The race in Snowshoe looks like a road race for the first three laps. A group of twenty riders is at the front and it's not easy to improve your position.
Nino Schurter and Lars Forster are mostly in the top five. However, it is the Brazilian Henrique Avancini who is usually in the lead.

Schurter then stepped up the pace on the fifth of nine laps and only Avancini was able to keep up. The duo rode out to a 20-second lead over an eight-man chasing group.
But on the following lap, Schurter suffers a wheel slip in the rear wheel and falls back to the chasing group. The chasing group, led by Schurter, reduced the gap to Avancini until the penultimate lap.

On the eighth lap, a group of four formed with the two Swiss riders, the German Manuel Fumic and his Cannondale teammate Avancini. However, four riders, led by Frenchman Stephane Tempier, caught up again. Going into the final lap, Fumic attacked on the finishing straight, Forster followed and Fumic crashed on the asphalt in the bend.
This opens up a gap for Schurter and Forster. The two team-mates seize the opportunity and pull away.

On the last ramp, Forster launches the decisive attack and doesn't let Schurter take the lead away from him.
"I like fast races like this, it was tailored to me. Tactically it went perfectly. When Fumic crashed, we were in front and extended it. I suffered, but I was able to recover in the downhill and then attack before the Steinfeld," said Forster, explaining his first World Cup victory.
"I dreamed of winning, the podium was the goal. My form was good, even in the last few weeks, but defects ruined it each time. I still can't believe it, it's not real yet," explains Forster. The fact that it's a double victory for Switzerland and the team will make for "a good party tonight".

Nino Schurter is happy for his team colleague. "I've never been so happy about a second place. I'm really happy for Lars. We've been through a lot together, I rode the Cape Epic with him and then he had a hard time. I'm glad he's back," explains Schurter, who jumps for joy at the finish line.

After the defect, he rode "all-out" because he wasn't aiming for second or third place. "When the situation with Lars arose, I knew: either I win or I ride him to victory. That was worth it."

Lukas Flückiger starts the race from 60th on the grid. He increasingly improves, rides some top-10 lap times and finishes in twelfth place, his best result of this World Cup season.

Full results