| Format | Rank | Total points |
|---|---|---|
XCO | 1 | 2341 |
XCC | 5 | 1239 |
U23 World Champion in 2023, the New Zealand rider had a very promising first elite season, including an eighth-place finish at the Paris Olympics and her first top-ten result on the World Series circuit.
After a great winter at home in New Zealand, where she dominated the national and Oceania championships, "Sammie" Maxwell burst onto the scene at the start of the season by winning the Araxá round. Finishing second four times in the subsequent rounds, she delivered a masterful performance at Pal Arinsal to claim her second victory. At the time of writing, Samara Maxwell had not yet secured the 2025 World Series overall title but held a significant lead. Now in her second season in the elite category, the young woman who lives in Morzine in the Alps and studies French is already the star of the 2025 season.
On International Women’s Day, WBD Sports highlights how its Women in Mountain Bike initiative is turning long term commitment into concrete action. Through structural, sporting and educational initiatives, the programme continues to drive meaningful progress towards greater gender parity across the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series.
20 Endurance teams have secured WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series status, guaranteeing their participation across all nine rounds of the 2026 UCI Cross-country World Cup, including Cross-country Olympic (XCO) and Cross-country Short Track (XCC). We take a closer look at who will be racing for each team and highlight the key riders to watch this season.
Brand-new documentary, The Cycle, follows five riders across different cycling disciplines and career stages, including WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series stars Lachie Stevens McNab and Evie Richards.
