(Phoot UCI)
After seven months of action, the UCI Mountain Bike World Series came to a head with a North American double-header: in Lake Placid Olympic Region in New York and then in Mont-Sainte-Anne in Canada.
Kiwi Samara Maxwell and American Christopher Blevins claimed the Elite cross-country Olympic (XCO) overall titles after Austrian Valentina Höll and Canadian Jackson Goldstone took the Elite downhill (DHI) crowns.
With wins in Araxá (Brazil), and Pal-Arinsal (Andorra), Decathlon Ford Racing Team’s Samara Maxwell assumed a strong position, scoring nine XCO podiums in just her second Elite season. The 23-year-old came to the final race knowing that a top-eight finish would deliver her the overall title – and only Rissveds could spoil the Kiwi’s party.
The Swede duly attacked as early as the start loop and forced the biggest winning margin ever in Women Elite XCO. 2023 Under 23 XCO UCI World Champion Maxwell came home unruffled in second to claim the overall, while Evie Richards (GBR) got the better of a race-long battle with Sina Frei (SUI) for third.
Maxwell finished with 2341 points ahead of Rissveds on 2250 and Switzerland’s Alessandra Keller, 1890.
“It’s been an incredible season, and now it’s time to learn from this season, recover and trust the process,” said Maxwell.
Specialized Factory Racing’s Christopher Blevins had an astonishing season, winning two early XCO rounds and amassing an unassailable points tally by the time he won the double on his ‘home’ track. Blevins, 27, took the XCO win at Lake Placid Olympic Region – New York from Frenchmen Adrien Boichis and Mathis Azzaro, to extend his overall lead and celebrate in the stars and stripes.
Mont-Sainte-Anne saw another super show, with positions 2 to 5 all to be decided. Charlie Aldridge (GBR) took his first XCO win of this year’s series from Martín Vidaurre Kossmann (CHI) and Azzaro – with Blevins rolling in 23rd.
“It’s been a beautiful year,” said Christopher Blevins. “Right now I feel extremely grateful, proud of myself, proud of the team… it’s been quite a ride.”
Blevins won the overall with 1996 points from Vidaurre Kossmann on 1695 and Luca Martin of France (FRA) with 1546.
After wins for cross-country short track (XCC) 2024 UCI World Champion Richards and Puck Pieterse of the Netherlands, Rissveds hit the second half of the season in blistering form, winning in Les Gets (France), Lenzerheide (Switzerland), and Lake Placid Olympic Region – New York, with the overall title still in the balance coming into the final round.
Rissveds went on to take her fourth successive XCC victory in Canada. Knowing that anything above 8th place would secure her the title, Richards led the chasing pack home, defending from Ronja Blöchlinger (SUI).
Trek Factory Racing – Pirelli’s Richards wins overall with 1770 points from Rissveds on 1660 and Keller’s 1570.
After winning the first five rounds, Blevins let some other riders take a turn – Martin, Aldridge and Victor Koretzky of France – before returning to the top spot in the USA. Blevins won ahead of Boichis and Azzaro to secure the XCC overall title.
In Canada Martin’s second win came with help from his Cannondale Factory Racing buddy Aldridge holding off Boichis.
Blevins won the overall title with 1911 points from Martin (1380) and Aldridge’s 1267.
Valentina Corvi of Italy aced the Women Under 23 XCO with three wins and 1019 points. Vida Lopez de San Roman (USA) was second overall with 841, pipping Ella MacPhee of Canada on 804. In the Women Under 23 XCC, high scoring Katharina Sadnik of Austria won the overall with 721 points, from Corvi on 695 and MacPhee, 613.
The Men Under 23 XCO went to Switzerland’s Finn Treudler, who amassed 1510 points from eight wins. Rens Teunissen van Manen of the Netherlands was second on 909 just ahead of Denmark’s Gustav Heby Pedersen on 907. And winning the last seven rounds, Treudler also took the Men Under 23 XCC overall on 1089 points, from Heby Pedersen (808) and German Paul Schehl on 635.
Although she was clear as series leader, it wasn’t until the ninth round – in the USA – that Valentina Höll won her first UCI Downhill World Cup of 2025, shortly after reclaiming the rainbow bands. And with it, she confirmed the UCI World Cup overall title. Myriam Nicole (FRA) was second and Sacha Earnest (NZL) third at Lake Placid Olympic Region – New York.
Coming into Canada, Höll was on a super-fast run before the rock garden ate her front tyre, while Gracey Hemstreet (CAN) and Camille Balanche (SUI) – in her final UCI World Cup race – crashed. Marine Cabirou (FRA) won, from Nina Hoffmann (GER) and Nicole third, with Tahnée Seagrave (GBR) unable to race.
YT Mob’s Höll took the season’s overall title with 2139 points from Hemstreet’s 1727 and Seagrave on 1604.
Thrilling racing at Lake Placid Olympic Region – New York saw New Zealand’s Luke Meier-Smith take his first win from home rider Luca Shaw, with Henri Kiefer of Germany rounding out the podium – and the main protagonists Jackson Goldstone and Loïc Bruni of France in 4th and 6th respectively.
With the pendulum swinging between four-time overall winner Bruni and 21-year-old Goldstone all season, the overall title was to be decided on the new UCI World Champion’s Canadian home turf…
Andreas Kolb of Austria put himself on the hot seat until Shaw went faster, then Goldstone faster still. With the news that Bruni would not start, the finish bowl erupted.
Santa Cruz Syndicate’s Goldstone won the overall with 1946 points from Bruni (1768) and Shaw’s 1366.
Four wins for Austrian Rosa Zierl gave the UCI World Champion the Women Junior overall title with 500 points, from American Aletha Ostgaard – also a four-time winner this season – with 465. Third was New Zealand’s Eliana Hulsebosch on 320.
Max Alran of France topped a super Men Junior season – three UCI World Cup wins and the UCI World Champion title – with the overall title, on 479 points. He was pushed all the way by American Asa Vermette, who won in Canada (467). Tyler Waite of New Zealand was third with 414 points.
Fromberger and Klemenčič overall winners at UCI MTB Eliminator World Cup
Meanwhile, Germany’s Marion Fromberger and Slovenia’s Jakob Klemenčič confirm their first UCI MTB Eliminator World Cup (XCE) overall titles. However, it was Italy’s Gaia Tormena and France’s Lorenzo Serres who won the year’s sixth and final round in Barcelona, Spain.
After four rounds which took the riders from Dushanbe (Tajikistan) in April to Leuven (Belgium) in June, Aalen, (Germany) in July and Sakarya (Turkey) in August, the riders faced an exciting circuit in São Paulo (Brazil) one week after the Turkish round.
Second place in São Paulo for the series leader Fromberger – behind her closest rival Mariia Sukhopalova of Ukraine – was enough to leave the 25-year-old German with an unassailable advantage going into the last round.
Thanks to her victories in Aalen and Sakarya, Fromberger had 505 points before Barcelona, followed by UCI World Champion Sukhopalova with 365 and Didi de Vries (NED) on 287. And, while the crown was already decided, with Czech Adéla Pernická on 175 points, positions 2, 3, 4 and 5 were all up for grabs before last Saturday’s confrontation.
Pernická was fastest in the time trial, with Tormena 2nd, and the two athletes were drawn together in a semi-final with Sukhopalova. The Italian won, showing the form that won her the European Champion’s jersey a week early, and the UCI World Champion passed the Czech Pernická for second shortly before the finish. In the other semi Fromberger came past Margaux Borrelly of France on the line to progress alongside De Vries.
Five-times XCE UCI World Cup overall winner Tormena – who won in Leuven this year, but has split her season with road racing – pushed tremendous pace in the final. Fromberger wanted to go out with the win, but couldn’t catch her. Sukhopalova was third and De Vries fourth.
“I just wanted to win so badly today,” said Tormena. “I really gave everything for this race, because I’ve already won many times here in Barcelona.”
The results confirm Fromberger the overall winner with 595 points, Sukhopalova second on 437, followed by De Vries with 352. Tormena and Pernická tied with 235 points, with the Italian rider taking 4th overall thanks to her victories.
“It’s just amazing to win this title. It’s the first time for me, and that makes it really special,” said Fromberger. “I knew that Gaia would be here again, back racing. It was amazing to race against her again. Now we can celebrate together in Barcelona tonight!”
Klemenčič missed the big final in Brazil’s penultimate round, losing points to his two closest challengers, Jeroen van Eck of the Netherlands and Serres, who did make it through to the final four. But after the Slovenian won the small final, Van Eck and Serres only managed to finish 3rd and 4th respectively (behind UCI World Champion Edvin Lindh, and Brazil’s Luiz Henrique Cocuzzi), missing an opportunity to close the gap further.
The trio came into the final round with Klemenčič still the series leader, but with the overall title – and other positions – still in the balance. Klemenčič arrived in Barcelona on 389 points, Van Eck (winner in Leuven) second with 319, Lindh third on 315, and Serres fourth with 265.
The Barcelona round was raced over two laps of the course that’s 200m longer than previous incarnations – inviting power and speed – but retaining the iconic steps descent. After 2024 overall winner Lindh (and five-time UCI World Champion Titouan Perrin-Ganier, of France) went out in the quarter-finals, Van Eck slid out on a fast corner in his semi-final – then suffered a mechanical in the small final. Lying in fifth-overall ,Simon Gegenheimer (GER) progressed behind Serres, to face his countryman Louis Krauss and Klemenčič in the big final.
A closely fought final saw Serres take the lead early on lap 2, before Klemenčič made a vicious attack on the final climb in an attempt to go out with the victory. But he unclipped, threw himself off balance and dropped back to roll in fourth behind the two Germans.
“I’m really happy to win here in Barcelona, it’s my second win in a row!” said Serres. “I told everyone I wanted to finish my season on a high, and that’s exactly what I did today.”
Serres backed up his Sakarya win, but it was Klemenčič’s victories in Dushanbe and Aalen that really counted. The final table shows Klemenčič the overall winner with 459 points with Serres jumping to second on 385 and Van Eck retaining third (334) ahead of Lindh (316).
“I had to fight until the end, but it was enough to take the overall title, I’m more than happy with that,” said Klemencic. “I think Jeroen and Edvin were both a bit nervous, they made some mistakes. I just kept my head focused, and it paid off.”
