Nino Schurter experienced a pitch-black day last Sunday. The fact that he started the season far below his capabilities at the World Cup opener was the least of his mishaps. Just a few hours before the start, his former physiotherapist Frank Holfeld had a fatal accident on a ski tour in the Lower Engadine. Holfeld fell over a 700-metre-high rock face not far from the summit during a break and could only be recovered dead.

Holfeld was considered a mastermind of Schurter's run of success until the Olympic Games in Rio. Schurter won the Olympic title back then, and Holfeld was the "golden hand" behind it. He was also there four years earlier at the Olympic Games in London, when Schurter brought home silver. After the games in Rio, Holfeld curtailed his ambitions in top-class sport in order to have more time for his family with his two young sons. He was in charge of physiotherapy at the Oberengadin hospital in Samedan and Zuoz and continued to be an important support for many top athletes during altitude training.

Déjà vu like eleven years ago

For Schurter, the accident is the second stroke of fate in which he has lost a close friend in a mountain accident. Eleven years ago, it was his mechanic Erwin Wildhaber who crashed during a mountain bike tour and could only be recovered dead. At the 2013 World Cup opener in Albstadt, Schurter was also completely upset when a minute's silence was held before the start. In memory of his mechanic, Schurter subsequently grew wings and went on a winning streak, taking the overall World Cup victory and the World Championship title as a result. The death of Wildhaber gave Schurter an extra boost of motivation and strength. It would now be exactly the form of commemoration that would also suit Frank Holfeld. He will be at next weekend's World Cup race - in the hearts and minds of the Swiss team. Above all, however, he will be with Schurter, riding him to victory one last time and making history once again. It would probably be the most fitting memorial for "Fränky", one of the great figures in mountain bike racing.

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Nino Schurter (@nschurter)