UCI XCO World Champs: Schurter, the undeniable history-maker

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Day four of the 2021 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships saw high emotion and history made in cross-country Olympic (XCO). Mona Mitterwallner of Austria stepped up from Junior to U23 UCI World Champion aged just 19; Martin Vidaurre Kossmann is Chile’s first UCI World Champion and Evie Richards becomes Great Britain’s first Elite Woman to win the XCO rainbow jersey… all that before Switzerland’s Nino Schurter sent the excitement off the scale with a record 9th Men Elite title, making him both the youngest ever and the now oldest XCO UCI World Champion.

Mona Mitterwallner won the Women's U23 by a margin of more than 2 minutes from her fellow Austrian Laura Stigger.

Nino Schurter chiselled his name permanently into mountain bike history with an astonishing 9th Elite Men’s XCO UCI World title. Schurter and Flückiger, winner of the last two UCI XCO World Cups and second at Tokyo 2020, pulled away with a 40-sec lead after 3 laps. The Swiss pair looked inseparable despite tentative attacks from 32-year-old Flückiger who hit the final descent first, but 35-year-old Schurter sneaked inside on the last tight left-hander to make history.

“It’s insane. I’m super happy and super proud,” said Schurter, “I wasn’t sure myself if I could do it. It’s really good!”

2015 Junior XCO silver medalist Evie Richards turned her Tokyo 2020 7th place into an emphatic victory at the 2021 UCI World Championships, winning in 1:23:52 to become Britain’s first Elite Women XCO UCI World Champion in front of Terpstra.

“I can’t believe it, I’m really shocked. I said I’d shine one day and obviously today is my time to shine,” said Richards, “When I’m happy I race well!”

Men Elite

1st – Nino Schurter (SUI) 1:22:31
2nd – Mathias Flückiger (SUI) +0:02
3rd – Victor Koretzky (FRA) +1:08
4th – Vlad Dascalu (ROU) +1:36
5th – Maximilian Brandl (GER) +1:43

Women Elite

1st – RICHARDS Evie (GBR) 1:23:52
2nd – TERPSTRA Anne (NED) +1:03
3rd – FREI Sina (SUI) +1:08
4th – NEFF Jolanda (SUI) +1:08
5th – WLOSZCZOWSKA Maja (POL) +1:47

Men U23

1st – VIDAURRE KOSSMANN Martin (CHI) 1:10:31
2nd – ZANOTTI Juri (ITA) +1:03
3rd – ROTH Joel (SUI) +1:38
4th – SCHÄTTI Luca (SUI) +1:55
5th – CULLELL ESTAPE Jofre (ESP) +2:23

Check the full results here.

Mon 30th Aug, 2021 @ 9:30 pm