April 21, 2008

Nino Schurter finishes second behind Absalon

www.swisspowerteam.ch

Swiss riders showed brilliant form at the World Cup XC in Houffalize, Belgium. A small group, including Vogel, Absalon and Schurter, left the other riders behind by the second lap. Vogel was riding strong but with 3 km to go a mechanical put him out of the race - his chain broke and he had to walk until Frischi caught him and offered him his own chain. Nevertheless, the time it took to replace the chain dropped Vogel back 40 places. Frischi walked all the way to the material post where he got a new chain. He continued his race in 100th position and finished the race in 45th. Vogel showed his will by finishing 19th.

Nino Schurter

With two laps to go, Absalon left his companion Nino Schurter behind, but Schurter persisted, not wanting to lose touch with the front of the race. Even though he lost 52 seconds to Absalon, Schurter finished second and was the best U-23 rider and as a result leads the U-23 World Cup standings. He also has already qualified for the Olympic Games. 

Nino Schurter

Despite Vogel's bad luck, Swisspower can look back on a successful weekend. Never before have we had six riders in the top 45. And if we consider the bad luck we had and the difficulty of the race, we are very confident for the upcoming races.