With no overall to fight for this year, some riders could have seen the XCC as a bit of a sideshow to the more prestigious XCO races that followed a couple of days later. This proved to be a dangerous tactic as, while it may not have conferred any overall points this year, the XCC still determined the all-important grid positions for the XCO. One rider that was caught out by this was Nino Schurter. He seemed out of sorts at the first XCC and ended up rolling home in 29th, which left him stranded a few rows back from his normal starting position at the front of the grid.