The penultimate round of the 2026 UCI Enduro World Cup delivered plenty of drama and unexpected twists as two gruelling days of racing in Aletsch Arena-Bellwald (Switzerland) came to a close.
Ella Conolly looked poised to secure back-to-back UCI Enduro World Cup titles after another commanding performance, extending her advantage with a stage 5 victory. However, a puncture on stage 6 threatened to derail her celebrations. The Briton responded magnificently, limiting the damage and ultimately sealing the overall win by 33.4 seconds ahead of UCI World Champion Elly Hoskin.
In the men's race, Ryan Gilchrist (Yeti / Fox Factory Race Team) produced a stunning day-two comeback to claim the first UCI Enduro World Cup victory of his career. The Australian won the final three stages to surge to the top of the standings and finish more than 20 seconds clear of his rivals.
The Junior categories also provided plenty to celebrate. Switzerland’s Elena Frei delighted the home crowd by securing her maiden UCI World Cup victory in the Women Junior event, while Hugo Marti Montessinos continued his dominant season with a fourth Men Junior win, a result that also mathematically secured him the overall UCI Enduro World Cup title with one round to spare.
In the Teams Classification, Speed Project capped off its dominant season by mathematically securing the overall team title with one round to spare. Yeti / Fox Factory Race Team, winners of the Aletsch Arena-Bellwald round, remain second overall, while Abetone Vittoria Nencini Sport Factory Team completes the top three.
CONOLLY HOLDS HER NERVE AS THE TITLE BATTLE TAKES ANOTHER TWIST
After a consistently strong opening day, Ella Conolly turned up the pressure in the battle for the UCI Enduro World Cup title. The Briton mastered the demanding 3.3km-long Cow Safari stage, featuring 806 metres of vertical descent, to double her advantage at the top of the standings and build what looked to be a comfortable 51-second lead.
That cushion would soon prove invaluable. Reigning UCI World Champion Elly Hoskin bounced back from disappointment on stage 5 in emphatic fashion, claiming back-to-back stage victories. The Canadian delivered a flawless run on Lord of the Rims (Extended Cut) - a formidable 4.9km stage with 725 metres of descent - to claw back valuable time and move into second place overall. Despite suffering a puncture on stage 6, Conolly limited the damage impressively, finishing just 1.2 seconds ahead of Nadine Ellecosta (Abetone Vittoria Nencini Sport Factory Team).
The drama continued on stage 7, Into The Wild, where the unpredictable terrain and Conolly’s ongoing tyre issues reshuffled the leaderboard once again. The series leader endured one of her toughest stages of the season, dropping outside the top three on the stage while Hoskin reduced the gap to 35.8 seconds.
On the final test of the day, Back to the Roots, Ellecosta capped a strong performance by claiming her first stage win of the weekend. The Italian edged out Hoskin by just 1.2 seconds, denying the Canadian a hat-trick of consecutive stage victories and securing her place on the podium. Conolly, meanwhile, dug deep to bring her race home, finishing 3.6 seconds behind the stage winner and preserving a commanding overall advantage of 33.5 seconds over Hoskin.
Reflecting on another victory, Conolly said: “It’s been a pretty eventful weekend. We’ve had a huge amount of racing, almost 50 minutes in total. I had a small mechanical issue to deal with after one of the stages, but the hardest thing was simply keeping the pace up for that long. The body is exhausted. I was really struggling in the final stages; there was so much pedalling and my legs were spent. My lower back was hurting through all the corners as well, so in the end I was just trying to hold it together and make it to the finish line.”
GILCHRIST CLAIMS HAT-TRICK OF VICTORIES AS LIEF RODGERS LEADS OVERALL
The Elite Men’s race took yet another dramatic turn as Ryan Gilchrist (Yeti / Fox Factory Race Team) stormed to his first-ever UCI Enduro World Cup victory, while overnight leader Sławomir Łukasik (Yeti / Fox Factory Race Team) endured a difficult second day that saw his hopes unravel.
Raphaël Giambi (Speed Project) set the tone on stage 5 with an emphatic ride, claiming victory by more than 10 seconds after a disappointing start to the weekend in Aletsch Arena-Bellwald. Behind him, Łukasik’s advantage began to slip away as a series of costly mistakes allowed Adrien Dailly (Speed Project) to claw back almost 10 seconds and snatch a narrow 2.2-second overall lead.
Any hopes Dailly had of consolidating that advantage were short-lived. Stage 6, Lord of the Rims (Extended Cut), turned the race on its head as Gilchrist produced a stunning performance to claim the stage win and move to the top of the standings. The Australian maintained that momentum on the final two stages, completing a remarkable hat-trick of stage victories to secure the first UCI Enduro World Cup win of his career.
Behind him, Lief Rodgers delivered another composed and consistent performance to finish second overall and move to the top of the UCI Enduro World Cup standings. In contrast, Łukasik -who had recorded four top-five stage finishes on day one- was unable to replicate that form and slipped out of podium contention by the end of the weekend.
With Alex Rudeau absent following his disqualification on Saturday, Rodgers now leads the overall UCI Enduro World Cup rankings, setting up a thrilling title showdown heading into the final round of the season.
Reflecting on his breakthrough victory, Gilchrist said: “I’ve been doing this for a while now, so to finally take a win, especially here in Aletsch Arena-Bellwald, on such a demanding course and against riders at the very top of their game, means a lot. I couldn’t be more proud.
“The last couple of rounds were tough for me. I reached out to Mick Hannah, a former teammate, and told him I needed a bit of help. He gave me some really inspiring advice, and I took that into this weekend. He told me to ride like Ryan, and when Ryan rides like Ryan, good things happen.”
HOME VICTORY FOR FREI AS MARTI MONTESSINOS CRUISES TO VICTORY
There were celebrations on home soil for Switzerland’s Elena Frei, who claimed the first UCI Enduro World Cup victory of her career in the Women Junior category. Capitalising on overall leader Nežka Libnik’s misfortune on stage 3, Frei put together an impressive run of consistent performances, with a string of top-three stage finishes helping the 18-year-old secure victory by an emphatic 4:51.9 margin.
Despite her setback, Libnik bounced back in style on day two to retain her lead in the overall UCI Enduro World Cup standings.
Reflecting on her victory, Frei said: “Today was a really tough day. I crashed twice on stage 5 and hurt my shoulder quite badly. At first, I wasn’t sure if I could continue racing, but after the climb between stages it started to feel a bit better. Then I told myself, ‘let’s go, I can do this’. Stage 6 was really good and stages 7 and 8 felt good as well.”
In the Men Junior race, Hugo Marti Montessinos powered to another UCI Enduro World Cup victory. The French rider claimed two stage wins and, despite suffering a puncture on the final stage, held on to edge out closest challenger Nico Casey Schroder by just 4.9 seconds.
Speaking after the race, the 18-year-old said: “It was amazing to race in Switzerland over four days. I had a crash in training on Saturday, so I was feeling a bit tired. I had a puncture on stage 2, but I still had a lot of fun. Today was incredibly long and physical, but that’s exactly the kind of racing I love. I had another puncture right at the top of the final stage, so it was a tough way to finish, but I’m really happy to take the win.”
The result not only secured Marti Montessinos’ fourth UCI Enduro World Cup victory of the season, but also mathematically clinched the overall Junior Men’s title with one round still to race. The Frenchman holds an unassailable lead over Jules Janniaud heading into the season finale in Morillon, Haute-Savoie (France) where the UCI Enduro World Cup will conclude from 14–16 August.
