While three out of six titles were decided last time out in Lake Placid Olympic Region, New York (USA), there are still three series on the line in the Cross-country Olympic (XCO), Cross-country Short Track (XCC) and Downhill. It couldn’t be in a more fitting location either – Mont-Sainte-Anne (Canada) hosting its record 30th UCI World Cup.
We look at everything you need to know about the Mont-Sainte-Anne round of the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series races, presented by Events.com, including when the Cross-Country Olympic (XCO), Cross-country Short Track (XCC) and Downhill events are scheduled to take place, who is racing and how to watch.
WHEN?
The 2025 WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series round in Mont-Sainte-Anne starts with the Women Under 23 UCI XCC World Cup at 09:45 (UTC-4) on Friday, October 10 and concludes with the Men Elite UCI XCO World Cup at 15:30 (UTC-4) on Sunday, October 12.
Below are the key timings for race weekend. All times are UTC-4 (BST+5/CEST +6):
Friday, October 10
- 12:30 – UCI Downhill World Cup | Qualification 1 Women Elite
- 13:00 – UCI Downhill World Cup | Qualification 1 Men Elite
- 14:00 – UCI Downhill World Cup | Qualification Women Junior
- 14:20 – UCI Downhill World Cup | Qualification Men Junior
- 15:05 – UCI Downhill World Cup | Qualification 2 Women Elite
- 15:30 – UCI Downhill World Cup | Qualification 2 Men Elite
- 9:45 – UCI Cross-country Short Track World Cup | Women U23
- 10:35 – UCI Cross-country Short Track World Cup | Men U23
- 16:20 – UCI Cross-country Short Track World Cup | Women Elite
- 17:00 – UCI Cross-country Short Track World Cup | Men Elite
Saturday, October 11
- 11:30 – UCI Downhill World Cup | Finals Women Junior
- 12:00 – UCI Downhill World Cup | Finals Men Junior
- 13:00 – UCI Downhill World Cup | Finals Women Elite
- 14:10 – UCI Downhill World Cup | Finals Men Elite
Sunday, October 12
- 09:00 – UCI Cross-country Olympic World Cup | Women U23
- 11:00 – UCI Cross-country Olympic World Cup | Men U23
- 13:30 – UCI Cross-country Olympic World Cup | Women Elite
- 15:30 – UCI Cross-country Olympic World Cup | Men Elite
WHERE CAN I WATCH?
There will be several ways to watch the action unfold at Canada’s only Cross-country and Downhill UCI World Cups of the 2025 season.
The UCI Downhill World Cup Qualification day can be followed on live timing and across social media.
For the tenth and final UCI Cross-country Olympic, UCI Cross-country Short Track and UCI Downhill World Cups of the season, you can watch the finals live anywhere in the world. Both the men’s and women's UCI Downhill World Cup Junior races will be broadcast live on discovery+ (in front of paywall), HBO Max* (in front of the sports add-on) and MTBWS TV (included in subscription), while the Elite finals will be shown on one of the below channels or streaming services:
North America
USA – HBO Max
South & Central America
All Central and South American territories – MTBWS TV
Asia
Indonesia, Macao, Malaysia, Mongolia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand – Eurosport
China - Zhibo.TV (Only Elite Downhill races live)
All other Asian territories – MTBWS TV
Oceania
Australia – Stan Sport
New Zealand – MTBWS TV
Africa
Angola, Burundi, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Cape Verde, Cote d'lvoire, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial, Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mozambique, Mali, Mauritania, Namibia, Nigeria, Niger, Reunion, Rwanda, South Africa, Eswatini, São Tome and Principe, St Helena and Ascension, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Seychelles, Socotra, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zimbabwe, and Zambia - Supersport
All African territories – MTBWS TV
Europe
Andorra – HBO Max, Eurosport
Austria – discovery+, Eurosport
Belgium – HBO Max, Eurosport
Bosnia & Herzegovina – Max, Eurosport
Bulgaria – HBO Max, Eurosport
Croatia – HBO Max, Eurosport
Czechia – HBO Max, Eurosport, CT Sport+ (only Elite XCO and XCC races live)
Denmark – HBO Max, Eurosport
Faroe Islands – HBO Max, Eurosport
France – HBO Max, Eurosport, L’Equipe (Only Elite DHI and XCO races live)
Germany – discovery+, Eurosport
Hungary – HBO Max, Eurosport
Ireland – TNT Sports
Italy – discovery+, Eurosport
Moldova – HBO Max, Eurosport
Montenegro – HBO Max, Eurosport
Netherlands – HBO Max, Eurosport
North Macedonia – HBO Max, Eurosport
Norway – HBO Max, Eurosport
Poland – HBO Max, Eurosport
Portugal – HBO Max, Eurosport
Romania – HBO Max, Eurosport
Serbia – HBO Max, Eurosport
Slovakia – HBO Max, Eurosport
Slovenia – HBO Max, Eurosport
Spain – HBO Max, Eurosport
Sweden – HBO Max, Eurosport
Switzerland – MTBWS TV , SRF/RSI (Only Elite XCC and XCO races live)
Türkiye – HBO Max, Eurosport
United Kingdom – discovery+, TNT Sports
All other European territories – MTBWS TV
RIDERS TO WATCH
In Downhill, just 72 points separate Loïc Bruni (Specialized Gravity) and Jackson Goldstone (Santa Cruz Syndicate) in the overall, and whoever comes out on top has a good chance of securing the title.
It’s advantage Super Bruni in terms of points and experience, but the Canadian closed the gap on the Frenchman with a higher finish in Lake Placid Olympic Region (fourth vs sixth), has home advantage, and has a 100% record at Mont-Sainte-Anne as an elite rider – winning his last race at the venue at the end of 2023. Even if Goldstone wins on Sunday, Bruni can still be a heartbreaker and deny the 21-year-old a debut title by finishing on the podium to claim his fifth overall title. The showdown also has the chance to be the closest overall title battle in history, which is currently 2010 when Gee Atheron beat Greg Minnaar by just seven points.
In terms of recent form, Luke Meier-Smith (Giant Factory Off-Road Team - DH) will be targeting a follow up to his first-ever UCI World Cup win last Saturday, Luca Shaw (Canyon CLLCTV Factory Team) recovered from a two-second deficit at intermediate split two to finish runner-up just 0.7 seconds back on Meier-Smith, Henri Kiefer (Canyon CLLCTV Factory Team) has recorded back-to-back podiums at the last two rounds, and Bike Kingdom-Lenzerheide (Switzerland) winner Amaury Pierron (Commencal/Muc-Off by Riding Addiction) appeared to be onto a flyer on Whiteface Mountain before a mistake in the second sector cost him a shot at back-to-back wins. Shaw, Pierron and Loris Vergier (Commencal/Muc-Off by Riding Addiction) are all in the running for third in the series, too.
The women’s overall might have been decided in Lake Placid Olympic Region, but there’s still plenty at stake. Valentina Höll (YT Mob) recorded the first perfect weekend of 2025 in the women’s field to clinch her fourth series. The Austrian will be looking to add UCI World Cup win number 13 to her collection in Mont-Sainte-Anne and sign off a turbulent year in style.
Her closest rival in the rankings, Gracey Hemstreet (Norco Race Division), will be looking to bounce back in front of a home crowd after a poor showing south of the US-Canada border, while Tahnée Seagrave (Orbea/FMD Racing) can leapfrog the 20-year-old in the standings if results go her way.
Myriam Nicole (Commencal/Muc-Off by Riding Addiction) is another rider to look out for. The Frenchwoman was best of the rest in Lake Placid Olympic Region and has been unfortunate with some big crashes in qualifying and finals this year, but the 35-year-old clearly has good race pace as she searches for her first win of the year.
Either side of the Downhill action is the Friday’s XCC and Sunday’s XCO, with both of the women’s series still to be decided.
Evie Richards (Trek Factory Racing-Pirelli) is in control of the short track series, but both Alessandra Keller (Thömus Maxon) and Jenny Rissveds (Canyon CLLCTV XCO) can overhaul the Brit if results go their way. All three have been in scintillating form of late, so expect them to go tyre-to-tyre until the finish line in Mont-Sainte-Anne.
Rissveds will also be a favourite in Sunday’s Women Elite UCI XCO World Cup – the Swede winning four of her last five Olympic-distance races, including the UCI XCO World Championship and last Sunday’s final in New York state. But the 31-year-old has most probably left it too late to catch Samara Maxwell (Decathlon Ford Factory Racing) in the overall series – the New Zealander’s 183-point advantage almost unassailable unless disaster strikes.
Maxwell herself is also a favourite to record her third UCI XCO World Cup win of 2025, while Richards and Keller are likely to contend for the podium places.
Christopher Blevins (Specialized Factory Racing), meanwhile, wrapped up both the men’s XCO and XCC overall titles last weekend with two sprint victories over teammate Adrien Boichis (Specialized Factory Racing).
The American can afford to take it easy north of the border, but few would bet against him attempting a fourth XCO-XCC double of the series. Boichis will also be in the frame in Mont-Sainte-Anne, while Victor Koretzky (Specialized Factory Racing) and Martin Vidaurre Kossmann (Specialized Factory Racing) are currently sitting in second place in the XCC and XCO standings, respectively.
Looking to spoil Specialized’s party, though, is Luca Martin (Cannondale Factory Racing) who able to contest for the first runner-up in both series. The Frenchman hasn’t hit the same heights as in Pal Arinsal (Andorra) and Les Gets, Haute-Savoie (France) after being forced to miss the UCI MTB World Championships with Covid, but an eighth-place finish on Sunday shows he’s heading in the right direction.
Racing gets underway on Friday, October 10 in Mont-Sainte-Anne.
Full schedule and event details are available HERE.
