Youngsters Andri Frischknecht (22nd) and Marcel Guerrini (24th) put in a strong performance - Thomas Litscher finished directly ahead of them in 21st place. The second-best Swiss rider was Reto Indergand in 14th place. Lars Forster and Mathias Stirnemann crashed immediately after the start and therefore dropped out of the race early on.

Nino Schurter secured his 21st World Cup victory in Nove Mesto na Morave in the Czech Republic. The Grisons native won the race in 1:28:45 hours, 26 seconds ahead of the surprising Spaniard David Valero. Third place went to the Frenchman Julien Absalon (+1:46). After Thomas Litscher has led the field through the shortened start lap, Nino Schurter takes the lead. He opens up a small gap, but then the Spaniard David Valero comes from behind. He lets him get close and together they form a leading duo that rides far away from the rest. Schurter lets the Iberian set the pace and watches his rival. "I was surprised that Valero was so strong, but it was ideal for me. He had good speed and I was able to save energy," explained Schurter about this phase of the race. Valero attacked twice, but it was no problem for the Olympic champion to stay on the back wheel.

Schurter's decisive attack

With just under three laps to ride, Schurter makes the decisive attack himself. The gap quickly widens and he rides to his fourth victory in Nove Mesto.
"The course suits me well, the climbs are just the way I like them and quite steep and technical. It was even more technical today because it was so dry. Our bike is also perfect here," explains Schurter, looking ahead to 2017: "The season is completely different. I'm going into the season with a lot less pressure. I know that I'm on the right track, but without pressure and with more composure." Reto Indergand is the second-best Swiss in 14th place (+3:27). He gets off to an excellent start and is able to position himself in the top five. But then Indergand makes a mistake on the dusty surface. His front wheel slips off. He crashed heavily, hitting his own pedal in the calf and bending his handlebars. "Then the group with Julien (Absalon) arrived and it took me a while to find my place and rhythm. At some point, I fell off the back of the group," reports Indergand. "But I'm very happy with the race overall."

Bad luck for Flückiger, Forster and Stirnemann

Mathias Flückiger, who was behind the leading duo at the start, was unable to maintain his pace and fell far behind. "I have no idea, I felt completely lacking in energy and just cheated my way through at the start. I've never had that before this year," said Flückiger. Thomas Litscher shook his head at the finish. "No, I didn't ride too fast. I also held back when Nino took over. But I had problems for three laps because something shifted in the pelvis. I had to fix it first. In the end it worked. Too bad, the feeling was good," explained Litscher, who finished 21st. Matthias Stirnemann had a certain influence on the race. His chain broke at the start and everyone behind him had to slam on the brakes.