April 13, 2014 (Pietermaritzburg, South Africa) – Conditions are hot for the Elite Men’s XC race at round #1 of the 2014 UCI World Cup XC in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa where Nino Schurter (Sui) Scott-Odlo), the 2013 World Champion and arch rival Julien Absalon (Fra) BMC are facing off once again with many other contenders but not Jaroslav Kulhavy (Cze) Specialized Racing XC who is caught the flu while recovering from a broken kneecap. Racing for Canada are Raphael Gagne (Rocky Mountain) and Cameron Jette (Scott-3Rox Racing)… the men will do 6 laps with no start loop.

Lap 1
Fontana and Schurter battle for the holeshot

Schurter is out front now with Giger in second – Van Hoovels is 3rd, Fontana is 4th, McConnell is 5th

Abasalon is 11th

Fumic takes over the lead, Schurter is 2nd, Fontana 3rd, Fumic is 4th, M. Fluckiger is 5th.

Lap 2
Fumic and Schurter are together at 15:43

Fluckiger and Vogel are at 10s

Absalon is behind in ~ 6th.

Schurter takes over the lead – Abasalon is now 4th

Fumic retakes the lead as Abasalon passes M. Fluckiger and takes over 3rd.

Lap 3
Schurter & Fumic start 3rd lap – close behind in 3rd is Absalon at 0:01 – then in 4th it’s MFluckiger at 0:02

In 5th it’s Marotte at 0:22 followed by Cink in 6th at 0:23 – then in 7th it’s Vogel at 0:28 – 8th Litscher – 9th Tempier

Schurter is back leading and now Absalon takes over 2nd.

At the 1/2 way point Schurter is leading with Absalon second, Fumic in 3rd and M.Fluckiger at 3s in 4th.

Absalon passes Schurter and is now the race leader.

Lap 4
Schurter, Absalon and Fumic start Lap 4 at 48:46…

4. MFluckiger 0:02 in 5.Marotte 0:17… then 6. Cink 0:20

Lap 5
Absalon and Schurter start the penultimate lap

In third it’s Fumic at 7s then it’s Marotte in 4th at 18s followed by Cinq in 5th at 23s

Canada’s Gagne is 24th

Schurter FLATS…. Absalon takes over the lead

Schurter rides thru Treehouse with his flat… the tech zone is just beyond.

Lap 6 Final
Abaslon starts final lap 1:21:45 – Fumic is at 22s

3. Marotte at 30s 4. Cink at 52s 5. MFluckiger at 1:27 – Schurter is 7th

At the 1/2 way Abaslon (Fra) BMC has a comfortable lead on his way to his 27th World Cup victory – an amazing career.

Results

1. Julien Absalon (Fra) BMC Mountainbike Racing Team 1:38:05
2. Manuel Fumic (Ger) Cannondale Factory Racing 0:34
3. Maxime Marotte (Fra) BH-Suntour-KMC 0:54
4. Ondrej Cink (Cze) Multivan Merida Biking Team 1:32
5. José Antonio Hermida Ramos (Esp) Multivan Merida Biking Team 1:39
6. Nino Schurter (Sui) Scott-Odlo MTB Racing Team 2:16
7. Thomas Litscher (Sui) Multivan Merida Biking Team 2:19
8. Mathias Flückiger (Sui) Stöckli Pro Team) 2:24
9. Daniel McConnell (Aus) Trek Factory Racing 2:37
10. Sergio Mantecon Gutierrez (Esp) Trek Factory Racing 2:51

14. Raphael Gagne (Can) Rocky Mountain 3:58
DNS Cameron Jette (Can) Scott-3Rox Racing

Full results HERE.