Nino Schurter literally bursts away from the start line and soon after sets off with Marco Fontana (ITA) and Manuel Fumic (GER). Fontana is soon unable to keep up with the pace of the two. At the start of the third lap, Absalon catches up with Mathias Flückiger. Frenchman Maxime Marotte and Czech Ondrej Cink are just under 20 seconds behind. Florian Vogel and Thomas Litscher also put in a strong performance and are in eighth and ninth place, Ralph Näf is in 13th position.

Absalon and Schurter don't take the risk that Marotte and Cink could catch up and increase the pace. Fumic and Flückiger drop off. While Marotte chases the podium alone, Flückiger falls back but is still able to keep within striking distance. In the fifth of six laps, Schurter attacks and quickly pulls a few meters away from Absalon. He is always a little faster than the Frenchman on the descent, who catches up again on the following climb. The gap to third-placed Fumic increases with this attack.

Platfuss as a decision-making aid
Towards the end of the penultimate lap, Schurter suddenly loses air on the rear wheel and can no longer keep up the pace. He lets Absalon pass, who roars away with an incredible kick. Schurter loses position after position, finds himself in seventh place after the bike change - after all - and starts the last lap together with Thomas Litscher. "That happened in the worst possible place, because it was still a long way to the next tech zone. It's a shame, but that's sport. Something can always happen," Schurter reacts calmly after the initial disappointment. Absalon now rides completely unleashed towards his victory and comes one step closer to the record for the most World Cup victories. The German Manuel Fumic is able to hold on to second place ahead of Maxime Marotte. Schurter is able to make up another position and finishes the race in sixth place.

Immediately behind Schurter, Thomas Litscher crossed the finish line in seventh place and was very satisfied: "Ifound a good rhythm. At the beginning I rode a mess together, but then I found myself. Mathias Flückiger, who was in sixth place, was also thrown back to eighth place due to a tire defect. "It's a good start to the season. My aim was to get through the second lap at the front, because I've always had a bit of trouble there recently. Overall, I'm not dissatisfied," says Flückiger. Florian Vogel was unable to stay in the top ten, but still finished in a good eleventh place. Ralph Näf and Lukas Flückiger finish twelfth and thirteenth. Näf, who started from 33rd position, is satisfied with his result. Lukas Flückiger, on the other hand, had problems after crashing heavily in training the day before. "I had no tension in my body," he complained after the race. At the start of the World Cup season, Nicola Rohrbach also put in a strong performance in 15th place.

Absalon and Schurter are riding at practically the same level. So the Frenchman certainly didn't inherit the victory. The puncture merely simplifies the decision for victory, but unfortunately also takes the tension out of the final. Schurter is therefore still in a state of uncertainty in the run-up to the race: "It wasn't entirely clear how things would be after the Cape Epic. I struggled at the beginning, but at some point I realized that Julien might have the bigger problems," explains Schurter.

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Rankings Worldcup 2014, #1 Pietermaritzburg RSA, Men Elite
1. Julien Absalon (FRA)	1.38.05	+0.00
2. Manuel Fumic (GER)	1.38.39	+0.34
3rd Maxime Marotte (FRA)	1.38.59	+0.54
4. Ondrej Cink (CZE)	1.39.37	+1.32
5th José Hermida (ESP)	1.39.44	+1.39
6th Nino Schurter (SUI)	1.40.21	+2.16
7th Thomas Litscher (SUI)	1.40.24	+2.19
8th Mathias Flückiger (SUI)	1.40.29	+2.24
9th Daniel McConnell (AUS)	1.40.42	+2.37
10. Sergio Manceton (ESP)	1.40.56	+2.51
11th Florian Vogel (SUI)	1.41.21	+3.16
12th Ralph Näf (SUI)	1.41.37	+3.32
13th Lukas Flückiger (SUI)	1.42.00	+3.55
15th Nicola Rohrbach (SUI)	1.42.07	+4.02
22nd Fabian Giger (SUI)	1.43.56	+5.51
23rd Martin Gujan (SUI)	1.44.14	+6.09
24th Martin Fanger (SUI)	1.44.23	+6.18
30th Marcel Wildhaber (SUI)	1.46.16	+8.11
31st Marc Stutzmann (SUI)	1.46.17	+8.12
36th Sepp Freiburghaus (SUI)	1.47.41	+9.36
38th Matthias Stirnemann (SUI)	1.47.56	+9.17
57th Daniel Eymann (SUI)	1.53.18	+14.19
61st Lucien Besancon (SUI)	lapped