Starting at the beginning of April, the 2025 WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series will comprise 16 race weekends in ten countries through until mid-October.
The ten rounds for the endurance events - cross-country Olympic (XCO) and cross-country short track (XCC) – get under way with back-to-back weekends in Brazil, with Araxá hosting the first two rounds, on 5-6 April then 11-12 April.
For gravity, the focus is on two specialities: enduro (EDR), with seven rounds kicking off in Pietra Ligure - Finale Outdoor Region, Italy, on 9-11 May, and downhill (DHI) which will be included in ten rounds, starting in Bielsko-Biała, Poland on 16-18 May.
Enduro racing will be more in line with the downhill this year, with the introduction of a Junior category (17-18 years). In addition, the course profiles for this year’s enduro races may trigger a preference for bikes with medium-travel suspension, potentially attracting more competitors from XC backgrounds.
Team status and wildcards From more than 100 registered UCI Mountain Bike Teams, 20 each for endurance and gravity have been granted UCI Mountain Bike World Series Team status, ensuring their participation in every round. In addition, eight wild card spots are available at each WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series round in cross-country and downhill, as are ‘Golden Tickets’ for the top five riders in any Elite or Under 23 race (cross-country) or Elite or Junior race (downhill) at any round of a Continental Series (with the exception of riders registered with a UCI Mountain Bike World Series Team). A Golden Ticket enables cross-country and downhill riders to enter one round of the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series during the season.
Rounds and riders
Brazil’s XCO and XCC double-headers promise a fast, frenetic and fun season opening. In 2024, the series also opened with a double-header in Brazil: the first round in Mairiporã and the second in Araxá. The racing over the two weekends saw XCO victories for Simon Andreassen (DEN), Jenny Rissveds (SWE) and the American duo Christopher Blevins and Haley Batten. Batten also won in XCC as did the fast-starting Sam Gaze (NZL), 2024 UCI XCC World Champion Evie Richards (GBR) and Victor Koretzky (FRA).
After Brazil, a standalone EDR round will be organised in Pietra Ligure - Finale Outdoor Region, Italy, where overall winners Richie Rude (USA) and Harriet Harnden (GBR) took their first 2024 victories. It’s likely that both these champions will focus on downhill in 2025, so who will emerge as leaders?
A week later the enduro riders meet the downhill crews in Bielsko-Biała, Poland: will we see more drama from Ronan Dunne (IRL) and Marine Cabirou (FRA) on this technical course?
Then it’s cross-country at Nové Město Na Moravě, Czechia. Last year, Switzerland’s Alessandra Keller won the XCC there on the way to her second XCO and XCC UCI World Cup overall titles.
The gravity riders all come together in the French resort of Loudenvielle-Peyragudes, where last year, home wins went to Benoît Coulanges, Myriam Nicole and Enduro’s Morgane Charre.
June opens with XCO, XCC, DHI and EDR in Saalfelden Leogang - Salzburgerland, Austria. 2024 UCI Downhill World Cup overall winners Loïc Bruni and Valentina Höll, who took a home victory, will want to repeat their 2024 wins before the riders head to Italy’s Val di Sole - Trentino where, last year, Nino
Schurter secured his historic 36th UCI XCO World Cup win… don’t bet against the 10-time UCI World Champion making even more history. Staying in Italy the Enduro riders face off at Val di Fassa - Trentino, before meeting the downhillers at the new UCI World Cup venue, La Thuile - Valle d'Aosta.
Next it’s the welcome return of Pal Arinsal, Andorra (XCO, XCC and DHI), then Haute-Savoie, France for a four-format fight including the final round of the UCI Enduro World Cup, fitting in neatly before the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships (30 August – 14 September) , where eight mountain bike formats are on the programme in a single host region (Valais, Switzerland) for the first time.
Staying in Switzerland, there’s been much history made at Lenzerheide, not least the fifth of six downhill rainbow jerseys for Rachel Atherton, who is registered to ride this year. Will we see more DHI, XCO and XCC history pages written at the last stop in Europe before the teams cross the Atlantic?
Lake Placid Olympic Region, New York is the only USA event this year. 2024 saw Koretzky take the XCO-XCC double on his way to the XCC overall, and this year downhill racing joins the programme at this venue, promising new thrills at the American round. It leads to the season finale at Canada’s iconic Mont-Sainte-Anne. Last year, South African Alan Hatherly won to secure his XCO overall, Troy Brosnan (AUS) won the DHI to finish second overall, as did Cabirou, pipping Tahnée Seagrave (GBR). It’s a venue that has many more stories to tell.
2025 WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series
5-6 April, Araxá, Brazil: XCO, XCC
11-12 April Araxá, Brazil: XCO, XCC
9-11 May, Pietra Ligure - Finale Outdoor Region, Italy: EDR
16-18 May, Bielsko-Biała, Poland: DHI, EDR
23-25 May, Nové Město Na Moravě, Czechia: XCO, XCC
30 May-1 June, Loudenvielle-Peyragudes, France: DHI, EDR
5-8 June, Saalfelden Leogang - Salzburgerland, Austria: XCO, XCC, DHI, EDR
20-22, June, Val di Sole - Trentino, Italy: XCO, XCC DHI
27-29 June Val di Fassa -Trentino, Italy: EDR
3-6 July, La Thuile - Valle d'Aosta, Italy: DHI, EDR
9-13 July, Pal Arinsal, Andorra: XCO, XCC, DHI
21-31 August, Haute-Savoie, France: XCO, XCC, DHI, EDR
18-21 September, Lenzerheide, Switzerland: XCO, XCC, DHI
3-5 October, Lake Placid Olympic Region, New York, USA: XCO, XCC, DHI
9-12 October, Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada: XCO, XCC, DHI