Markus Schulte-Lünzum (Germany) started his furious solo ride on the first of six laps at the UCI Mountainbike World Cup presented by Shimano in Albstadt. "Unplanned," he said."I was a bit unsure about what to do when I was leading because the chasers seemed to get closer again. Should I let the trio chatch up again? But then I decided to keep up my pace."
He expanded his lead on the very demanding 4.2 kilometer course up to a minute. Behind him there was a tough battle for second place. Unaffectedly, Schulte-Lünzum rode on to score his big win. The immense crowd in the so called Bullentäle was ecstatic – after all, the German mountain bikers are not spoiled with victories. "On the penultimate lap I speeded up in order to have a reassuring distance on the last lap. I succeded in doing so. That was good because the muscles in my left leg started to cramp on the last lap", said the German U23 champion.
After 1:21:16 and 25.2 kilometers the 21-year-old celebrated the first Under-23 World Cup victory of a German mountain biker ever. "My ultimate goal for this year was to win a World Cup race. And I have always said that I would really prefer to win in Albstadt. It was awesome! There were so many people out there cheering for me," explained Schulte-Lünzum.
The battle for second place was won by the Belgian Jens Schuermans. "I had a bad start and had to move up slowly. Markus was so far ahead, it seemed impossible to get him. But on the last lap I managed to come closer to him. " After Frenchman Jordan Sarrou had dropped behind, Schuermans fought a duel with last year's U23 World Champion Michiel van der Heijden from the Netherlands.
"I knew it would be difficult but in the steep climbs I was a little stronger. I attacked and then had enough of a lead for the downhill. I'm happy with second place but also a little disappointed because Markus was already gone when I got to the front," said Schuermans who finished 17 seconds behind Schulte-Lünzum.
Michiel van der Heijden took it easy at the start and tried to ride a well-balanced race, because he had been somewhat ill lately. He reached the chase group on lap three. "It is a demanding course, but I like it very much. The rain has made it quite difficult. There was no opportunity to recover. Therefore I am very satisfied with my result," said van der Heijden.
Source: press release
Results:
1. SCHULTE-LUENZUM Markus - GER - FOCUS XC TEAM 1:21:16
2. SCHUERMANS Jens - BEL - VERSLUYS TEAM +17
3. VAN DER HEIJDEN Michiel - NED - GIANT PRO XC TEAM +33
4. SARROU Jordan - FRA - FOCUS/ROTOR/COACHING-SYSTEM.FR +1:02
5. TRARIEUX Julien - FRA - +1:27
6. BRAIDOT Daniele - ITA - FORESTALE +1:35
7. LUYTEN Jeff - BEL - VERSLUYS TEAM +1:46
8. INDERGAND Reto - SUI - BMC MOUNTAINBIKE RACING TEAM +1:54
9. DRECHOU Hugo - FRA - CALVISSON VTT +1:59
10. PETTINA Nicholas - ITA - FORESTALE +2:06
COMPLETE RESULTS
Sunday 19 May (GMT+1):
09:30: World Cup Olympics Cross Country - Men Juniors
11:30: World Cup Olympic Cross Country - Women Elite
14:00: World Cup Olympic Cross Country - Men Elite
