July 10, 2016 (Lenzerheide, SUI) – Team Canada’s Leandre Bouchard raced to a career-best 18th in the Elite Men’s 32.8km 8-lap race in Lenzerheide, Switzerland where Nino Schurter (Sui) Scott-Odlo MTB Racing Team gave the huge home town crowd the victory they were hoping for.

Despite coming unclipped at the start Schurter moved up quickly to join Jaroslav Kulhavy (Cze) Specialized Racing, who blasted away on first lap, as Julien Absalon (Fra) BMC Mountainbike Racing Team seemed to be suffering early on. Schurter was soon alone out front and never looked back as Bouchard started 46th and moved up to a stellar 13th on the final lap but suffered a mechanical with 2km to go and ended up a career-best 18th on the day.

“I feel very good physically which allowed me to ride in the top 15 for several laps,” said Bouchard. “Unfortunately, a flat tire on the last lap slowed my efforts, but I’m very satisfied with my 18th position. I’m confident that a top-15 result is coming.”

Results (brief)

1. Nino Schurter (Sui) Scott-Odlo MTB Racing Team 1:27:26
2. Julien Absalon (Fra) BMC Mountainbike Racing Team 0:27
3. Maxime Marotte (Fra) BH-SR Suntour-KMC 0:45
4. Jaroslav Kulhavy (Cze) Specialized Racing 1:16
5. David Valero Serrano (Esp) MMR Factory Racing Team 2:13
6. Florian Vogel (Sui) Focus XC Team 2:21
7. Stephane Tempier (Fra) Bianchi Countervail 2:29
8. Carlos Coloma Nicolas (Esp) MMR Factory Racing Team 2:35
9. Lukas Fluckiger (Sui) BMC Mountainbike Racing Team 2:49
10. Ondrej Cink (Cze) Multivan Merida Biking Team 2:54

18. Leandre Bouchard (Can) Team Canada 4:26

Full results here.