Nino used to do a thing where he was intentionally last onto the line-up. So, everybody warms up, in the warm-up pens, and a few times there’d be no Nino. You wouldn’t know where he was. Is he not here? Is he ill? Has he not told us? And then just as everyone’s going, ‘Are we gonna say that he’s not gonna enter this race?’ he’d roll down towards everyone else. Like he’s like a prize fighter. So, the decision is to race? Yeah. Nino’s here. He’s gonna smash everyone. He is probably the greatest mountain biker of his generation. He hit a milestone last time he won here in Brazil. Can he do it again? From SCOTT-SRAM Mountain Bike Racing Team, Nino Schurter! Fifteen seconds, gentlemen, once, twice. Tell us what happened. Yeah, what happened? Hm. You ride at the absolute limit over all these years. He’s got nothing left to prove. He has been dominating this sport for ten years. Come on, let someone else get a piece of that cake. Where do you stop? Are the reasons big enough to quit? I’m really feeling old. You better not start to quit. We just need to make sure that it’s all compliant, yeah. Yeah, we never risk anything, so we’re just checking all the ingredients. Some eye treatment. Yeah, it's perfect preparation. That’s normally how I start the World Cup season. I go out hard the day before, and have eyes like this. Welcome back to the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series. First race of the year, everybody’s extra nervous. The first World Cup of the season is always something special. Pressure is always more on the first one. It’s the first time that we all get together, so we don’t know each other’s level. It’s an Olympic year, creates some extra excitement, where you feel that weight a little bit on the shoulders all of a sudden. Tension is high, expectations are high, and hopes are high. We have the greatest memories of two years ago. A couple of years ago in Brazil there was a cross-country World Cup in Petropolis. The atmosphere, the crowd, the great course. Such a tight battle until the last metre. Nino winning in a sprint finish, winning his 33rd World Cup win, and equalising Julien Absalon’s record. Just Hollywood. Nino! Hola, Brazil. Hola. Hola. Nino! Nino! He could be here for six hours and the line would still be the same length. The South American fans, they go wild. The fans are just different. He showed up last year to a signing session, so I signed his arm, but it was a bit wet and you couldn’t sign, really. The next day he showed up, he was tattooed. Can we see your arm again? Yeah. See? Not bad. No shortcuts. Thank you. Who is Nino Schurter? Wow, that’s a good question. Nino! Nino Schurter is the ultimate end-of-level boss of mountain biking. For sure he is the absolute GOAT. He’s the GOAT. He’s the greatest of all time. He is the best mountain biker on the planet at the moment. Nino Schurter has been one of our biggest nightmares over the last couple of years. 34 World Cups. 35? Oh. Ten times World Champs title. Nine overall World Cup titles, Olympic champion. Nino probably won the first five World Champion titles because he was the strongest. From then onwards, he became the smartest. He will know when he has to retire. But he’s still winning. He’s still right there. He is, at the age of 37, still the best. Yeah, I must have a kind of infection of my eyes. I don’t know from what it’s coming. We finally got some medicine, luckily. And now that should take the inflammation or whatever. So, I hope I have clean vision for later. I would prefer to see the track. Cross-country is the oldest form of mountain bike racing. And it’s kind of evolved into these shorter tracks, multi-lap races. The UCI Mountain Bike World Series has two different disciplines over the short track. 20 minutes in the hurt box with only the best 40 riders of the UCI ranking. It defines the first four start rows for Sunday. And then we have the cross-country Olympic. Big race, like 120 riders, a mass start. I joke that cross-country mountain bike racing is like sprinting a marathon. Full gas right from the start, and we can’t hold anything back. We ride for 90 minutes at the absolute limit. First person to get to the finish line wins. And they are green for go, for the first time in 2024. I don’t like the short-track races so much, to be honest. Just all about power, and it’s really hectic. We see Nino, again, we talk about how smart he is, just following the XCC specialists. You need to really battle for your position. The race is super close all the time. This one is heading to the line. Sam Gaze wins the opening UCI cross-country short track World Cup. Schurter in eighth. I think I was able to ride a smart race. You always try to stay in the group. I'm super happy, it’s quite a relief after the feeling from this morning. It shows me my legs is quite okay. I think it’s a big relief to feel the performance is there. Not at point 100 percent, but like he’s not far off. I hope that this will give him a mental boost, a positive switch in his brain, that it’s all not that bad, and he can get rid of the doubts he had this morning. He’ll be fine tomorrow, you’ll see. So, if you are not so good, recommendation is not to go. But... If you start, how is the chance that you win the race? It's hard. Yeah. Even with not feeling 100 percent, you know. Yeah. Man, you are Nino. You are Nino, you are the best one, and you can do everything. Not when I am sick, you know. No, but even when you are sick, you are Nino! We are only gonna be smarter with the decision after the race. It can go both ways, you know. Mm-hmm. Yeah, I didn’t have the best night. Still feeling not 100 percent. My eyes are much better, but now I have a sore throat and... It’s not ideal, but... You need also to be able to perform on bad days, so... Tell us what happened. Yeah, what happened? As soon as the race started, I was like, 'okay, this is going to be hard.’ Delighting the South American fans as they head out onto the start loop, up this asphalt climb. Steep part, that’s the last bit of the first climb, and only I think the top ten can ride this, and the other riders have to walk. Oh, Gaze toppled over at the top of the slope! Watch this ripple backwards. That’s a hectic start. And if there are like 80 athletes, it’s literally a mess, like a war. Well, they’re coming now. Nino, ten. Turn! [SHOUTING] Nino Schurter back in 14th, there he is. It looks like one of our athletes has a technical, but I’m not sure. Really, really loose, the track here. It’s taken a beating in the sun. Look at the crowds in the rock section. Yeah, Nino. Go, go, go, go, go! Looks like he had a big crash. Yeah. Did anyone see what happened? Nino apparently covered in dust, so he must’ve been down. We haven’t seen that, but that's not a good sign. Looks like he’s had a big one out on course somewhere. 37th at the minute for the GOAT. I had a few really bad days in my career. For sure, this was like one of it. Not the start to the UCI cross-country Olympic World Cup Nino Schurter will have wanted, going for his tenth overall title this season. Nino! Nino! Nino! Nino!... My worst race in 15 years. My body was still struggling with something. There was no energy. I had a front flip in the steep downhill, so – But luckily, nothing bad. Maybe another athlete would have said, ‘Hey, I’m done here. I sneak out.’ But he never quit, yeah. Being at the start line, fighting till the finish line. If you give up in these 90 minutes, you are not born as an athlete. No, no. No, it’s like you do so much for this, and when you start, you just go out, and next time, okay, I’m just tenth. You go out, or whatever, it’s like, where do you stop then? When are the reasons big enough to quit? You better not start to quit.
