BÖHM AND AMOS STORM TO SHORT TRACK VICTORY IN MAIRIPORÃ

The WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series experienced a shake-up at the start of the 2025 series.For the first time in UCI Mountain Bike World Cup history, UCI World Series Team status was introduced, which guaranteed spots on the start line at every round for 40 teams – 20 in Endurance and 20 in Gravity. The new regulations were introduced to make UCI World Cups more competitive whilst providing teams and athletes with greater opportunities for growth and visibility.While 30 of the spaces (15 across each format) were decided by UCI ranking points, five Endurance and five Gravity outfits would earn their places via yearlong wildcard spots.Fiercely contested, they were selected by the UCI and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) Sports based on a scoring matrix that included criteria such as UCI team ranking, UCI Continental Series participation and results, athlete profiles, sponsor profiles and media reach.In Endurance, it saw the likes of multi-discipline stars Mathieu van der Poel and Puck Pieterse’s Alpecin-Deceuninck secure its place despite missing out via UCI rankings, while Reece Wilson’s new outfit AON Racing-Tourne Campervan was guaranteed a spot in the Downhill start hut.The 2026 season will see the same five year-long wildcard spaces on offer across Endurance and Gravity, with 19 teams currently awaiting their fate to see if they’ve been selected for next season.Teams likely to be in contention include Alpecin-Deceuninck, AON Racing-Tourne Campervan, and other year-long wildcard picks from last year such as Continental Atherton, Pivot Factory Racing (Gravity), Liv Factory Racing and Mondraker Factory Racing (Endurance).ADDITIONAL SPOTS AT EACH ROUNDIn addition to the wildcard UCI World Series Team spots, there will be up to eight wildcard spots available to regular UCI Mountain Bike teams in each format at each UCI World Cup round.These follow the same selection criteria as the year-long picks, but also considers the home nation of the team as well as recent results.These round-based picks aren’t just to make up the numbers either, and teams and riders can propel themselves from wildcard entrants to major contenders – Rogue Racing’s Thibault Daprela recording a podium (Val di Sole - Trentino, Italy) and 16th in the Downhill overall in 2025 despite only entering as a wildcard.

The off-season is a time for riders to enjoy some relaxation and recuperation before readying themselves for an intensive training block that will get race ready ahead of the first round of the 2026 WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series in May.But this time of year is also an interesting proposition for teams, who are waiting eagerly to find out if they’ve done enough to secure UCI World Series Team status, and a spot at every UCI World Cup of the 2026 season.A new qualifying process was introduced at the start of the 2025 season to enhance the competitiveness and excitement of each UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, while establishing a clear development pathway to the highest level of mountain biking. All teams are required to register with the UCI to be classified as either a UCI Mountain Bike Team or a WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series Team (previously known as UCI MTB Elite teams). UCI World Series Team status is awarded to 20 teams in each of the Endurance and Gravity formats, which guarantees participation at each UCI World Cup.Like in the 2025 series, the 20 teams for each format are made up of the top 15 in the UCI team rankings and five year-long wildcard spots that are awarded based on a scoring matrix.A team’s UCI points are calculated by adding together the points of the four highest scored riders of each team without making a distinction between men Elite, men Junior/U23, women Elite and women Junior/U23. These points are accrued across all UCI-registered events (not just WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series points) and are scored in finals only. The rankings cut off was 28 October 2025.There is a bit of a difference for 2026 though. Unlike in 2025, points aren’t transferred with riders to their new teams, meaning there’s no opportunities for a team to make shrewd off-season signings to increase their chances of bagging UCI World Series Team status. Also, this season will see teams ranked 1-10 offered a two-year licence, and the teams ranked 11-15 offered a one-year licence, unlike last season where the top 15 ranked teams were only offered a one-year licence.Being in the top 15 provides an invitation to become a UCI World Series team, but it doesn’t guarantee participation—teams still need to accept and complete registration.Three-quarters of the UCI World Series teams decided, the remaining 10 spots are awarded to year-long wildcards decided by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) Sports, while there are a number of other ways that teams and riders can bag their spot on a startline or in the start hut, including round-by-round wildcard entries and a rider’s individual UCI ranking.

The American and Brit dominated their respective series with consistency and race-winning performances that no-one else could handle.The UCI Cross-country Short Track (XCC) World Cup has become fiercely contested where results are much more than simply sorting the starting order for the race weekend’s UCI Cross-country Olympic (XCO) World Cup. The shorter, high intensity nature of the racing has seen specialists emerge, and when they are in form, they are almost unstoppable.Christopher Blevins (Specialized Factory Racing) and Evie Richards (Trek Factory Racing-Pirelli) are two such riders. Explosive, aggressive and able to ride in the red for sustained periods of time, the pair had already shown they could beat the best in XCC races – Richards in particular going into the 2025 season as the reigning UCI XCC World Champion.But both pulled together seriously impressive series that left them head and shoulders above the rest, and worthy winners of the 2025 UCI XCC World Cup overall titles.BLEVINS GOES FIVE-IN-A-ROW BEFORE SIGNING OFF THE SERIES WITH ONE ROUND TO GOLike his UCI XCO World Cup record, Blevins had two UCI XCC World Cup wins to his name prior to the 2025 series, although you’d have to go back to Snowshoe (USA) in 2022 for his most recent short track victory. While he had recorded some podium finishes in 2024, it was his teammate and reigning UCI XCC World Champion Victor Koretzky (Specialized Factory Racing) who was the rider to watch going into the new season.The American had clearly had an impressive off-season though, and started the series in the best way possible – outsprinting Koretzky to take the win in the Araxá, Minas Gerais’ (Brazil) opening race. It was a feat he repeated six days later, again getting the better of Koretzky, and as the series moved from South America to Europe, he already held a healthy lead in the overall.It was the same story in Nové Mesto na Moravě (Czechia), while wins in Saalfelden Leogang - Salzburgerland (Austria) and Val di Sole (Italy) made it an unprecedented five in a row for Blevins. It wasn’t until Pal Arinsal (Andorra) in July when another rider would finally get the better of Blevins – Luca Martin (Cannondale Factory Racing) edging him on the line.While his season appeared to drift in the next two rounds, his early dominance meant that the overall never truly looked to be under threat. And when the opportunity presented itself to claim the overall on home soil in Lake Placid Olympic Region (USA), Blevins didn’t miss – flying round teammate Adrien Boichis (Specialized Factory Racing) on the line for his sixth win of the season, and Specialized’s sixth 1-2 of the year.Martin prevented it being a Specialized Factory Racing whitewash in the overall – the Frenchman adding a second win of the series at the season finale in Mont-Sainte-Anne (Canada) – while his teammate Charlie Aldridge (Cannondale Factory Racing) rounded out the overall podium.RICHARDS PUTS IN HER MOST-CONSISTENT SEASON TO ADD THE OVERALL TITLE TO HER 2024 RAINBOW BANDSWhen Evie Richards won the 2021 UCI XCO World Championship, the Brit appeared to suffer the curse of the rainbow bands during her year in the world champions jersey, only finishing two UCI XCO World Cups and 16th position her best placing.The 28-year-old had another three seasons’ experience on her side entering the 2025 series, and looked determined to not suffer the same fate while wearing the UCI XCC World Champions jersey.She started her season the best possible way, leaving Brazil with a 100% record from the opening two rounds and in control of the overall. A narrow second place to Puck Pieterse (Alpecin-Deceuninck) in Nové Mesto na Moravě was the first time she had been bettered in the XCC all year, while sixth in Saalfelden Leogang – Salzburgerland would be her worst result all season.Forced to skip Val di Sole – Trentino (Italy), her overall looked under threat from Pieterse, who had won three back-to-back UCI XCC World Cups. But come Pal Arinsal, Richards answered her critics, returning to the podium with second behind Alessandra Keller (Thömus Maxon) while the Dutchwoman wilted at altitude.Defending overall champion Keller appeared to be Richards’ main threat and was hitting form just at the right time, while Jenny Rissveds (Canyon CLLCTV XCO) threw her hat into the ring with a win in Les Gets, Haute-Savoie (France) with the series leader only managing fifth. But the Brit showed a new, steely resolve.While Rissveds could go on to win the next three rounds, finishing the season with an almost perfect record and picking up XCO/XCC doubles in Les Gets, Haute-Savoie, Lake Placid Olympic Region and Mont-Sainte-Anne (Canada), Richards was always in the background, finishing next best to the Swede to retain her advantage in the overall.Rissveds ultimately left it too late, and will rue her failure to score points in Nové Mesto with 110 points the difference between the two. Keller meanwhile finished third while also clinching the 2025 UCI XCC World Championship.SADNIK EDGES CORVI WHILE TREUDLER ADDS XCC TITLE TO XCO CROWN IN U23In the U23 field, it was a similar story with a competitive contest in the women’s U23 while one rider ran away with proceedings in the men’s U23.Katharina Sadnik (KTM Factory MTB Team) had the edge in the women’s U23, beating Women U23 UCI XCO World Cup overall winner Valentina Corvi (Canyon CLLCTV XCO) by 26 points. The Austrian collected six podiums all year, including the win in Pal Arinsal, but the series was separated by just six points as racing got underway in Mont-Sainte-Anne. Her third-place finish scored her 20 more points than Corvi, who could only manage seventh – the Italian likely regretting her two missed rounds in Nové Mesto and Saalfelden Leogang – Salzburgerland.In the men’s U23, like in the XCO, Finn Treudler (Cube Factory Racing) dominated. While he wasn’t able to match his eight wins from the Olympic-distance format, the Swiss 22-year-old did win seven rounds in a row from Saalfelden Leogang - Salzburgerland to Mont-Sainte-Anne, and was only beaten by elite-class rider Adrien Boichis at the U23 UCI XCC World Championships.