What a great showdown at the Nove Mesto World Cup! Again it was an exciting fight until the very end. But this time it was not Jaroslav Kulhavy who challenged Nino Schurter- Julien Absalon was the big threat. At the end the winner was again SCOTT rider Nino Schurter, who not only won the race but also moved himself into the leading position of this year's World Cup. It was Nino`s 5th win out of 6 races in 2013.
Nino had a weeks worth of time to analyse what went wrong in Albstadt, round #1 of the 2013 World Cup. He came to Nove Mesto knowing what to do, focused and with no less confidence than usual. The demanding course in Nove Mesto suites his skills well. To race against Jaroslav Kulhavy, who was supported by thousands of fans is never easy. From the start Nino controlled the speed of the race. The pace was high all the way to the end. In the first third of the race all the big names where part of the leading group, including Kulhavy and Julien Absalon. Kulhavy, though, did not look very strong and after he lost contact the Czech also crashed. His 26th place was most likely more disappointing to him than Nino's ride in Albstadt. Also missing were the World Cup leader McConnell, Mantecon and Marotte, the guys who were strong a week before. Riding again at his best was Absalon. Half way through it was down to three riders.
Even Absalon's team mate Lukas Flückiger of BMC was part of the leading group, it was obvious that the race was going to be won by either Absalon or Schurter. After they dropped Flückiger they gave each other stick, attacking each other where ever possible. Slightly stronger, Nino launched his final attack on a steep uphill where he dropped Kulhavy the year before. The 3 seconds he gained there, resulted in a good and well earned victory.
It was also a very successful weekend for SCOTT Atlhete Jenny Rissveds, who won the Womens Eliminator competition, and finished in 4th overall in the Womens U23 Category. Geoff Kabush would round out the good weekend for our SCOTT Athletes with a top ten finish in the mens XC race.