The WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike Series would witness something of the changing of the guard in the Cross-country formats for 2025. Reigning UCI Cross-country Olympic (XCO) World Champions Alan Hatherly (Giant Factory Off-Road Team - XC) and Puck Pieterse (Alpecin-Deceuninck) would instead focus on the road – both skipping the first two and final two rounds of the year – while one of the G.O.A.Ts Pauline Ferrand-Prevot didn’t set foot on the trails once all season as she targeted (and won) the Tour de France Femmes. Elsewhere, consistent performers of previous seasons – Nino Schurter (Scott-SRAM MTB Racing Team) and Alessandra Keller (Thömus Maxon) had age and a comeback from injury to contend with.
This void at the top of the table opened up the chance for other riders to stake their claim. And it was an opportunity that both Christopher Blevins (Specialized Factory Racing) and Samara Maxwell (Decathlon Ford Racing Team) seized with both hands.
The pair were ever present at all 10 rounds of the series. But their debut title wins were down to more than simply showing up – both Blevins and Maxwell displaying the consistency needed be crowned overall champions. From an unprecedented three XCO-XCC doubles to an almost-perfect podium season, here’s how Blevins and Maxwell did it.
BLEVINS BLOWS COMPETITORS AWAY BEFORE OVERCOMING MID-SEASON SLUMP IN STYLE
Prior to the 2025 WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series, Christopher Blevins had only won two XCO races on the biggest stage – a sprint finish in Mairiporã (Brazil) in April 2024 and in Snowshoe (USA) back in September 2021. While the 27-year-old would have to settle for second best to teammate Victor Koretzky (Specialized Factory Racing) at the opening round in Araxá, Minais Gerais (Brazil), when the field returned six days later, the American made sure he didn’t miss again.
His victory in South America was his third of the opening two rounds – Blevins also picking up the opening two UCI Cross-country Short Track World Cup wins – and started a run of first-places that would last until round four in Saalfelden Leogang - Salzbugerland (Austria). A 17th place on the slopes in the Austrian alps wasn’t enough to dent his overall lead, while by the series’ midpoint in Val di Sole - Trentino (Italy), his advantage was more than 300 points.
Blevins’ form appeared to desert him in Pal Arinsal’s (Andorra) high altitude arena – a 29th place his worst result of the year – and things didn’t seem to improve with 12th and 27th in Les Gets, Haute Savoie (France) and Bike Kingdom - Lenzerheide (Switzerland), respectively. But when the chance to mathematically secure the overall arose at home in Lake Placid Olympic Region (USA), the American rose to the occasion – clinching a third UCI XCO World Cup and XCO-XCC double of the season, and with it the title.
Blevins could relax as the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series crossed the border into Canada for the final round, where teammate Martin Viduarre Kossmann (Specialized Factory Racing) secured second in the overall, and Luca Martin (Cannondale Factory Racing) third.
MAXWELL CLINCHES NEW ZEALAND’S FIRST UCI WORLD CUP OVERALL CROWN
Samara Maxwell had an impressive debut elite season in 2024, finishing within the top 20 at every UCI XCO World Cup she entered, but the 23-year-old took things up a gear for 2025 and signaled her intent from the off.
At the opening round in Araxá, the New Zealander edged Nicole Koller (Ghost Factory Racing) and teammate Savilia Blunk (Decathlon Ford Racing Team) to record her debut UCI XCO World Cup win and the top spot in the overall, and it was a position she held on to all the way to the season’s end.
Although she would only claim one more victory – in Pal Arinsal – the young rider’s consistency made her a runaway force that was impossible to contain. After her win in the season opener, Maxwell would become a feature of each round’s podium until race weekend 8 in Bike Kingdom - Lenzerheide at the end of September – when she finished sixth (her lowest position of the entire year).
Other riders looked like they might be able to threaten Maxwell’s dominance. Puck Pieterse (Alpecin Deceuninck) put together a hat-trick of wins in Nové Mesto na Moravě (Czechia), Saalfelden Leogang - Salzburgerland and Val di Sole, but the 2024 UCI XCO World Champion lost her way in the second-half of the season. Jenny Rissveds (Canyon CLLCTV XCO) went one better, winning the final four UCI XCO World Cups of the series and the UCI XCO World Championship, but the Swede had ultimately left it too late to topple Maxwell.
The Decathlon Ford Racing Team rider had to wait until the Mont-Sainte-Anne (Canada) season finale to confirm her crown, but signed off her season with a fourth second-place to take her and her country’s first-ever UCI World Cup overall series. Elsewhere, Rissveds would have to settle for second, with 2024 UCI XCO World Cup overall winner Alessandra Keller third.
CORVI AND TREUDLER CROWNED U23 WINNERS
In the U23 field, another two riders dominated proceedings with podium-perfect seasons between them.
In the women’s Under 23, Valentina Corvi (Canyon CLLCTV XCO) completed her second U23 season in style, picking up podiums at every round she entered and three wins in Val di Sole, Pal Arinsal and Les Gets. The Italian could afford to skip two rounds and still win at a canter to Vida Lopez De San Roman (Trinity Racing).
In the men’s U23, it was the Finn Treudler (Cube Factory Racing) show. The Swiss 22-year-old dominated the field, winning eight out of 10 rounds with the only blemishes on his near-perfect record third-place in Nové Mesto na Moravě and second in Val di Sole. His 601-point victory in the overall over Rens Teunissen Van Manen (KMC Ridley MTB Racing Team) is one of the most one-sided performances ever, and it will be interesting to see how he fairs when stepping up to the elites in 2026.
