It was Kulhavy who took the initiative at the start of the race, dictating the pace and quickly breaking up the leading pack. Nino Schurter was the only one to follow the Czech, but on lap three Thomas Litscher managed to ride past the even more surprising Brazilian Henrique Avancini from fourth place and close the 17-second gap on the leading duo. "I didn't want to close the gap for the others. That's why I had to invest. That was a risk, but my legs felt loose. And a world championship is a world championship, you have to give it a go," said Litscher later about his move.

The trio managed to widen the gap to Avancini, albeit slowly, but steadily. It was also Litscher who kept coming out on top on the trails, while Kulhavy always made his move on the flat. "I was happy about that, I never had to do any lead work. Even when Tom was still behind us, I was able to hold back," says Schurter. The three of them head into the seventh and final lap. Kulhavy is in the lead. Schurter's first attempt to pass on the inside in an uphill corner fails. He has to take his foot off the pedal. "I always held on to the tree in training, but it didn't work twice in the race," he was later to confess.But a short time later, the Rio Olympic champion seizes the next opportunity and passes Kulhavy with an explosive attack. "I caught an ideal line there," explains Schurter. He takes a few meters off his rival and he allows himself to slip in a bend. "I felt very strong today, but in the decisive situation I was too fast in a corner," says the London Olympic champion.

Schurter pulls out a lead of six or seven seconds and the gap increases to ten seconds on the following downhill. Schurter also needs this for the remaining one and a half flat kilometers to perfect his third world title in a row.

"I wouldn't have stood a chance against Jaro in the sprint," says Schurter, who is happy that his attack had the desired effect. "It's incredible, it just works," commented the 32-year-old on his success. "I've never had so little pressure before a World Championships. The self-confidence is simply there and the composure makes me strong," Schurter repeats what he has basically been saying all season.

Thomas Litscher has no chance against the Czech locomotive Kulhavy on the flat at the end, but is extremely happy about his first World Championship medal in the elite. "I haven't been to a World Championships since 2014. I am super happy. The team around Joe Broder, they always believed in me and did what they could with the few resources they had. World Championship bronze will hopefully save my career," explains Litscher.

Lukas Flückiger delivers his best performance of the season in sixth place (+1:13). In the sprint for fifth place, he was defeated by German Manuel Fumic. "That was okay today. I knew today could be a good day, but when you're 15th after the start, it's still difficult," said Flückiger, who then stayed with Fumic for several laps. Reto Indergand had a good start, but was then briefly hampered and came out of the start loop in 18th place. He slowly but surely works his way forward. "Top ten was my goal and I achieved it," says Indergand. "When I saw two more in front of me on the final lap and was eleventh, that motivated me again."


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