The 10-time World Champion looks forward to the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup Finals (September 2-4). "Last year, Val di Sole gave me confidence that I was back where I wanted to be. The record of stage wins is a great motivation to keep battling in the World Cup"
Two memories are enough to highlight the connection between Val di Sole and Nino Schurter. The first dates back to 2008: it is the U23 World Champion title that launched the Swiss rider into the international MTB elite, two months before an unexpected bronze medal at the Beijing Olympic Games. The second is more recent, from 2021 when Nino Schurter grabbed the ninth of his 10 Elite World titles at the end of what had been the worst season of his career that far.
With seven wins to his name between World Cup and World Champs, Nino Schurter is considered the long-time king of the cross-country trails in Val di Sole. The 36-year-old athlete from Tersnaus (Canton of Graubünden) will try to extend his streak in Trentino from September 2nd to 4th, on the occasion of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup Grand Finale in Daolasa di Commezzadura (Val di Sole).
A few days after his tenth World title, conquered in Les Gets (France), Schurter will take part both in the Cross-Country Short Track, on Friday, September 2nd, and in the Olympic Cross-Country race, scheduled on Sunday, September 4th. The goal is to secure the necessary points to win his eighth UCI Mountain Bike World Cup.
"In 2021 in Val di Sole, for me, it was indeed not just another World Champion title. After a difficult time with the Covid crisis and the Olympics that did not satisfy me enough, it was a great relief to celebrate my first win of the season as World Champion. Val di Sole saved my year: it gave me good confidence that I was back where I wanted to be, and this paid out this year as well," argued Nino Schurter.
In fact, the 2022 season of the World Champion started in the best way with a solid win in the World Cup opener in Petropolis (Brazil), when Nino Schurter tied Julian Absalon in the lead as most successful rider in World Cup history with 33 stage wins apiece.
“I try to win every race I enter, no matter about records or not. But it’s true that this record represents a great motivation to keep battling for World Cup victories. After winning in Brazil, I was very close a few times this season. Hopefully, I can wrap it up in Val di Sole. If not, I’ll keep trying next year", admitted the Swiss rider.
The World Cup wins record is not the only motivation for Nino: Val di Sole will assign the 2022 World Cup crown. Schurter already has seven overall titles to his name, same as Julian Absalon.
"If I can show what I can, and be lucky enough to make it to cross the finish line without a crash or mechanical, I am pretty optimistic. I love to race in Italy and I love the Val di Sole track with its steep climbs and technical descents. Since the beginning of my career, I seem to fit very well on this route”.
On the road to his eighth World Cup crown, the 2016 Olympic Champion will find a capable rival in in-form Italian Luca Braidot, bronze medalist in Les Gets and winner of two World Cup rounds in the season, in Lenzerheide and Andorra.
“Luca's great results did not come by luck. He worked hard for years and closed the gap to the best riders consistently. I think this summer all played together for him to result in a very positive wave. I hope for him he can surf that wave till the end of the season," concluded Schurter.
