Work hard, play hard- that's what mountain bike racing is all about. 2015 is a pre-olympic year and 4 time XC World Champion Nino Schurter is about to prepare for the biggest goal of his career, the gold medal in Rio. 

Work hard, Play hard gives some excellent inside view of how he trains and prepares for the season. Nino is well-known for training differently and following an atypical approach to training.

Nino Schurter lives in Chur, Switzerland. He is lucky enough to call one of the most amazing mountain biking backyards his own. His training area involves high mountains, superb but challenging trails, as well as flat ground thanks to the Rhein River which runs through the valley. 

His training so to say is as diverse as mountain biking itself. To challenge himself and to push him to the next level again and again, Nino varies his training like no other cycling athlete. In winter and early spring, Nino trains a lot on his Cross-Country skis and loves to go ski touring.

His strength and force training is especially different to what cyclists use to train. Nino has a mountain bike dedicated program which combines coordination, power and regeneration.

"My first webisode is all about the MTB racing lifestyle, cool trail riding, my training workouts plus a good amount of behind-the-scene footage of a mountain bike athlete's life. Rio seems to be far away, but in fact the 2016 Olympic Games are just around the corner."

Nino Schurter

Photography: Christophe Margot, Jochen Haar, Gary Perkin