Samara Maxwell (Decathlon Ford Racing) and Christopher Blevins (Specialized Factory Racing) were awarded the 2025 Mountain Bike World Cup (XCO) cross-country overall series titles as the competition wrapped up at Mont-Sainte-Anne, Quebec, Canada, on Sunday.
Blevins had already secured the overall men's elite XCO victory before the final round, finishing 23rd on the day as Charlie Aldridge (Cannondale Factory Racing) claimed his maiden World Cup victory and gave the crowd a home-nation victor.
“I’ve been working towards an XCO win my whole career. This year I’ve been close a couple of times, so to finish it off like this is unreal," said Aldridge.
“The last two laps were full gas, I was cramping up, everybody was cramping up. It was just a battle of attrition. Towards the top of the climb I could see I was getting a bit of a gap, so on the last lap I was just going full gas to get to the finish. I made it."
Martin Vidaurre (Specialized Factory Racing) was second and Mathis Azzaro (Origine Racing Division) third in Mont-Sainte-Anne.
In the women's elite race series winner Maxwell finished in second place behind World Champion Jenny Rissveds (Canyon CLLCTV XCO) while Alessandra Keller (Thömus Maxon) was third.
That runner-up spot was enough to ensure that Maxwell became the first rider from New Zealand to win the prestigious overall series title.
"I think about how much pressure, as athletes, we go through and how much stress we put ourselves through, and we had 11 races this year, including the World Championships, and I was on the podium for ten of those. I think about how much stress I went through for that. The season has been incredible, and there has been so much belief in me, and the team has been incredible," Maxwell said in an emotional post-race interview.
Asked about what she did to remain consistent across the 11 races of the UCI Mountain Bike Series, Maxwell added, "Making it through our moments of doubt is what. As athletes, we race and we show up and we've got some willingness to experience that discomfort," she said.
"To stay consistent was about trusting my own process and training with my coach, team, and my recovery and nutrition. There are so many aspects, and so it is easy to doubt yourself. Listening to the people around me, who supported me, was the main thing."
Rissveds claimed the second spot in the series, finishing with 2,250 points, just 91 points behind the winning tally of Maxwell who secured 2,341 points. In Mont-Sainte-Anne on Sunday, The world champion narrowed the gap to Maxwell by delivering another dominant victory in the cross-country race, after also winning the short track event on Friday.
This time around, she opened an early lead on the first lap and then covered the next six laps in a winning time of 1:20:35, setting a new win record, previously set by Pauline Ferrand-Prévot.
She crossed the line 3:30 ahead of Maxwell and 4:07 ahead of third-place and short track series winner Evie Richards (Trek Factory Racing), and 4:12 ahead of fourth-place Sina Frei (Specialized Factory Racing).
"I don't know. This is the first time that I'm speechless. I don't know what to say," Rissveds said. "I was really tired toward the end of the race, and I felt it in my legs. I was just focused on the course today. I think it's a cool course, and a proper mountain bike, and they kept the heart of the course, which was nice. I was flowing and I just tried to enjoy it. I had no plan today. I just wanted to ride good flow, and as always, do my own race, and it worked out."
In the women's U23 category Isabella Holmgren (Lidl-Trek) claimed victory in her home XCO round, adding to her short track win, with Valentina Corvi (Canyon CLLCTV XCO) taking the series victory. In the men's U23 race Finn Treudler (Cube Factory Racing) continued his scorching run, adding the XCO victory to his short track win in Mont Sainte Anne, with the rider having already claimed the series wins in both.
“I’m just super happy to finish it off in this way, it has just been a fantastic season," said Treudler.
