August 31, 2013 (Pietermaritzburg, South Africa) – The sunny conditions continue in Pietermaritzburg as 75 Elite Men are on the start line for the 2013 UCI MTB Worlds title with defending champ Nino Schurter (Switzerland) ready to battle many contenders including Julien Absalon (France), Jaroslav Kulhavy (Czech Republic), Marco Aurelio Fontana (Italy), José Antonio Hermida Ramos (Spain), Andrej Cink (Czech Republic) and more. Racing for Canada it’s veteran Geoff Kabush, Max Plaxton, Derek Zandstra, Raphael Gagne and Cameron Jette… the men will complete 7 laps (4.95km) for 34.65km.
Lap 1
Schurter gets the holeshot with Giger and Lindgren right there…
Fumic moves into 3rd… Absalon is 1oth with Kulhavy with him
Absalon is now 7th – Plaxton is 21 at 31s – Kabush is 23rd at 33s – Zandstra is 62nd
Fontana has moved into 4th with Hermida also in the top 10.
Schurter is setting a fast pace with Giger second Fumic 3rd Fontana is 4th and Hermida is 5th…
Fontana takes over second – Fumic crashes on the Tree House – Absalon tries to move up.
Lap 2
Schurter comes thru in 14:08… Hermida is 2nd, Giger is 3rd, Avancini is 4th, Fontana is 5th.
Absalon is 7th Cink is 8th… Kulhavy is 15th and Kabush is 19th at 45s.
Cink crashes…
Schurter has gapped the chasers – the pace continues to be high.
Plaxton crashed (?) and is 36th at 1:41 – Gagne is 41st at 1:55
Schurter is opening up the gap on Hermida in 2nd with Giger 3rd.
Fumic is 4th and Marotte is 5th…
Lap 3
The time is 28:16 as Schurter starts the third of 7 laps…
Hermida is 2nd at 7s, Giger is 3rd at 10s – Fumic and and Marotte are 4th and 5th at 16s.
Cink is 6th at 31s – Absalon is 7th 32s – Martinez is 8th – Vogel is 9th – Milatz 10s – Kulhavy is 11th
Giger crashes on the Tree House rock section… Fumic hits Giger’s bike but doesn’t go down and takes over 3rd.
Lap 4
Schurter continues to lead at 42:31… Hermida is 2nd Fumic is 3rd.
Lap 5
Schurter starts the 5th of 7 laps at 56:43 – Hermida is 2nd at 17s – Fumic is 3rd at 22s – Marotte is 4th at 42s – Milatz is 5th…
Fumic passes Hermida and takes over 2nd.
Canada’s Kabush is 24th… then it’s Plaxton and Gagne together in the mid 30s
Lap 6
There’s no stopping Schurter starting the penultimate lap in 1:11:06 – Fumic is 2nd – Hermida is 3rd.
Marotte is 4th and Kulhavy has now moved up into 5th…
Lap 7 FINAL
Schurter is not holding back and the defending champ is on his way to repeating another rainbow jersey ride.
2. Fumic (Ger) 0:22
3. Hermida (Esp) 0:28
4. Marotte (Fra) 0:50
5. Kulhavy (Cze) 1:30
Schurter will win his 3rd world title today if he can hold on – only Absalon has more golds.
Schurter crashes… but he’s back up on the bike.
Schurter defends his title…
Results
1. Nino Schurter (Switzerland) 1:40:17
2. Manuel Fumic (Germany) 0:07
3. José Antonio Hermida Ramos (Spain) 0:21
4. Maxime Marotte (France) 0:53
5. Jaroslav Kulhavy (Czech Republic) 1:17
6. Julien Absalon (France) 1:31
7. Moritz Milatz (Germany) 1:45
8. Ondrej Cink (Czech Republic) 2:04
9. Stéphane Tempier (France) 2:19
10. Fabian Giger (Switzerland) 2:30
25. Geoff Kabush (Canada) 5:17
33. Derek Zandstra (Canada) 6:25
34. Raphael Gagne (Canada) 6:32
39. Max Plaxton (Canada) 8:24
45. Cameron Jette (Canada) 10:54
Full results here.