Nino Schurter edges Julien Absalon in Mont-Sainte-Anne World Cup battle
Nino Schurter of Scott-ODLO edged out Julien Absalon, riding for BMC, to win the Mont-Sainte-Anne World Cup cross country mountain bike race. The pair battled through the entire race, but the 2013 World Champion Schurter pulled out an advantage during the second half of the race.
Absalon chases Schurter up the new – and crushing – zig zag climb! #MSA #MTBWC pic.twitter.com/XJkLfSQQYs
— Dean Campbell (@reachdean) August 3, 2014
Current World Cup points leader Absalon was spurred on by the Quebec fans, and put in a charge that saw him move to within 16 seconds of the Swiss rider at the finish line.
Dan McConnell finished third overall, wearing the Australian champion jersey, nearly 1:30 back from the winner.
The podium was rounded out by Lukas and Mathias Flückiger who finished 10 seconds apart.
Geoff Kabush was challenged by a start position outside the top 30, but climbed up through the field to finish 12th overall.
“I probably started as best I can for my position in the rankings,” said Kabush, who ran number plate 31. “It’s fun passing everyone, but mostly I knew with my legs, after the first couple laps I had the gap to the top five pegged. My goal was then to ride to the podium.
“It’s a brutal course with the climbs, but you get rewarded on the descents. I ran full suspension so I was able to arrive at the bottom of the descents fresh and so leapfrogged people all day.”
Kabush targeted more North American events rather than the entire World Cup season. So far, that strategy has paid off with both the US Cup title and the Canadian championship title.
“Twelfth is solid, and hopefully I can take that into next week, and get a little more out of the legs in Windham,” said Kabush. “It’s been an up and down season, and today I really felt like I could push myself.”
Scott-3Rox teammate Derek Zandstra edged into the top 20 with a 19th place finish. For the 2013 Canadian Champion, it was a strong finish that came after passing traffic over the early laps.
Raphael Gagne finished 30th overall in what has been a strong season for the Québec City racer.
Evan Guthrie had a spectacular performance in his first elite level World Cup race. Debuting with race plate 84, Guthrie cut through the field to finish 36th. Norco’s Guthrie was a key racer in animating the Canadian Championships two weeks ago, and has carried his form through to Mont Sainte Anne.
“I’m in the best shape of my life, and I am really proud with how this race went,” said Guthrie. “I couldn’t do much until after the second lap, once traffic was more spread out.”
Took 36th today in Mont-Sainte-Anne at my Elite World Cup debut. Pretty happy after starting 84th. Always amazing racing on home soil.
— Evan Guthrie (@EvanwGuthrie) August 3, 2014
Michiel Van Der Heijden won the men’s U23 race, ahead of Jordan Sarrou and Julien Trarieux. All three finished within 53 seconds, after battling for much of the race.
Evan McNeely of Norco put in the best Canadian performance of the race, finishing seventh.
“The race went well,” said McNeely, who started out as number 38. “I just focused on riding hard and working my way through traffic. I try not to set specific goals about what position I want to get, because that can lead to disappointment if you don’t meet those goals.”
Canadian U23 champ Leandre Bouchard struggled with working his large frame up the climbs as compared to smaller riders, but managed 14th place finish. Alexandre Vialle finished 22nd, while Steven Noble cracked 30th overall.
