Another fierce battle is expected between World Champion Julien Absalon (BMC Mountainbike) and former World Champion Nino Schurter (Scott-Odlo MTB) this weekend at the Windham World Cup. Schurter is coming in as the defending champion, having won on the slopes of Windham Mountain last season. He also has grabbed the World Cup Series lead last week after Jaroslav Kulhavy (Specialized) faltered at Mont-Sainte-Anne. Schurter now has 850 points while Kulhavy has 740.
Schurter said, "With only two competitions remaining, the Windham race could be the deciding one for the overall world cup. I'm sure it will be a tough fight again with Julien, but also Jaroslav Kulhavy, or good climbers like Matthias Flückiger. It's not a race track itself that suits me in particular. I actually like it more technical but in this point of the season, so close to the world championships, I'm usually in very good shape already."
Last year's race was fascinating to watch. Schurter, who was riding a full-suspension bike, would gap Absalon on every descent. Absalon, riding a hard-tail, would catch Schurter on the climbs and often end up leading back up the mountain.
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Schurter explained last year's win, "It was a hard battle with Absalon, but I'd say I'd made it happen on the downhill... It was quite an advantage to have the full suspension on the downhill. I was able to always open the gap, maybe 10 to 15 seconds, and then I'd try to hold it on the uphill."
Julien Absalon has been riding a full-suspension bike more this season. It will be interesting to see which weapon he chooses for the redesigned Windham course this weekend.
Other contenders will include last year's podium finishers, Mathias Flückiger (Stoeckli Pro Team), Dan McConnell (Trek Factory Racing), and Lukas Flückiger (BMC Mountain Bike) (BMC Mountainbike). Manuel Fumic (Cannondale), Florian Vogel (Focus XC), and Ondrej Cink (Multivan Merida) all have been riding well and should contend for podium positions.
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