The race in Val di Sole turns out to be an unusual one. First the Italian Luca Braidot took the lead, and then Nino Schurter launched an unusually early attack. "I noticed that Mathieu was struggling on the climb and attacked. My hope was that Braidot would be able to keep up," Schurter explains the situation. But Braidot couldn't, and the Swiss rider quickly built up a 25-second lead. "I thought: Oh, that was a bit early to ride alone," says Schurter. He didn't stay alone after that. However, it was not Mathieu van der Poel who managed to catch up, but another Italian. The former U23 world champion Gerhard Kerschbaumer makes a confident impression, especially on the mountain. The 27-year-old South Tyrolean breaks away from the chasing group and reduces the gap to ten seconds. It stays that way until Schurter decides to stop defending his lead with might and main.

"If Mathieu had been behind, I wouldn't have done it. But the gap to him was already big enough. So it was ideal to ride the last one and a half laps together with Kerschbaumer," explained Schurter. Gerhard Kerschbaumer only tried to attack on the last climb. But Schurter keeps the rear wheel of his rival. And anyone who has followed the races in Val di Sole in recent years knew what was coming: before the final descent, Schurter sprints past Kerschbaumer, just as he did with Julien Absalon. On the way down there are no more opportunities to overtake and Schurter takes a few seconds with him on the flat. That's enough for his 29th World Cup victory. "I wouldn't have begrudged it to Kerschbaumer in front of his own crowd. But of course I had to try," says a relaxed Nino Schurter, who is now four wins short of Julien Absalon's record.

Mathieu van der Poel comes third from the chasing group - visibly disappointed. He wanted to take his first cross-country victory. Behind the Dutchman, Florian Vogel battled with the Brazilian Henrique Avancini for fourth place. On the penultimate lap, Avancini was able to pull away slightly and defended his lead until the end to secure the first ever Brazilian World Cup podium. Florian Vogel suffers a rear wheel defect on the final descent, but that doesn't change his fifth place. "I had a great race, great legs. My goal was a podium, if you extend it to top five, then it worked out. I am super happy. The race has huge historical significance for me. I've ridden it many times before and finished runner-up here in 2008, behind my idol Christoph Sauser and ahead of another idol: Ralph Näf. That's why the race here has great emotional significance, it's practically the highlight of the season for me," he says at the finish, giving an insight into a special perspective.

Thomas Litscher rides into the top ten for the first time this season. He battled in the second chasing group and was able to stay there for the entire distance. "Consistent from start to finish," is his own verdict. "I wasn't sure how I had digested the stage race in the Engadin, so I didn't want to go over the limit. I certainly could have, but then it might have set me up," said Litscher.

U23: Colombo misses out on the podium by 14 seconds

Norwegian Petter Fagerhaug celebrates his third World Cup success in the U23 race. Fagerhaug won by 18 seconds ahead of Joshua Dubau from France and 20 seconds ahead of Romanian Vlad Dascalu. 14 seconds behind him, Swiss U23 champion Filippo Colombo rode across the finish line in fourth place.

Filippo Colombo is part of the five-man lead group that forms at the start of the second of seven laps. He first tried to keep up with Fagerhaug, but then decided to look for his own rhythm. "He was just too fast. That's why I looked for my own pace," says Colombo. Fagerhaug began a solo in the third lap, which brought him his second win of the season. Behind him, Albstadt winner Joshua Dubau and the American Christopher Blevins form a chasing duo. On the final lap, Dubau was able to pull away decisively, while Colombo came closer to Blevins from behind in his group of three and was able to pass the American. Nove Mesto winner Vlad Dascalu uses a technical passage on the final lap to attack. Colombo was sitting behind the hardtail rider David Nordemann at the time and was unable to react immediately. This opened up a gap that he was unable to close.