August 02, 2015 (Mont-Sainte-Anne, QC) – Nino Schurter (Sui) Scott-Odlo took a decisive win as Canada’s Raphael Gagne (Rocky Mountain) claimed a career-best 14th result on Sunday for the second time (2014 in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa) for the hometown crowds in the Elite Men’s 7-lap 26.4km race at MSA WCup XCO#4.

Schurter and Julien Absalon (Fra) BMC were with Matias Fluckiger (Sui) Stoeckli and Ondrej Cink (Cze) Multivan Merida leading the race but the duo broke away on their own at the end of lap 4. Gagne had a decent start sitting in 12th but dropped back to 20th riding with Olympic gold medalist, Jaroslav Kulhavy (Cze) Specialized, who was having a tough day at the office, crashing on the rocks and ended up 13th.

Gagne continued to move up as Schurter and Absalon duked it out up front, but on the final lap Schurter put in a BIG attack as they hit the Zig Zag Marmotte switchback climb, the section before the Beatrice rock garden, and gapped his rival. Behind Florian Vogel (Sui) Focus took over third as Gagne found himself in 15th on the final lap.

Schurter was unstoppable taking his first WCup win of the season and extended his overall lead to 850 points over Kulhavy now with 740 points as they were tied coming into MSA.

For Gagne it was more affirmation of his great season where he won Pan Am MTB gold, the Elite Men’s National title for the first time, the US CUP Pro Series XCT title, another first, and now a career-best WCup result at home.

Results

1. Nino Schurter (Sui) Scott-Odlo MTB 1:27:19
2. Julien Absalon (Fra) BMC Mountainbike Racing Team 0:14
3. Florian Vogel (Sui) Focus XC Team 1:35
4. Ralph Naef (Sui) BMC Mountainbike Racing Team 1:44
5. Stephane Tempier (Fra) BH-SR Suntour-KMC 1:57
6. Mathias Fluckiger (Sui) Stoeckli Pro Team 2:46
7. Lukas Fluckiger (Sui) BMC Mountainbike Racing Team 2:47
8. Manuel Fumic (Ger) Cannondale Factory Racing XC 2:58
9. Ondrej Cink (Cze) Multivan Merida Biking Team 3:09
10. Andrea Tiberi (Ita) FRM Factory Racing Team 3:21

14. Raphael Gagne (Can) Rocky Mountain 3:48
33. Geoff Kabush (Can) Scott-3Rox Racing    7:46
34. Leandre Bouchard (Can) Cyclone d’Alma    7:56
41. Derek Zandstra (Can) Scott-3Rox Racing    8:58
44. Cameron Jette (Can) Scott-3Rox Racing    9:37
45. Evan Guthrie (Can) Norco Factory Team    9:38
60. Andrew Watson (Can) Norco Factory Team    13:58
64. Andrew L’Esperance (Can)   -1 Lap
69. Evan McNeely (Can) Norco Factory Team    -2 Laps
DNF Jeremy Martin (Can)
DNF Antoine Caron (Can) Pivot Cycles – OTE

Full results here.
Standings here.