chance. I tried to pass him before the last downhill but I couldn't. From that, point, I knew I would need some luck, a good corner to pass him, and it was incredible to do it and sprint to the line."
Schurter also admitted to self-confidence issues. "I had some doubts about myself and whether I could still win races. I haven't been performing as I wanted, so it's really cool to be back."
Behind, Ondrej Cink (Czech Republic) was the early solo chaser, before Koretzky bridged across mid-race. Koretzky attacked on Lap 5 (of 6), but at almost the same time, Cink got off his bike and had to run a section of uphill, hammering on his rear shifter. He managed to get back on a ride to the pits, but was down to 16th by the start of the last lap and out of contention.
<strong>Results : </strong>
1 Nino Schurter (Switzerland) 1:22:31
2 Mathias Flückiger (Switzerland) 0:00:02
3 Victor Koretzky (France) 0:01:08
4 Vlad Dascalu (Romania) 0:01:36
5 Maximilian Brandl (Germany) 0:01:43
6 Samuel Gaze (New Zealand) 0:02:30
7 Henrique Avancini (Brazil)
8 Alan Hatherly (South Africa) 0:02:31
9 Filippo Colombo (Switzerland)
10 Milan Vader (Netherlands) 0:02:35
11 David Valero Serrano (Spain) 0:02:44
12 Titouan Carod (France) 0:02:50
13 Marcel Guerrini (Switzerland) 0:03:12
14 Lars Forster (Switzerland) 0:03:26
15 Jonas Lindberg (Denmark) 0:03:29
16 Ondřej Cink (Czech Republic) 0:03:40
17 Gerhard Kerschbaumer (Italy) 0:03:41
18 Christopher Blevins (United States Of America) 0:03:53
19 Antoine Philipp (France) 0:03:57
20 Gioele Bertolini (Italy) 0:04:00
21 Luca Schwarzbauer (Germany) 0:04:15
22 Martins Blums (Latvia) 0:04:19
23 Nadir Colledani (Italy) 0:04:30
24 Bartlomiej Wawak (Poland) 0:04:32
25 Anton Sintsov (Russian Federation) 0:04:48
26 Jordan Sarrou (France) 0:04:54
27 Thomas Litscher (Switzerland) 0:04:56
28 Leandre Bouchard (Canada)
29 Ben Oliver (New Zealand) 0:05:06
30 Georg Egger (Germany) 0:05:11
31 Thomas Griot (France) 0:05:20
32 Karl Markt (Austria) 0:05:23
33 Niklas Schehl (Germany) 0:05:28
34 Jan Vastl (Czech Republic) 0:05:39
35 David Nordemann (Netherlands) 0:05:49
36 Sergio Mantecon Gutierrez (Spain) 0:06:18
37 Erik Hægstad (Norway) 0:06:25
38 Daniele Braidot (Italy) 0:06:36
39 Reto Indergand (Switzerland) 0:06:42
40 Gregor Raggl (Austria) 0:06:59
41 Marc Andre Fortier (Canada) 0:07:06
42 Maxime Marotte (France) 0:07:13
43 Stephane Tempier (France)
44 Luiz Henrique Cocuzzi (Brazil) 0:07:29
45 Martin Haring (Slovakia) 0:07:34
46 Jens Schuermans (Belgium) 0:07:42
47 Ismael Esteban Aguero (Spain) 0:07:47
48 Anton Cooper (New Zealand) 0:08:09
49 Ulan Bastos Galinski (Brazil) 0:08:17
50 Jose Gerardo Ulloa Arevalo (Mexico) 0:08:38
51 Jan Škarnitzl (Czech Republic)
52 Quinton Disera (Canada) 0:09:06
53 Sebastian Fini Carstensen (Denmark)
54 Lukáš Kobes (Czech Republic) 0:09:07
55 Luke Vrouwenvelder (United States Of America) 0:09:13
56 Arno Du Toit (South Africa) 0:09:18
57 Pierre De Froidmont (Belgium) 0:09:23
58 Tyler Orschel (Canada) 0:09:33
59 Simon Andreassen (Denmark) 0:09:35
60 Joshua Dubau (France) 0:09:37
61 Guilherme Gotardelo Muller (Brazil) 0:10:16
62 Dmytro Titarenko (Ukraine) 0:10:24
63 Peter Disera (Canada) 0:10:41
64 Daniel Mcconnell (Australia) 0:10:59
65 Georwill Pérez Román (Puerto Rico) 0:11:25
66 Alessio Agostinelli (Italy) 0:11:58
67 Luca Braidot (Italy)
68 Rok Naglič (Slovenia)
69 Matthew Beers (South Africa)
70 Sebastian Miranda Maldonado (Chile)
71 Zsombor Palumby (Hungary)
72 Stephan Davoust (United States Of America)
73 Andrew L'Esperance (Canada)
74 Krzysztof Lukasik (Poland)
75 Pablo Rodriguez Guede (Spain)
76 Nicolas Delich Pardo (Chile)
77 Jaime Miranda Jaime (Mexico)
78 Patricio Farias Diaz (Chile)
79 Amando Martinez Galvan (Mexico)
80 Johan Sebastian Canaveral Vargas (Colombia)
81 Maximilian Foidl (Austria)
82 Edson Gilmar De Rezende Junior (Brazil)
83 Eduardo Gelpes Sayavedra (Uruguay)
84 Pedro Aviles Gangas (Chile)
85 Tumelo Makae (Les)
86 Oleksandr Koniaiev (Ukraine)
87 Serdar Depe (Turkey)
88 Volodymyr Kozlovskyy (Ukraine)
89 Arnoldas Valiauga (Lithuania)
DNF Matej Ulik (Slovakia)
DNF Franco Nicolas Adaos Alvarez (Chile)
DNS Manuel Fumic (Germany)
DNS Sean Fincham (Canada)
DNS Juliano Cocuzzi (Brazil))
