The penultimate round of the UCI Cross-country Short Track (XCC) World Cup returned to Lake Placid Olympic Region, New York (USA), and if last year’s UCI World Cup debut was anything to go by, fans at home and on trackside were in for a fast, frenetic treat.
The racing didn’t disappoint, with the wins going to UCI Cross-country Olympic (XCO) World Champion Jenny Rissveds (Canyon CLLCTV XCO) and the new UCI XCC World Cup overall winner Christopher Blevins (Specialized Factory Racing).
Rissveds continues her amazing form in the format, clinching her third consecutive UCI XCC World Cup in a row. The UCI XCO World Champion battled with series leader Evie Richards (Trek Factory Racing-Pirelli) and UCI XCC World Champion Alessandra Keller (Thömus Maxon) throughout, but showed that she had the edge with an attack from range on the last lap.
In the Men’s Elite, Blevins effectively led from the off – a sight we haven’t seen in recent times. Despite dominating the overall series and winning the first five rounds, the American has been out of sorts since his streak came to an end in Pal Arinsal (Andorra), finishing down in 26th two weeks ago in Bike Kingdom-Lenzerheide (Switzerland). But Blevins looked back to his best, putting on a show for his home fans and outsprinting teammate Adrien Boichis (Specialized Factory Racing) on the line to clinch his sixth UCI XCC World Cup win of 2025.
Blevins' superiority in the overall meant he only needed to finish within the top 30 to confirm the title with one round still to go, but his victory in Lake Placid Olympic Region saw him secure his first series in emphatic style.
Before the Elites, it was the turn of the Under 23s on Mt Van. Hoevenberg’s technical and testing course, and it witnessed the sixth-consecutive win for Finn Treudler (Cube Factory Racing) and a first U23 UCI XCC World Cup victory for Tyler Jacobs (Liv Factory Racing).
RISSVEDS MAKES IT A HATTRICK IN SHORT TRACK
The focus ahead of the penultimate UCI XCC World Cup of the season was the battle between Richards and Keller – the Brit looking back to her best in Bike Kingdom-Lenzerheide to seize the initiative in the overall.
But Jenny Rissveds doesn’t know when she’s beaten. The Swede had already shown her superiority, winning in Les Gets, Haute-Savoie (France) and in Switzerland to propel herself up to third in the standings. And with two races to go, she was mathematically in the running.
The race was combative from the off, Jolanda Neff (Cannondale Factory Racing) taking an early lead ahead of old teammate Richards, while Keller sank like a stone off the line. Richards soon led proceedings, with Rissveds firmly on her wheel.
By lap two, Keller had recovered and was back in the fold as Rissveds hit the front for the first time. She seemed to be operating on a different plane to everyone else though, making riding look effortless while others laboured to keep up.
Last year’s winner in Lake Placid Olympic Region, Sina Frei (Specialized Factory Racing) was also in the mix, with a big bunch forming each time the race passed the start/finish straight before stringing out again on the first tight, technical section.
By lap six, there was still a lead group of 12 with everyone having their own digs but unable to make them stick. But it would be Keller who would blink first.
At the start of lap seven, the Swiss rider was out of the saddle and employing her signature swinging style on the handlebars, squeezing every watt out of her Thömus mountain bike. Rissveds soon took up the mantle, leading into the rock garden before the lead changed hands a few more times.
The penultimate lap saw Keller winding it up again, but she was unable to shake Richards, who was glued firmly to her back wheel.
Finally, it was Rissveds whose move stuck – the Swede going long on the final lap, exploding into the rock garden and creating a gap to Keller and Richards. The Brit would overtake her main title rival coming into the finish line drag, but didn’t have enough to catch Rissveds, who recorded her sixth UCI XCC World Cup of her career.
The results mean that Richards still leads the overall by 150 points to Keller, with Rissveds only another 10 points back in third. And with one round to go in Mont-Sainte-Anne (Canada), everything is still to play for.
Speaking at the end of the race, Rissveds said: “This [course] is pretty hectic because it’s so fast. It’s a flat course and high speed. So I tried to be smart and I didn’t just ride with force. I rode with my head. That’s something I’ve been learning this year. Trying to think more and analyse, even when I’m not succeeding, I’m trying to analyse what I did wrong.
The cross-country course is actually similar to the short track course but just a little longer. I think it’s going to be fast as well as tactical and I think we’re going to be a big group racing.”
BLEVINS CLINCHES SIXTH XCC WIN OF THE SERIES AND OVERALL
Christopher Blevins has had a summer to forget after a spring where he couldn’t stop winning. The American had been in dominant form, winning five UCI XCC World Cups in a row, breaking records as he went. But his season looked at risk of petering out, even if he could afford to finish 30th at his home race to claim the UCI XCC World Cup overall title.
The Specialized Factory Racing rider had different ideas in Lake Placid Olympic Region. He looked ominous from the off, and back to his race-winning best rather than the rider we’ve seen in recent rounds.
The 10-lap race was a cagey affair, with dusty conditions and slippery surfaces causing chaos throughout as the lead group set a ferocious pace.
It looked like it could be a Specialized shut out though, with Boichis and Victor Koretzky (Specialized Factory Racing) joining Blevins at the front of the race.
That was until lap five, when Koretzky had a crash on the rock garden – the rainbow jersey sent flying into the air, and the Frenchman fortunate not to hurt himself. He dusted himself down and remounted, but his chances of adding a second consecutive win were over.
Boichis was showing that he is a worthy rival to Blevins though, and the pair exchanged the lead numerous times.
Another big crash on lap 8 – this time Luca Braidot (Willier Vittoria Factory Team) – finally split the lead group, and it was Blevins, Boichis and Mathis Azzaro (Origine Racing Division) who looked most likely.
Things started getting punchy at the front with Azzaro happy to sit in Blevins wheel, but as the race entered its final lap, it was Boichis who launched first. The young Frenchman overtook Blevins up the course’s first hill, and appeared to have got a gap as they exited the rock garden.
Blevins managed to close him down, but brought Azzaro with him, and as the trio reached the final corner, it was going to be a three-up sprint for the line. Boichis led them out, but Blevins had just enough to edge him on the line, Azzaro settling for third.
His sixth win of the season was enough to secure Blevins the UCI XCC World Cup overall series.
Speaking after the race, Blevins said: “Thank you everyone that’s here. My family’s here. The last world cup my sister watched was 2021 Snowshoe, which was a magical day for me. It's a beautiful thing. I definitely get a bit of a boost racing here, and that was the most I’ve ever led a short track. My coach was probably wondering what I was doing. But it worked out. Adrien [Boichis], he was phenomenal on the last lap, so it’s a beautiful feeling. I love doing this, and I love doing it in the US.
“You have to be present each moment. Come back to your process. I just stuck with it. This sport is extremely hard. We always talk about how fun it is, and it absolutely is, but it is so hard and you have to embrace that. I had those hard times in the middle of this season but it’s amazing to finish strongly.
“This has felt like such a magical year for Specialized. People throw around the word family a lot, but it is a family. I spend so much time with everyone. We love each other. There’s so much that goes into a performance – my coach, my strength coach, my family.”
JACOBS CLAIMS DEBUT WIN WHILE TREUDLER MAKES IT SIX IN A ROW IN U23
Tyler Jacobs (Liv Factory Racing) recorded her debut win in the U23 UCI XCC World Cup in a four-strong sprint finish.
Overall U23 UCI XCO World Cup series leader Valentina Corvi (Canyon CLLCTV XCO) had led proceedings from the off, and would stay in control until a lap from the finish, but the Italian had an eight-strong group for company to make it back-to-back wins.
Jacobs had been part of the pack from the off, and had enough left in the tank to outsprint Line Burquier (Trinity Racing) – who had recovered from 33rd place after the first lap – and Anina Hutter on the line. Corvi meanwhile would have to settle for fourth.
The men’s U23 race also had a large lead group until late, when Finn Treudler and Paul Schehl (Lexware Mountainbike Team) attacked on the final lap. No one could handle the pair’s pace, and it would be decided in a sprint for the line.
Treudler came out on top as he so often has this year, the Swiss rider recording his sixth consecutive XCC win. Heby Gustav Pedersen (Wilier-Vittoria Factory Team) completed the podium, outsprinting Ren Teunissen van Manen (KMC Ridley MTB Racing Team) for third.
The WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series action continues in New York tomorrow as the Downhill riders take to the Whiteface Mountain track for the ninth UCI Downhill World Cup of the season.
