home race for world champion nino schurter

Next weekend, the second race in the ÖKK BIKE REVOLUTION will take place in the Alpine town of Chur. World champion Nino Schurter will be up against a strong French trio, among others, at his home town.  

France against Switzerland. Almost an epic duel in mountain bike sport. On the Swiss side there are names like Frischknecht, Sauser, Näf, Flückiger and Schurter. On the French side it's Martinez, Dupouey, Sarrou, Koretzky and above all Absalon. These duels in the single trail were marked by drama, spectacle and great sportsmanship. Now three musketeers dare to enter the lion's den. Jordan Sarrou (2020 World Champion), Titouan Carod (2020 World Championship third place) and Maxime Marotte (French Champion) want to challenge Nino Schurter in front of his home audience. Maxime Marotte in particular has a score to settle with Schurter. A fortnight ago at the World Cup in Brazil, the Frenchman was beaten by a razor-thin margin in the sprint. Schurter, on the other hand, took his 33rd World Cup victory and thus equalled the record of Julien Absalon - also a Frenchman, of course. 

In addition to the four players mentioned, European champion Lars Forster, Filippo Colombo (he won the opening race of the ÖKK BIKE REVOLUTION on Monte Tamaro) and Thomas Litscher are hot candidates for the podium. 

In the elite women's race, the Swiss Olympic medallists Linda Indergand and Sina Frei will be up against Anne Terpstra from the Netherlands. Terpstra is in excellent form and recently finished second in the World Cup in Brazil and in the first race of the ÖKK BIKE REVOLUTION on Monte Tamaro. 

Mathias Flückiger and Jolanda Neff will not start in Chur. Until yesterday they were still listed in the start list. Now they had to cancel at short notice. Neff, who already had to cancel the opening race at Monte Tamaro and the World Cup race in Brazil, is still in training. And Flückiger is focusing on the Tour de Romandie, which starts next week. 

The race in Chur starts in the middle of town (Theaterplatz/Grabenstrasse) and connects the old town of Chur with the nearby single trails. World champion Nino Schurter has been actively involved in choosing the route and is very much looking forward to his home race: "It's great to see how hard work has been done here for mountain biking in the last few weeks. The city of Chur has made a lot possible for us here. The spectators can expect a city race with thrilling single trail passages in the forest!". 

The elite women's and elite men's races will be streamed live on the internet via www.bike-revolution.ch and broadcast live for the first time on the Swiss TV channel "blue Zoom".

Members of the Ukrainian national team at the start

600 participants have registered so far for all races on Saturday and Sunday. In addition to the elite, juniors will also start on Sunday. There are also five athletes from the Ukraine at the start. They are currently training in Switzerland thanks to the support of Swiss Cycling.

Saturday belongs entirely to the children and popular sports. Here, the newly launched Velo Gusto Tour stands out. A new concept is designed to lure cycling fans into the saddle without any pressure to perform. Instead of time measurement, there will be a lot of enjoyment and experience, and instead of sports food, participants will be spoiled with local delicacies at the checkpoints. Anyone who wants to spontaneously decide to start can register on site in Chur up to 1 hour before the starting signal.

The FAVORITES: NINO SCHURTER UND ANNE TERPSTRA