Today the favorites are many but it seems that Tom Pidcock has an edge after the victory at the European Championship. The various Valero, Vlad Dascalu, Alan Hatherly, Luca Braidot and Nino Schurter they will try to fight against the British phenomenon.
Pidcock starts from the back, sixth row, but there doesn't seem to be any problems for him. Not at the start Mathias Fluckiger for doping problems. Immediately after departure you see a Nino Schurter brilliant: the king of the cross country, when the important appointment arrives, becomes a lion. Pidcock goes from 53rd position to 6th in just the 1st lap, immediately frightening everyone.
In the meantime, the first disappointments begin to appear: Titouan Carod, after a first acceleration, collapses. Dascalu and Colombo are also out of the game as Blevins and Gaze retire (the New Zealander for a bad fall).
During the third lap, Pidcock gives a shot of his: Braidot respond very well and Schurter is the victim of a slip from which it recovers promptly. After this attack 4 remain: Pidcock, Braidot, Valero and Schurter. David Valero, unlike other races, is very brilliant and was not surprised in the early stages of the race. Indeed, he seems to be the one with the best leg uphill and puts everyone on the rope, including Pidcock, who loses a few meters along with Braidot. Only Schurter is glued to the Spanish "stangone".
Meanwhile, Pidcock, not very lucid, continues to make mistakes after mistakes in one of the technical sections of the route. Up front Valero proves to have a leg but nothing can against Nino's lucidity, who takes the downhill sections in front and puts the Spaniard on the rope every time the road becomes technical.
And this is also the case on the last climb: Schurter forces downhill and gains those meters that allow him to win in an hour and 21 minutes. Today Nino Schurter, at the age of 36, won his 10th world champion title cross country, no one ever like him. Amazing Luca Braidot keeping Pidcock at bay, who previously had also stopped in the pits for a puncture, and conquered a fantastic bronze.
Surprise for the Swiss Marcel Guerrini who finishes in 5th place.
BLUE
In addition to the 3rd place of Luca Braidot, a great performance by Juri Zanotti who finished in 14th place in his first world championship cross country from Elite. Daniele Braidot closes in 19th position while Gerhard Kerschbaumer is 29th.
MEN'S ELITE RANKING
| 1 | SCHURTER Nino |  | 1:21:13 |
| 2 | VALERO SERRANO David |  | + 0: 09 |
| 3 | BRAIDOT Luke |  | + 0: 29 |
| 4 | PIDCOCK Thomas |  | + 1: 29 |
| 5 | GUERRINI Marcel | | + 1: 40 |
| 6 | SARROU Jordan |  | + 2: 04 |
| 7 | HATHERLY Alan |  | + 2: 11 |
| 8 | KORETZKY Victor | | + 2: 37 |
| 9 | COLUMBUS Philip | | + 2: 49 |
| 10 | CINK Ondřej |  | + 2: 51 |
RACE REPLAY
HIGHLIGHTS
