34! Nino Schurter makes history in Lenzerheide
Swiss rider sets new career World Cup win record in front of a home crowd
Photo by:
Dan Hearn
Nino Schurter made history on Sunday when he won the elite men’s XCO World Cup in Lenzerheide. Racing in front of a wildly supportive Swiss home crowd, the Scott-SRAM racer landed his 34th career World Cup win.
With that win, the 37-year-old stands alone with the most men’s World Cup wins, finally surpassing Julien Absalon’s marker of 33 wins. Schurter matched his long-time rival with his win in Brazil in 2022, but could not find a second World Cup win that season (though he did win his 10th world championship title in Les Gets).
Schurter’s win in Lenzerheide corrects a fairy tale ending to his long journey to 34. After racking up numerous wins rapidly, including during his undefeated season leading into the 2016 Olympic Games, Schurter struggled for several years to find to top podium spot. He went winless (again, only in World Cups) for three years before his victory in Brazil. Schurter was leading in Lenzerheide last year, again looking to take the record at home, before that race was derailed by a crash late on the final lap.
One year later, Schurter made sure he was all alone coming to the finish line. The Swiss mountain bike icon attacked with three laps to go in Sunday’s elite men’s XCO, dropping his rivals and giving himself a clear path to the finish line.
Nino Schurter crossed the line alone, with plenty of time to celebrate with the Swiss crowd, claiming his historic 34th World Cup victory.
The win makes Schurter undeniably the most successful male mountain biker of all time. On top of his 34 World Cup wins, and countless podiums, the 37-year-old Swiss rider has an incredible 10 elite men’s XCO world championship titles, three medals in the Olympic mountain bike event (one gold, one silver and one bronze), and numerous national, continental and Cape Epic victories to his name.
