Shurter, the Rio 2016 Olympic champion, claimed the men’s cross-country title at the Swiss venue in a time of 1 hour 24min 04sec.

The 37-year-old had been locked on 33 victories with French legend Julien Absalon before coming out on top at Lenzerheide.

Looking to break the record, Schurter took control from the start and was part of a group that featured South Africa’s Alan Hatherley, France’s Jordan Sarrou, Switzerland’s Mathias Flückiger and Italian Daniele Braidot.

A mistake on lap four by Braidot allowed Schurter and Flückiger to open up a gap of a few seconds.

Schurter soon forged ahead courtesy of big attack, leaving Sarrou, Hatherley and Braidot chasing, while Flückiger slipped back.

The gap continued to increase before Schurter crossed the finish line to etch his name in the UCI Mountain Bike World Series history books.

Hatherley finished in 1:24:19 to take second spot, while Sarrou clocked 1:24:20 for bronze.

France’s Loana Lecomte produced an excellent final lap to win the women’s cross-country title.

Lecomte was involved in a four-way battle with Anne Terpstra of The Netherlands, Alessandra Keller of Switzerland and Pauline Ferrand-Prevot of France before pulling away.

There was no one who could respond to Lecomte’s late attack as the Frenchwoman triumphed in 1:24:41.

Terpstra claimed silver in 1:24:59, while Keller bagged bronze in 1:25:13.

There was double delight for Britain in the downhill events with Rachel Atherton and Jordan Williams winning the respective women’s and men’s titles.

Short track events were also staged at Lenzerheide, with Sweden’s Jenny Rissveds sealing the women’s crown and Germany’s Luca Schwarzbauer earning the men’s title.

The next leg in the UCI Mountain Bike World Series is due to be staged from June 16 to 18 at Leogang-Salzburgerland in Austria.