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Nino Schurter finished second on the podium in Val di Sole in Cross Country. This is enough to win the overall World Cup again.
A week ago, Nino Schurter won World Championship gold for the 10th time. Now, at the season finale in Val di Sole (ITA), the Graubünden native followed up with his 8th triumph in the overall World Cup. Second place behind the Frenchman Titouan Carod, who after a long solo run crossed the finish line with a lead of 35 seconds, was enough. Carod had already won the short race on Friday and improved from 5th to 2nd place in the overall World Cup at the final weekend. Third place went to Carod’s compatriot Jordan Sarrou on Sunday.
Italy’s Luca Braidot, who was most likely to have intercepted Schurter, was fifth. The second best Swiss was Marcel Guerrini in 8th place, followed by Vital Albin and Joel Roth in 9th and 10th place.
“The whole season – with the world championship title and overall World Cup victory – feels like a dream. Especially after the last two years, in which the results were a bit lacking,” summed up a happy Schurter at the finish. “Coming back like this with these two titles – it feels really good.”
Schurter surpasses Absalon – but not in number of World Cup victories
With the 8th victory in the overall World Cup, Schurter surpassed his former rival Julien Absalon in another category. The Frenchman, who retired 4 years ago, was the most consistent mountain biker of the season 7 times.
Schurter and Absalon tied for World Cup wins with 33 victories, Schurter’s 10 World Championship titles versus Absalon’s 5. In terms of Olympic gold medals, it is 2-1 for Absalon, but Schurter once again won precious metal at the Summer Games with his complete set of medals.