Sep 11, 2018
N1NO's 30th World Cup Victory
N1NO went into the final World Cup at La Bresse, France with the World Cup Leader title secured. With just under two weeks until the World Championships in Lenzerheide, Switzerland where N1NO will defend his world title, N1NO did have the opportunity to skip the last World Cup round with the title secured, and focus on the World Championships. Instead, N1NO continues to show why he is the current World Champion and left it all out on the course for his 30th World Cup win.
N1NO’s victory at La Bresse sends a strong message going into the World Championships confirming his fitness. After finishing 6th in Friday’s short track race, N1NO went into Sunday’s XCO race commanding control. After being clear with a 20 second gap on first lap the leader was first joined by Mathieu van der Poel and soon after Gerhard Kerschbaumer. N1NO clearly pushed hard to put his competitors on the defense. The three of them delivered an exciting fight for the win. With two laps to go Kerschbaumer again dropped the chain which left N1NO with a 30 second advantage. Meanwhile, van der Poel was eliminated for the win due to a flat tire. Unlike in the last World Cup race, the luck was back in N1NO's favor.
It is obvious- N1NO has the eyes on the prize. This win was a demonstration of his number 1 position. The one he want's to keep badly in two weeks time.
Going into the race as the man to beat, dealing with the pressure of only "winning ", has its risks. About his chances of defending his title N1NO states, "Winning today and winning the World Cup is the best possible way to lead into World Championships. I do have already another incredible season- this is my security. I'm 100% ready for the highlight of the year and not afraid of anyone. But the margins got a lot smaller. There are more guys than ever that are capable to win Worlds. This said, I need to be at my very best to succeed. Let's cross fingers!"
Best of luck to N1NO and the SCOTT-SRAM MTB Racing team in Lenzerheide!
