July 19, 2007

Nino Schurter is U23 European Champion

Nino Schurter defends his U23 title

Superior victory at the European Championships

Nino Schurter repeated last year’s performance at the European Mountain Bike Championships in Turkey to become the Under-23 European Champion once again. He won in spectacular fashion, leading from start to finish, crossing the line in 1:49:28 h, 3 minutes 31 seconds in front of second place rider Jaroslav Kulhavy (CZ) and 4 minutes ahead of Jakob Fuglsang (DEN) who came in third. His teammate, Patrik Gallati, placed 12th, 8 minutes 25 seconds off the pace.

From the outset, Schurter left no doubt that he had planned to defend his title. Starting at a high pace, he put Jakob Fuglsang, his strongest opponent, under pressure right off the bat. After the first of five 7.1 km laps, Nino was 20 seconds ahead of Jaroslav Kulhavy, with Fuglsang a full minute behind. That allowed Schurter to extend his margin even further and after Kulhavy fell, Nino had quite a big lead over his chasers. Fulglsang, who took 5th place at the last World Cup race in Canada (with Schurter finishing behind) was not able to make up any ground on Schurter and as a result came in “only” in 3rd position. After four relay titles, a junior title and his U23 title of last year, this year's European Championship title is Nino’s seventh European Championships gold medal.

1. Nino Schurter (Switzerland) 1:49:28 Stunden
2. Jaroslav Kulhavy (Czech) 1:52:59
3. Jakob Fuglsang (Denmark) 1:53:28
12. Patrik Gallati (Switzerland) 1:57:53


Nino on his way to defending his title


Duty of a European champion – interviews


A much-deserved gold! Nino Schurter with his second European Championship gold medal!

Source: Ride Magazin