The 25th World Cup race in Mont Sainte Anne will go down in history. Not just because of the silver jubilee. The spectators will see the first victory on a Thömus bike in hot weather, the first for Mathias Flückiger, who triumphs at the site of his 2010 U23 world championship title, and the first cross-country victory for Ralph Näf as team manager.

World champion Nino Schurter has to start from the third row and therefore takes a while to get into the front positions. Once he was in front, he pulled the leading group apart on a technical descent. It is the New Zealander Anton Cooper who closes the gap to Schurter. He has to do this several times, but leaves a strong impression on the climbs. The duo were able to extend their lead to ten seconds by the end of the third lap, followed by Gerhard Kerschbaumer, Mathias Flückiger and Titouan Carod. However, fate took its course for Schurter in the new "La Perdix" section. His chain breaks on a switchback climb. As a result, Cooper is also held up and the lead is gone. Schurter drops back to 13th place after the changeover, fights his way up to seventh place, but the gap to sixth place is then too big.

A group of four riders has formed at the front, with Kerschbaumer, Flückiger and Cooper alternately taking the lead. Carod was distanced from time to time, but came back again. On the penultimate lap, Mathias Flückiger takes command on the Zig-Zag climb. On the following descent, he puts on the pressure, Kerschbaumer stumbles and the gap opens up. Anton Cooper is held up, but the New Zealander manages to close the six-second gap on Flückiger again by the start of the last lap. This is how the duo enters the final lap, both fighting for their maiden victory. As they enter the second part of the loop, Cooper attacks, but Flückiger is able to stay on his rear wheel. When Cooper stops the attack, Flückiger counters and goes into the following switchback climb in first place.

The next descent, "La Beatrice", is dramatic. As always, Flückiger gets the entrance to the rock passage very well, Cooper has to stop briefly, loses the left pedal and falls headfirst. His bike flies over the edge of the track. Cooper is dismayed. He climbs down to the bike, straightens the handlebars, but looks completely knocked out. In the end, he only finishes sixth. Mathias Flückiger brings his lead home safely, although Kerschbaumer wakes up again behind him.

"Training has been so good over the last four weeks and I've found motivation. It really is a reward. I've always had bad luck in previous World Cups, but today it worked out. I was also strong in my head today and I think I also rode well tactically, I stayed calm," commented Mathias Flückiger on his victory. "Mont Sainte Anne suits me, it always goes well here. I was world champion on this course in 2010 and now my first World Cup win, that's so cool."

Despite his bad luck, Nino Schurter can claim an early overall World Cup victory, his sixth overall, because Mathieu van der Poel did not take part in the World Cup (and won European Championship silver on the road) and Henrique Avancini only finished ninth overall. "Of course I wanted to ride for the win and not just for the overall classification," he said, somewhat disappointed. "I've had a lot of luck before, now it's just bad luck." The world champion commented on the mishap: "It took me until I was in position when things really got going, then the chain broke. That was a shame! I felt almost one hundred percent, I could still feel my bronchial tubes a bit, but actually very good," explained Nino Schurter. "At first I motivated myself, but when the gap to six was so big, I pulled back, also because I was still ill at the end," he explained.