The legendary Canadian bike park welcomes Endurance and Gravity athletes for a record 30th UCI World Cup, and with titles still on the line in Cross-country and Downhill, fans can expect a nail-biting conclusion to the 2025 WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series on the slopes of Mont-Sainte-Anne (Canada), presented by Events.com.
The dust hasn’t even settled after an attritional and fast-paced Lake Placid Olympic Region, New York (USA) race weekend, but the best mountain bikers on the planet are gearing up to do it all again north of the border.
And with three out of six series titles still yet to be decided –Christopher Blevins (Specialized Factory Racing) clinching the Men’s Cross-country Olympic (XCO) and Cross-country Short Track (XCC), and Valentina Höll (YT Mob) defending her Downhill overall title last time out – expect the racing to be bar-to-bar from the off.
The venue – Mont-Sainte-Anne’s world-famous bike park, with more than 165km of trails and runs for all disciplines from Cross-country Olympic (XCO), Downhill (DHI) and freeride – is a fitting location for the season finale too. The Laurentian Mountains spot will be hosting its 30th UCI World Cup since it made its debut in 1991, and it has also held the UCI World Championship three times – 1998, 2010 and 2019 – in that period.
BRUNI V GOLDSTONE GOES TO THE WIRE, WHILE HEMSTREET AND SEAGRAVE BATTLE IT OUT FOR SECOND PLACE
After nine rounds of racing, Loïc Bruni (Specialized Gravity) and Jackson Goldstone (Santa Cruz Syndicate) can only be separated by 72 points. While Goldstone has more wins to his name – four consecutive, record-equaling victories – and clinched the UCI Downhill World Championship too, it’s Bruni who is in the driving seat.
The Frenchman has been here before, having won the overall series four times, including 2023 and 2024. But unlike last year, Super Bruni still has a lot to do to be sure of completing a hat-trick of consecutive titles.
The 31-year-old has experience on his side and needs to finish on the podium if Goldstone wins to guarantee the overall, but the Canadian will be racing on home soil and will benefit from the boost of a partisan crowd. The 21-year-old will also have fond memories of the last time he raced at Mont-Sainte-Anne, when he won in his first Elite season in 2023. He also took a Junior UCI World Cup win at the venue in 2022. After being forced to sit out most of 2024 with an injury, it would be a Hollywood ending for the Santa Cruz Syndicate rider.
Elsewhere, the fight for third is between Luca Shaw (Canyon CLLCTV Factory Team), Loris Vergier (Commencal/Muc-Off by Riding Addiction) and Amaury Pierron (Commencal/Muc-Off by Riding Addiction), while Lake Placid Olympic Region victor Luke Meier-Smith (Giant Factory Off-Road Team - DH) will be extra buoyed after his debut UCI World Cup win last weekend.
The other Downhill winner on Whiteface Mountain was Vali Höll (YT Mob). The Austrian had a perfect weekend, winning Q1 and finals to score maximum points and seal her fourth overall series, and third in a row. The 23-year-old’s victory also broke a UCI World Cup winless streak that stretched back to June 2024, although she has been remarkably consistent this campaign – Lake Placid Olympic Region her eighth consecutive podium.
Her main title rival, Gracey Hemstreet (Norco Race Division) had a weekend to forget and was forced into Q2 before placing 10th in finals. But the 20-year-old Canadian will have to dust herself down and go again in Mont-Sainte-Anne if she’s to hold on to second place in the series. Tahnée Seagrave (Orbea/FMD Racing) is only 123 points behind and will be keen to cap off a strong first season with new outfit Orbea/FMD Racing.
WOMEN'S TITLES GO DOWN TO THE WIRE IN CROSS-COUNTRY FORMATS
There are titles to be decided on all three days of the UCI World Cup in Mont-Sainte-Anne, with it still all to play for in the women’s XCO and XCC contests.
On Friday, all eyes will be on Evie Richards (Trek Factory Racing-Pirelli) and whether she can hold off Alessandra Keller (Thömus Maxon) and Jenny Rissveds (Canyon CLLCTV XCO) to take her first UCI XCC World Cup overall series.
The Brit has a 150- and 160-point lead over her respective competitors and lines up in Canada in great form – finishing second behind Rissveds in her last two UCI XCC World Cups after a mid-season wobble that threatened to let Keller in.
She can afford to finish eighth on Friday, but Keller and Rissveds will be ready to pounce if Richards does make a mistake. Of the two, it’s Rissveds who appears to be the most likely – the Swede is in the form of her life and coming off the back of her second XCO-XCC double of the season in Lake Placid Olympic Region.
The Canyon CLLCTV XCO rider is also in contention for the XCO overall in Sunday’s final, but would require Samara Maxwell (Decathlon Ford Racing Team) to effectively DNF to have a serious shot at the title.
The New Zealander has a 183-point advantage over Rissveds and could even tie up her and her country’s first-ever UCI World Cup overall title if she wins Friday’s XCC and Rissveds finishes 31st. The most likely scenario is that the overall won’t be decided until Sunday, and with Maxwell only finishing off the podium once this series – when she finished fifth in Bike Kingdom - Lenzerheide (Switzerland) – the 23-year-old already has one hand on the trophy.
In the men’s field, Christopher Blevins will be able to enjoy a victory procession in Mont-Sainte-Anne in his red series leader jersey and number one plate – the American tying up both overall series in style on home soil in Lake Placid Olympic Region by doing his third XCO-XCC double of the series.
The 27-year-old had dominated the early stages of the season, but appeared to be grinding his way to the titles after disappointing results in Pal Arinsal (Andorra), Les Gets, Haute-Savoie (France) and Bike Kingdom - Lenzerheide. Class is permanent, though, and Blevins answered his critics by dominating on the fast and frenetic Mt Van Hoevenberg course.
Although top spot is settled, second place is still the play for in both series, with Blevins’ teammates currently occupying the runners-up rankings. In XCC, Victor Koretzky (Specialized Factory Racing) has a narrow, 36-point advantage over Luca Martin (Cannondale Factory Racing), while Charlie Aldridge (Cannondale Factory Racing) is 99 points back in fourth. The UCI XCC World Champion had a disappointing race in Lake Placid Olympic Region, crashing on the unforgiving rock garden before getting caught up behind another incident to finish 31st. The Cannondale Factory Racing duo will sense their opportunity, but will need the Frenchman to have another bad day at the office to have the best chance.
In the XCO standings, Martin is again the underdog and sits 74 points in arrears of Martin Vidaurre Kossmann (Specialized Factory Racing). The Chilean had the edge over the Frenchman last Sunday, finishing fourth to his eighth, and the Cannondale Factory Racing rider will need to secure his second-ever UCI XCO World Cup win to give himself the best chance at second in the standings.
Racing gets underway in Mont-Sainte-Anne on Friday, October 10 with the Men U23 and Women U23 UCI XCC World Cup. Full schedule and event details are available here.
