OlyBet joins as Official Partner for the French rounds of the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series

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.

Jackson Goldstone (Santa Cruz Syndicate) and Vali Höll (YT Mob) might have come away with all the spoils from the 2025 season, but the 10-round series was one of the most competitive in recent memory with one nail-biting conclusion that will live long in the memory.Downhill mountain biking is fast, furious, and extremely unpredictable, but two riders had bucked the trend in recent history, showing consistency where others had crumbled and cruising to back-to-back overall series in 2023 and 2024.All eyes were on Loïc Bruni (Specialized Gravity) and Vali Höll (YT Mob) once more as the longest-ever season got underway in Bielsko-Biała, and whether any other athletes could end their dominance.As it turns out, they could. The men’s contest witnessed the rise of Jackson Goldstone (Santa Cruz Syndicate) – the 21-year-old Canadian returning to action after a year on the sidelines with injury – and a battle for the top spot with Bruni that wouldn’t be decided until the very last run of the series. While Höll still came out on top, her fourth overall series was the Austrian’s toughest test yet, with five different women standing on the top spot over the year. Goldstone’s record-equaling run and five wins enough to topple BruniWhen Loïc Bruni won qualifying and finals at the opening round in Bielsko-Biała (Poland), his competitors could have been forgiven for thinking that the series was already over. While there were still nine rounds to go, the Frenchman’s signature consistency would mean that his win in Poland probably wouldn’t be his last of the year, while only an uncharacteristic crash or injury would prevent him from winning his fifth overall title and third consecutive crown.Jackson Goldstone had other ideas though. Fresh from a season sat on the sidelines with injury, the Canadian had a point to prove after an impressive debut elite season in 2023 where he won his first two UCI Downhill World Cups and narrowly finished second behind Bruni in the overall. And although he could only manage a top-20 finish at the season opener, it was a warm-up for what was to come.From Loudenvielle-Peyragudes onwards, he was unstoppable, equaling Aaron Gwin’s (Gwin Racing) record for four wins in a row, while he had back-to-back perfect weekends in Val di Sole (Italy) and La Thuile (Italy). His results propelled him to the top of the standings, and at the midway point, he had a healthy 195-point lead over Bruni.His run would end in Pal Arinsal (Andorra), Bruni getting the better of Goldstone for his second win of the series, and the Frenchman would chip away at Goldstone’s lead with each round – the Canadian dropping points in Les Gets, Haute-Savoie (France) and Bike Kingdom Lenzerheide (Switzerland), while Bruni was his metronomic self with two top-five finishes.Neither made the podium in Lake Placid’s (USA) UCI Downhill World Cup debut, and things were poised tantalisingly with just Mont-Sainte-Anne (Canada) – Bruni leading by 72 and able to take the series even if Goldstone won.On finals day, Goldstone did all he could in front of a partisan home crowd, putting in the first 3:30 of the day to sit in the hotseat with only Luca Shaw (Canyon CLLCTV Factory Team) and Bruni to go. The American could only go second fastest, and then all eyes were on the start hut awaiting Bruni’s drop in. But it never came – the Frenchman injured during training on finals day and knowing that he wouldn’t be able to compete, let alone beat, Goldstone’s time. The Canadian had done it, winning the UCI Downhill World Cup Overall series on home soil, completing a Hollywood ending to a redemption story that also included winning the UCI Downhill World Championship. Höll shows grit to complete hat-trick of overall and world championship doubleWhile the men’s contest was a two-horse race, the women’s was the most open it has been in years. After Vali Höll’s dominance since breaking through to the elite class in 2021, the Austrian had a fight on her hands from the off.It was Tahnée Seagrave (Orbea/FMD Racing) who started strongest – the experienced Brit back to her best to take the opening round in Bielsko-Biała (Poland) – before Gracey Hemstreet (Norco Race Division) took up the mantle, winning her first two UCI Downhill World Cups.Marine Cabirou (Canyon CLLCTV Factory Team) and Nina Hoffmann (Santa Cruz Syndicate) got in on the action in Val di Sole (Italy) and La Thuile (Italy), but at the halfway point, Höll still led the overall despite not winning a weekend.It was her consistency that had got her there – the 23-year-old using her experience to grind out podium finishes even if she didn’t take the win – but as her winless UCI World Cup streak extended beyond a year, many wondered if it would be enough to see her through to the end of the season.Seagrave and Hemstreet cleaned up at the next three rounds, but their inconsistency couldn’t shake Höll from the overall top spot, and when the Austrian had her first opportunity to mathematically secure her fourth title and third consecutive crown in Lake Placid (USA), she seized it with both hands while her rivals’ challenges wilted.Fresh off the back of winning her fourth consecutive UCI Downhill World Championship, Höll blitzed the field on the venue’s new downhill course, going fastest in each intermediate split to win by almost three seconds. Hemstreet meanwhile could only manage 10th, meaning the title wouldn’t go to the final round.A crash in her Mont-Sainte-Anne (Canada) finals run saw Höll finish down in 14th, but she was still able to extend her lead – neither Hemstreet or Seagrave scoring a point over the weekend, meaning it was as you were for the top three spots in the overall. Alran edges Vermette and Rosa keeps it consistent in JuniorsWhile the Elite contests were the closest they’ve been in years, the Juniors were on another level.In the women’s field, Rosa Zierl (Cube Factory Racing) and Alehta Ostgaard (Canyon CLLCTV Factory Team) were the dominant forces – the pair claiming four wins each from the 10 rounds. It was Zierl who edged it though, beating Ostgaard by 45 points – the American’s failure to score anything in Loudenvielle-Peyragudes coming back to haunt her at the season’s end.The men’s contest meanwhile was an epic that featured two riders who often put down runs faster than the elites that followed. Max Alran (Commencal/Muc-Off by Riding Addiction) ultimately had the edge over Asa Vermette (Frameworks Racing/5Dev), but just 12 points separated the pair after 10 rounds of fierce and frenetic racing. It was Alran’s four wins to Vermette’s two that were the difference – the Frenchman outscoring his American rival despite the latter’s podium finishes.Next year the season kicks-off in South Korea.

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.