MTB cycling: The UCI MTB XCO Mountain Bike World Cup 2017 is slowly becoming a one-man show. Again, the Swiss Nino Schurter was able to put the competition on the places. Despite the broken chain, the best German was Manuel Fumic – unfortunately it was only enough for 32nd place.
Nino Schurter doesn't seem to be going anywhere this season. For the third time in a row, the Olympic champion took victory at the UCI MTB XCO Mountain Bike World Cup 2017. It's not just the fact that Schurter is winning race after race that's impressive - it's more the way the Schweizer puts the other drivers in their place. Already on the first downhill on the course in Vallnord/Andorra he took the chance to leave the competition behind. By the final lap, the Olympic champion had a one-minute lead, but then slowed down. In the end he won outstandingly with a lead of 19 seconds over Mathias Flückiger, also from Switzerland. Frenchman Jordan Sarrou finished third just behind. Unfortunately, Manuel Fumic was very far away from the podium and only ended up in 32nd place. The German's chain broke with the second pedal step at the start. Fumic started a hot race to catch up and was even able to overtake Ben Zwiehoff, who was 34th.
Yana Belomoina from the Ukraine celebrated her second World Cup victory in Vallnord/Andorra. Just as strong as Nino Schurter in the men's, the Ukrainian claimed victory in the women's from the start. After 24 kilometers, Yana Belomoina had a lead of 1:37 minutes at the finish. World champion Annika Langvad from Sweden and Norway's Gunn-Rita Dahle-Flesjaa also made it onto the podium. Bad luck followed Adelheid Morath: A fall – caused by a sudden locking of the rear brake – cost valuable time. And bad luck stayed with her. The rear wheel brake locked up permanently until the end, which meant that the woman from Freiburg had to constantly fight against resistance. In the end, under these conditions, it was only enough for 13th place. The best German driver was Helen Grobert with 10th place.