Downhill’s four UCI World Champions will be crowned on the penultimate day of the 2026 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Val di Sole, Italy. After qualifications on Friday 28 August, the Elite and Junior downhill (DHI) finals for men and women are scheduled for the following day.
The 2.3km-long course drops 550m and will test the skills and bravery of the world’s finest.
Men Elite: the Goldstone - Val di Sole success story
Canadian Jackson Goldstone arrives as the defending UCI World Champion and arguably the rider best suited to Val di Sole. Many will remember his emphatic 2025 UCI DHI World Cup victory at the venue, where he topped qualifying and the final. He also won the Val di Sole round in 2023, as well as the Junior downhill event at the 2021 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships. At last year’s UCI World Mountain Bike World Championships in Champéry, Switzerland, he unleashed a stunning 2:54.153 run to finish nearly two seconds ahead of Germany’s Henri Kiefer with Ireland’s Ronan Dunne in third.
While Goldstone’s 2026 UCI DHI World Cup campaign has been less consistent than that of many of his main rivals, his speed, Championship pedigree and love of Val di Sole makes him the man to beat.
He’ll have his work cut out for him, however, especially if Great Britain’s Jordan Williams continues his impressive 2026 form. The 22-year-old currently leads the UCI DHI World Cup, with two victories in the second half of the season. He’ll be looking to improve on his fourth place at the 2025 UCI World Mountain Bike World Championships and has every chance of doing so on a course on which he has performed well: in 2025, he was second-fastest in timed training at Val di Sole.
Finn Iles is another to watch. The Canadian currently lies second behind Williams in the UCI DHI World Cup. After claiming his first UCI World Cup triumph in 2022, he waited 1,407 days before winning his second, in June this season, following it up just a week later with his third.
Elsewhere, Frenchmen Amaury Pierron and Loris Vergier, and Australian Troy Brosnan all have the pedigree and speed to challenge for the podium. Nineteen-year-old Asa Vermette(USA)haspodiumed this year and could turn his youthful aggression into a breakthrough result, while Dunne and Kiefer will also be in the mix.
Women Elite: Höll going for five
In the Women Elite competition, Valentina Höll (AUT) is the overwhelming favourite after an extraordinary 2026 campaign. She has won five of six UCI DHI World Cup rounds (before the rounds in Les Gets, France, this coming weekend) and leads the series by a significant margin. Her dominance comes off the back of four consecutive Elite UCI world titles and four UCI World Cup overall victories, making her the most accomplished rider in the field.
Switzerland’s Lisa Baumann has also enjoyed an impressive 2026 season and sits second in the UCI DHI World Cup with a third place and two second places, both times narrowly missing out on taking her first Elite UCI World Cup victory. Baumann won the European DHI titles in both 2024 and 2025, so has shown she can win at the highest level.
Canadian Gracey Hemstreet is another who has serious credentials to dethrone Höll, having finished second at the latest UCI DHI World Cup last month. That follows a breakthrough 2025 campaign in which she claimed three UCI World Cup victories and finished second overall.
Sacha Earnest (NZL), Marine Cabirou (FRA), Jess Blewitt (NZL), Anna Newkirk (USA), Gloria Scarsi (ITA), Nina Hoffmann (GER) and Myriam Nicole (FRA) are a band of riders who also have credible podium chances. Earnest has been particularly impressive in 2026, while Cabirou remains a major threat given her victory – ahead of Höll – in Val di Sole last year.
Juniors: Williamson and Ostgaard the ones to beat
Jonty Williamson (NZL) heads the Men Junior favourites after a superb 2026 season, with multiple UCI DHI World Cup wins thanks to his consistency and outright speed. Fellow New Zealander Malik Boatwright has also been a regular podium finisher and sits among the leading riders in the series. Behind them, Australia’s deep Junior squad, plus riders from France, Canada, Britain and the USA, could spring a surprise.
Aletha Ostgaard (USA) is the clear favourite for the Women Junior title given her four UCI World Cup wins so far this season following her bronze medal in the Junior DHI at last year’s UCI Mountain Bike World Championships. Reigning Junior UCI World Champion Rosa Zierl (AUT) is a major threat, while Tilly Boadle (AUS) and Lina Frener (AUT) are among the other strongest challengers.