2025 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships: Hatherly and Holmgren retain the rainbows

Final day of competition in Valais

South African Alan Hatherly successfully defended his rainbow jersey of Men Elite cross-country Olympic (XCO) UCI World Champion on the final day of the 2025 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships taking place in Valais, Switzerland (1-14 September).

On the same Crans-Montana course earlier in the day, Canada’s Isabella Holmgren had claimed her second consecutive XCO title of UCI World Champion in the Women Under 23 category.

Men Elite: rainbow jersey for the Rainbow Nation

France’s Victor Koretzky and USA’s Christopher Blevins – gold and silver medallists respectively in Tuesday’s cross-country short track (XCC) – went straight to the front, along with Hatherly, Chile’s Martín Vidaurre, Swiss riders Fabio Püntener, Luca Schätti and Mathias Flückiger, and the Italians Luca Braidot and Mathis Azzaro.

Mathieu Van der Poel – aiming to add a title of UCI World Champion for mountain bike to those of road, cyclo-cross and gravel – started in 33rd position and pushed into 7th by the start of the 2nd of 9 laps.

On lap 3, 2024 UCI World Champion Hatherly passed Koretzky who led a group of seven: Braidot and his fellow Italian Simone Avondetto rubbed shoulders with Schätti and Flückiger, with Van der Poel and Blevins in contact.

Van der Poel soon drifted back behind Denmark’s Simon Andreassen, and Blevins dropped out of the top ten. Flückiger had been circulating on his own in second before being drawn back into a group of five with Schätti, Koretzky and the two Italians – a minute behind the metronomic South African, who clocked sub-10 minutes for each of the first six laps.

With two laps remaining, Andreassen – Junior XCO UCI World Champion in 2014 and 2015 and UCI Mountain Bike Marathon (XCM) World Champion in 2024 – joined the chasers to form a group of six… but Hatherly was already 90 seconds clear.

Flückiger forced the pace, with 2022 Under 23 UCI World Champion Avondetto, then European Champion Schätti clawing back to him. Avondetto attacked to claim silver, as Koretzky caught the Swiss duo and timed his sprint perfectly to take bronze. Hatherly hit his season’s peak form brilliantly, to retain the title in 1:30:30, with Avondetto +0:48 and Koretzky +0:51.

Four Swiss riders finished in the top 10 before 10-time UCI World Champion Nino Schurter rolled in to a champagne reception, then presented the winners’ medals.

A delighted Hatherly reacted: “I think I just had one of those days. It would be pretty hard for me to repeat a performance like that. All the stars aligned. It’s been really tough to combine both [road and mountain bike], but defending this [UCI] World title was a big goal from the beginning of the season. It was really difficult to balance the two but the last month I just went full mountain bike focus.”

Women Under 23: Holmgren solos to second gold of the week

On a track dampened by overnight rain, the 50-strong Women Under 23 field found the first rooty section a tough challenge. It was France’s Olivia Onesti – one of the few riding a hardtail – who was clean up the first climb, ahead of Vida Lopez de San Roman (USA), Valentina Corvi (ITA), reigning Under 23 UCI World Champion Isabella Holmgren and the first Swiss rider, Monique Halter, one of the many who slipped on the steep descents.

All the women at the front already had successes in Women Under 23 racing: Onesti, who won her first XCO UCI World Cup race on the same track, also wet, in 2024, set a tough pace, with Holmgren – winner of the first two rounds of the 2025 UCI World Cup – and Lopez de San Roman – second at the UCI XCO World Cup in Haute Savoie, France, two weeks ago – closing her down on lap 2 of six.

Holmgren passed 2024 UCI World Championships silver medallist Onesti and stretched out a lead of 45 seconds by half distance, as she chased an XCC / XCO double.

Behind them were Corvi, winner of the last three UCI World Cup rounds, with Lea Huber and Anina Hutter joining Halter to make three Swiss riders in the top 7, while a pre-race favourite, Canada’s Ella MacPhee, dropped back, finishing in 15th place. Another Swiss pair, Elina Benoit (third at this year’s UCI World Cup round in Saalfelden Leogang – Salzburgerland, Austria ) and Chiara Soler, passed Ava Holmgren (CAN), Sina van Thiel (GER) and Katharina Sadnik (AUT).

The gaps grew at the front. As the Canadian took the bell with a 2-minute lead, third-placed Onesti crashed and bravely remounted but was unable to finish.

Holmgren won in 1:17:24 to retain her title and confirm a double rainbow in a sparkling week. Lopez de San Roman took silver (+2:16) and Corvi, bronze (+3:20), as the Swiss women claimed 4th, 5th and 6th positions, and Ava Holmgren 7th place.

“It feels really good and I’m so excited,” said Isabella Holmgren. “My sister had a good race too and I’m so proud of her and I’m just really happy. It’s so special having family here, it gives me some extra watts on the climbs.”