This weekend saw the MTB Wolrd Cup circut come to an end in Windham NY. All the usual suspects were at the sharp end of the field with Jaroslav Kulhavy getting away in the last lap to take his maiden World Cup victory. In second was Nino Schurter who outsprinted his team mate Florian Vogel who finished third.

South African riders Burry Stander and Yolande Speedy showed good form this past weekend at round 5 of the MTB World Cup series. Burry finished 10th, 3:51 off the pace and Yolande finished 33rd, 8:08 off the pace.

The 6.3 kilometre course was dominated by a series of steep, climbs, which took their toll on the fields. In the men’s race, only 88 of 190 starters finished on the same lap as the winner.

Julien Absalon (Fra) riding for Orbea took the lead early and never relinquished it scoring the win in Offenberg in the Elite men’s 36.8km race over top rival, Nino Schurter (Sui) Scott-Suisspower MTB-Racing, in second with Jaroslav Kulhavy (Cze) Rubena-Birell-Specialized Cycling Team claiming 3rd.

Nino Schurter (Scott-Swisspower) in an exciting finish manages to out sprint Julien Absalon in the season opening World Cup XC race in Dalby Forrest. Burry Stander took third after controlling the front for most of the race.

“After a tough and cruel Cape Epic it took to weeks to recover”, said Florian Vogel whohas not raced since this stage race. Even though they did not go full gas every day, both still felt tired from the long days at the office down in South Africa. Tough, it was a good preparation for the world cup season, which starts this weekend at Dalby Forest, UK.

To give the preparation a final tune, Nino and Florian raced successfully at the Sunshine Race in northern Italy last weekend.