Chants of “Nino! Nino! Nino!” could be heard echoing around the Crans Montana XCO course on Sunday. They followed Nino Schurter the most decorated men’s cross country athlete finished the final world championships laps of his long and illustrious career.

While not Schurter’s late international race, the Swiss sensation announced 2025 worlds, raced in his home country of Switzerland, would be his last. The 39-year-old appeared to be enjoying his farewell tour of the Swiss world championships course. While not fighting for the lead as he has so many times before, Schurter finished 42nd on Sunday, he appeared to revel in the atmosphere of the incredibly loud Swiss fans.

Nino Schurter wins his 34th UCI XCO World Cup in Petropolis, Brazil on April 10, 2022. Photo: Bartek Wolinski / Red Bull Content Pool
A historic career spanning decades

While Schurter celebrated his final world championships race in 2025, his success starts decades ago. His first world championships title cam eway back in 2009. He won an astounding 10 elite men’s XCO world titles between 2009 and 2022, nearly monopolising the rainbow jersey during that time.

Schurter also collected a string of Olympic medals. Those started in 2008, with a bronze in Beijing. The Swiss racer added a silver at the London Games in 2012. It was in Rio in 2016 that Schurter finally earned the elusive gold medal to complete his collection.

Canadian mountain bikers pay tribute to Nino Schurter following retirement announcement

It wasn’t just one-day races that defined Schurter’s dominance, though. The Scott-SRAM racer won an incredible nine World Cup overall titles in his career. That includes an unmatched 36 elite men’s XCO World Cup wins. It was again in Brazil where Schurter finally matched Julien Absalon’s previous racord of 33 wins, taking a victory in Petropolis in 2022. The Swiss rider then cruised right past his long-time French rival’s win total to end his career with 36 World Cup wins.

While that sheer volume of winning is enough to cement Schurter’s status as the G.O.A.T. of men’s cross country racing, he didn’t limit his riding to World Cups. With a series of Scott-SRAM teammates, Schurter won numerous ABSA Cape Epics and all manner of other events around the world.

Schurter will race what sounds like his final World Cup in Lenzerheide, Switzerland next week. It seems unlikely he will cross the pond to finish off the final two 2025 evens in Mont-Sainte-Anne and Lake Placid, instead chosing to end his career with a home venue, a course where he won a worlds title at home in 2018.

Like many riders, Schurter’s career on the bike will continue into the future, just not at the World Cup level. He’s already state plans to show up at a more diverse line-up of start lines in the future. Rumor has it those plans could include a certain iconic Canadian mountain bike stage race that is also approaching the end of its original form and entering a new phase in 2027…