The XCO World Cup course in Nové Město na Moravě in the Czech Republic measures around 3700 metres, the men had to ride six laps plus a start loop, with each lap covering a good 180 metres of elevation gain. At the end of the race, however, only a hand's breadth decided victory or defeat in the epic sprint finish between Olympic champion Nino Schurter and New Zealand newcomer Anton Cooper.
But it was supposed to be quite different. Gaze and van der Poel against Schurter, the young guns, the short track winners, against the reigning world champion, World Cup winner and Olympic champion. And at first everything looked like it was going to happen. A fast start from all the favourites, Gaze took the lead on the last climb of the start loop, behind him van der Poel and Schurter, everything as expected.
Drama: Gaze crashes heavily in the first Rockgarden
But the first disaster of the day was not long in coming and it was not to be the last. It wasn't until the peloton had already sped past that the lanky figure of the New Zealander was seen lifting himself into the air at the Rock Garden "Mercedes-Benz Rock-n-Roll" on the side of the track. The pain was written all over Gaze's face as he tried to carry the bike and hold his elbow.
A flat front tyre. Gaze had to walk to the tech zone, seemed to be in extreme pain and struggled to complete the course. The bike was swapped, Gaze got on, then got off again exhausted, devastated and close to tears. This was supposed to be his World Cup, but the pain in his elbow was too much even for the New Zealander, who was motivated to the tips of his hair. He rolled to the finish with his last ounce of strength, then had to give up.
Schurter tests van der Poel - van der Poel crashes on his freshly operated wrist
Schurter had now taken the lead at the front of the race. And the Swiss rider didn't hesitate for long and deliberately pushed the pace to either shake off his pursuers - Mathieu van der Poel and the BMC riders Lars Forster and Tituan Carod - or wear them down so long that they would take over in the end.
Only Mathieu van der Poel was able to follow Schurter, but the Dutchman paid a high price for his chase. It was already the end of lap three, Schurter and van der Poel were still battling for the lead at the front, Lars Forster had managed to fight his way back in, when van der Poel's front wheel slipped off after a long climb in what was actually a safe corner, he had to correct, lost his line, the front wheel got caught on a tree, van der Poel flew over the handlebars and landed hard on his left wrist.
A major misfortune that will hopefully not have any serious consequences. Just a few days ago, before the World Cup in Albstadt, van der Poel underwent surgery on his wrist due to a broken scaphoid bone. Although he got back on his bike, his body also took its toll. Van der Poel was unable to keep up the pace, was passed to the rear and then had to withdraw from the race. A bitter blow for the Dutchman, who will now certainly be prescribed a compulsory break by his doctor. Still in the lead before the race, the World Cup season could now be over for him.
Schurter still under fire
The race could also have been over for Schurter now, without his main rivals Gaze and van der Poel with a clear victory. But the opposite was the case. First Lars Forster sensed an opportunity and briefly pulled ahead of his Swiss compatriot before a minor defect set him back a little, then Anton Cooper and Maxim Marotte were able to catch up with the Olympic champion. Marotte in particular deserves the greatest respect at this point. The Cannondale rider had dropped back to 37th position due to a bad start, but then mustered all his strength and fought his way back to the front to catch Nino Schurter and pull Anton Cooper, who had his big chance here in Nové Město na Moravě.
New Zealand at the top: a second Stellenbosch?
Anton Cooper has long been recognised as a great talent in junior sport. His successful rise to the top ranks of the elite has been predicted for years, and just last year, in his first elite season, Cooper was able to outperform some strong and established riders. Cooper combines climbing and sprinting strength with a really strong downhill performance, almost like Nino Schurter himself.
Now, in the final laps of the race in the Czech Republic, the time had finally come. Schurter tried to shake off his pursuers with another attack on one of the last climbs, Marotte gave up, Cooper stayed on. On the final downhill, the two rivals gave each other nothing, Schurter started the sprint to the finish early on and it almost looked as if Cooper was now beaten. He fell back a few metres, then the New Zealander motivated his last strength and suddenly shot forwards, Schurter noticed the attack and gave it his all. Both bikes crossed the line at the same moment, only the photo evidence provided clarity. Victory for Nino Schurter by a few centimetres!
Fumic finishes on the podium, Egger in 22nd place
Third place went to Maxime Marotte, while fourth place was secured by Lars Forster from Switzerland, who was in the lead at times. And the last place on the podium? That went to Manuel Fumic. The man from Kirchheim rode a strong race and controlled his speed well. He was initially in the lower top 10, but as the race drew to a close he was able to draw on his reserves and held his own in the large chasing group against team-mate Avancini and the crowd favourite in Nové Město, Jaroslav Kulhavy. Even Florian Vogel was able to overtake Fumic shortly before the finish. A really strong result, which at least puts Fumic in eighth place in the overall World Cup standings.
Kulhavy himself was able to ride far to the front with the support of the Czech fans after a rather mixed start, but he had problems with his gears on the final climb and even had to admit defeat to Arnis Petersons from Lithuania in the final sprint. He finished in ninth place, while compatriot Ondrej Cink rode to 18th place at his home World Cup this year after a whole season on his racing bike in 2017. Georg Egger will be even happier. After a good 44th place in Albstadt, the 23-year-old finished 22nd in Nové Město, a really strong result that shows a nice trend. Who knows how far Egger can climb in the next few years. We are certainly looking forward to it.
All results of the World Cup races in Nové Město na Moravě can also be found on the Website of the UCI. The replay of the live broadcast is available free of charge on Redbull.tv to see.
Adrian Kaether
Editor
