Rosa Van Doorn of the Netherlands and Andreas Seewald from Germany are the overall winners of the 2025 HERO UCI Cross-country Marathon World Cup. Their titles were confirmed after the fifth and final event of the series in Girona, on the Spanish Costa Brava, on 21 September.
However, neither overall winner took the honours in Girona: victories in the final round went to Poland’s Paula Gorycka-Kurmann in the women’s race and Switzerland’s Casey South in the men’s race.
“It was a phenomenal season. I scored important wins and results on different terrains, which are testament to all the hard work done,” said Van Doorn, second in Girona. “Today was no different – a gruelling race on a demanding trail, made even more difficult by the rain.”
Eleventh in Girona, Seewald said afterwards: “I’m overjoyed to have won the [UCI] World Cup after having won the HERO in the Dolomites and the Black Forest event in my ‘backyard’. The tail end of the season saw me take a bit of a slump as I’d competed so much. But everything was on the line today – for me and my team. And now I can finally rest.”
On the way to the Costa Brava
It has been a long and thrilling season, in which five of Europe’s best cross-country marathon (XCM) events were united for the first time in an epic challenge that totalled 411km racing and 15,459 metres of elevation gain.
There were wins in the Italian opening round in Capoliveri - Elba Island for 24-year-old Van Doorn and Wout Alleman (BEL), followed by another victory for Van Doorn in Sant Julià De Lòria - La Rabassa (Andorra) along with Héctor Leonardo Páez León (COL). Round 3 in Selva Val Gardena, saw a home win for Italy’s Sandra Mairhofer and victory for 2021 UCI World Champion Seewald, followed by Van Doorn’s third and Seewald’s second victory in round 4 in Kirchzarten, Germany.
It meant that going into the final round, van Doorn topped the women’s standings with 860 points, from Mairhofer just 150 points below her in second. Seewald led the men’s category with 830 points, with Alleman just 130 points behind him. Everything was to play for going into the fifth and final round.
How the final round played out
More than 120 riders took to the starting line for the final HERO UCI Cross-country Marathon World Cup round of the year, raced on an 84km trail that featured 2,969m of climbing. The challenging route was made even more difficult due to overnight rain and unpredictable, intermittent showers.
In the women’s race, Paula Gorycka-Kurmann was the day’s winner in a time of 5:54:56.17, chasing not just the round’s victory but also her place in the overall standings. Almost four minutes behind her – and the only other woman to finish in less than 6 hours – was Van Doorn, clear in second position, earning 200 points towards her overall total. Mairhofer, her closest challenger for the overall title, came in seventh. Amanda Bohlin (SWE) was third in Girona.
Swiss Casey South won the men’s race in a time of 4:34:05.52 after a battle with Samuele Porro. The Italian finished just under 18 seconds adrift, with another Swiss, Marc Stutzmann, third, almost a minute back. Two-time UCI World Champion Páez León, with his eyes on the overall situation, came in fourth (+5 min) ahead of Italy’s Dario Cherchi. Minutes after the 27-year-old Swiss winner had crossed the finish line, a key battle was still raging further down the field for the overall, with 34-year-old Seewald finishing 11th, enough to remain ahead of his closest overall challenger Alleman (9th in Girona).
The final standings
Van Doorn ended the day with a more comfortable lead in the women’s overall standings, with 1060 points. Mairhofer’s seventh place was enough to confirm second overall, with 830 points. Gorycka-Kurmann’s victory pushed her up to a total of 770 points and third overall.
The tight battle in the men’s racing all season was reflected by the margins separating the top three: Seewald confirmed his overall title with 920 points, from Alleman on 820, and Páez León, taking third with 754 points.