Nino Schurter confirms a record-breaking 8th World Cup while Alessandra Keller secures second series win

This article originally appeared on Velo News

It was a dramatic conclusion to the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup at the final round this weekend in Val di Sole.

Switzerland's Nino Schurter confirmed his place as a legend of the sport adding a record-breaking eighth cross-country World Cup series win to his 10th world championship title last week.

Alessandra Keller wrapped up her second cross-country World Cup series win in three days after she took the overall short track title on Friday while France's Pauline Ferrand-Prevot added yet more titles to her palmares with victories on the short track and cross-country circuits.

Her compatriot Titouan Carod also enjoyed a perfect weekend but Schurter's second place in the cross-country race was enough to confirm his World Cup series win in that discipline while Alan Hatherly secured the short track World Cup series victory.

In the men’s cross-country race, Carod led from the front from the first lap, and by the fourth lap, his advantage had stretched out to 34 seconds and it only continued to grow, allowing him to celebrate all the way down the final stretch.

After he took the Short Track on Friday, it marked a first-ever perfect weekend World Cup weekend for the Frenchman.

Schurter escaped the chasing pack to finish comfortably in second place and he too punched the air, celebrating his record-breaking eighth World Cup series win.

In the women's cross country race, Ferrand-Prevot added yet another title to her palmares while Keller's sixth place was enough to seal her overall series win.

Ferrand-Prevot had already won the short track on Saturday, and she executed another dominant performance on the cross-country circuit.

Initially, she was locked in a battle with the European champion Loana Lecomte with whom she built a 40 second advantage over the chasing pack by the start of lap 3.

Shortly afterwards, however, she left her compatriot on the steep uphill sections and pressed on towards a decisive solo victory with a lead of 1:27.

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