Nino Schurter lands record 34th UCI Cross-country Olympic World Cup win in Lenzerheide

Updated 11/06/2023 at 18:10 GMT

Nino Schurter became the most successful men's Olympic World Cup mountain biker in history on Sunday evening with his smashing victory in Lenzerheide, Switzerland. On his home course, the Swiss veteran kicked away from the pack early and was relentless, extending his lead even as he approached the finish line. The 10-time world champion was a class apart.

Highlights: Schurter wins record 34th race in Lenzerheide

Nino Schurter (Scott-SRAM MTB Racing Team) made history as he won round two of the UCI MTB Cross-country Olympic World Cup on his home course in Lenzerheide after racing away from the field with three laps remaining.

The 10-time world cross-country champion broke Julien Absalon's record for the most cross-country Olympic World Cup wins with this, his 34th in one of his best ever performances.

The undeniable GOAT equalled Absalon’s record in Brazil last year and could not have dreamt of a better place to take the overall record than at home in Lenzerheide, Switzerland.

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Chants of 'Nino! Nino! Nino!' rang out at the finish line as their hero once again wrote more history if he had not done that enough already throughout his illustrious career. This win might just be his greatest yet.

A mistake from Daniele Braidot (CS Carabinieri-Cicli Olympia Vittoria) left him and close Swiss rival Mathias Fluckiger alone at the front on the climb, but his compatriot had no response to the inevitable attack, leaving Schurter solo and able to build an insurmountable gap.

'There has never been anyone like him!' - Schurter makes history in Lenzerheide

A thrilling battle for the podium spots played out behind him with Alan Hatherly (Cannondale Factory Racing) taking second (+0:15) as he did last year in Leznerheide. Jordan Sarrou (Team BMC) out-sprinted fellow Frenchman Thomas Griot (Canyon CLLCTV) in the battle for third (+0:16) and David Valero Serrano (BH Coloma Team) rounded out the day's podium in fifth (+0:40).

Sunday’s race got off to a typically explosive start with Friday’s short-track race winner, Luca Schwarzbauer (Canyon CLLCTV), taking the early lead with a powerful start as he has become accustomed to doing.

Behind him, Schurter, who started on the second row after being caught up in a crash with Samuel Gaze (Alpecin Deceuninck) in the short track, immediately made up places and was quickly into second as the field entered the climb.

The world champion looked calm as he sat in the big German’s wheel throughout the first lap with Vital Albin (Thomus Maxon) and Sarrou also sat in waiting for the race to blow apart.

Schwarzbauer’s time at the front was short-lived as Schurter ominously entered first position on the second ascent of the main climb, backing it up with his technical skills on the descent.

The race settled between laps two and four for the leaders, with Sarrou and Schurter swapping honours at the head of the race.

Behind them, Gaze had started to make his way through the field after a slow start, but on the fourth lap, Schurter took one look behind in one of the climb’s corners, saw Gaze, and immediately put more power down.

A group of five led at this point: Schurter, Sarrou, Braidot, Fluckiger and Hatherly, before Braidot made a costly mistake entering an uphill corner and crashing which delayed both Sarrou and Hatherly and left the close Swiss rivals in front.

Schurter was, however, a man on a mission and was not going to let Fluckiger interfere with his pursuit of a record-breaking 34th Cross-Country World Cup victory. He attacked away from his compatriot on the climb, with no response.

He entered the fifth lap after 47 minutes of non-stop pushing, with Sarrou in pursuit on his own seven seconds behind. This was the closest the Frenchman would get to the GOAT as he continued his onslaught of the 4.4km course.

The ten-time world champion had all but confirmed his victory, barring any disastrous crashes, but the real battle was that for the podium sports behind.

Gaze had re-found his legs behind and passed Braidot and Hatherly before the South African kicked away from the rest of the chasers to try and reach Sarrou before the final lap.

As they entered the climb for the final time, Gaze had dropped off into seventh and Griot had flown into the top four and passed Sarrou and Hatherly before the trio had an almighty fight to the line.

Hatherly came out on top and secured a wonderful second-placed finish, the same position he finished here in 2022. Sarrou had fallen to fourth but managed to outsprint Griot for third on the line. Valero Serrano rounded off the podium in fifth after passing both Braidot and Gaze in the latter stages.

Ahead, Schurter was cruising to glory and another incredible moment of mountain bike racing history with his 34th Cross-Country World Cup victory, surpassing the record of Absalon, his former long-term rival in the sport.

A huge day for the sport won by the star that you struggle to come up with superlatives for as he continues to achieve incredible things at the age of 37.

The next round of the UCI Mountain Bike World Series comes next week in Leogang which will be covered in full on Eurosport and discovery+ and across all our digital channels.