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Schurter Victorious at Dalby Forest World Cup
Reigning world champion Nino Schurter won the men's 43km race in a spectacular sprint, when he outsprinted Olympic champion Julien Absalon.
Again, after last years World Championships, it came down to a sprint between the two, with Schurter winning by less than a wheel length. Burry Stander of South Africa took third, 14 seconds behind the front two. The six lap men's race started very fast, with eight riders initially making the selection at the front, but by the fourth lap that was whittled down to just Schurter, Absalon and Stander. The South African looked to be very strong, but he made a mistake on the last lap, so it was up to Nino and Julien. Absalon took the lead, setting the pace, but could not shake Schurter, and when they turned onto the gravel finishing straight, the Swisspower rider came up alongside his French rival and pulled ahead in the final 10 metres to take the win.
"This is an incredible victory, to win the World Cup and take the leader's jersey is very special," said Nino. "I hoped to do well here, but there was a very, very strong field, so I was only looking to make the podium. I was dying out there, to stay with Julien.I knew I had only a chance, if I come with him to the home straight and I gave everything for that, "Schurter said about his tactics.
On the long straight Schurter waited until the very last moment to pass Absalon out of his slipstream….Mark Cavendish couldn’t have done any better. Nino added another great victory over Julien Absalon after the World Championships last September. Congratulations!
