The 2026 WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series will include nine rounds for cross-country Olympic (XCO) and cross-country short track (XCC) specialists. Before we dive into this year’s action, let’s take a look at the background of these formats.
Races and courses
Elite and Under 23 XCO and XCC races are organised at the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series. The mass-start multi-lap XCO races last between 60 and 90 minutes for Elite riders, and are shorter for the Under 23 categories. As the lap distances vary from one course to another (typically 5 to 10km), the number of laps per race also differs (often between 5 and 9).
Courses feature climbs, descents and flat sections, and usually wooded rooty sections plus rocks – natural or man-made. Most courses also feature gravel or asphalt roads, often on the start/finish straights.
The XCC races are much shorter – 20-25 minutes duration – on courses, typically 1 to 1.5km. Races are often 6 to 8 laps, with fewer technical sections, keeping the pace high. XCC results also determine XCO starting positions.
XCO at the UCI World Cup
The early UCI World Cups for mountain bike XCO, saw USA riders earn the titles. Ned Overend (1990) and John Tomac (1991) were the first two men’s overall winners, while Sara Ballantyne, Ruthie Matthes and Juli Furtado (three consecutive wins from 1993 to 1995) dominated the first years of women’s XCO.
Soon the honours were shared with Canadian riders – three overall titles for Alison Sydor – and the rapidly emerging European stars: Switzerland’s Barbara Blatter won two overall titles in a row (1998-1999) while Norway’s Gunn-Rita Dahle dominated proceedings from 2003 to 2006. In men’s racing, Switzerland’s Thomas Frischknecht was a prominent figure in the 1990s with three UCI World Cup overall wins. Australian Cadel Evans put Oceania on the map with back-to-back victories to round out the decade (1998-1999).
In time, European riders became increasingly dominant, not least with frequent intense battles between Frenchman Julien Absalon and Switzerland’s Christoph Sauser. The latter was succeeded on the podiums by his incomparable compatriot Nino Schurter (nine overalls between 2010 and 2023, along with 10 individual UCI World Champion titles and three Olympic medals, including gold in 2016).
The women’s competition saw the power of Denmark’s Annika Langvad and the character of Jolanda Neff – Olympic Champion and three-time overall UCI World Cup winner, later passing the baton to her fellow Swiss, Alessandra Keller.
But the recent years have shown again the diversity of global cross-country’s winners, with New Zealander Samara Maxwell crowned the 2025 women’s overall winner. South Africa’s Alan Hatherly (2024) and the USA’s Christoper Blevins (2025) have won the last two men’s titles, ahead of a global field.
To date men and women from 15 different nations have won the Elite UCI XCO World Cup overall titles.
The first winners of the Under-23 classification introduced in 2022 were Line Burquier (FRA), and Martín Vidaurre (CHI), followed by Adrien Boichis (FRA) and Ronja Blöchlinger (SUI), then Riley Amos (USA) Kira Böhm (GER). 2025’s winners were Valentina Corvi (ITA) and Finn Treudler (CAN).
XCC’s more recent history
2022 saw the introduction of the UCI World Cup for XCC. The first winners, Alan Hatherly and Alessandra Keller, are established XCO stars, as are 2023 winners Luca Schwarzbauer (GER) and the multi-disciplinary Puck Pieterse (NED). 2024 saw Victor Koretzky (FRA) win his first title, and Keller her second.
Great Britain’s Evie Richards took the 2025 UCI XCC World Cup overall title, with two early victories while Blevins completed a Men Elite XCC-XCO double, winning six rounds.
New in 2025, was the introduction of the Under 23 XCC competition at UCI World Cup level. This saw Canada’s Treudler follow Blevins’ example with an XCO-XCC double, while Austria’s Katharina Sadnik took the Women Under 23 overall title.
What they ride
Cross-country bikes have changed significantly from the 26in-wheeled fully rigid bikes in the 1990s, an era when the same bikes were used in both XC and DHI.
Hardtail 26in was the standard in the late 90s, with wheel sizes changing to 27.5in and then 29ers… with 32in on the near horizon. There has also been a shift from minimal front suspension to 100mm (and sometimes 120mm) travel, then full-suspension becoming universal. In the same period, we’ve seen the move from lightweight metal alloys to full carbon with disc brakes and highly efficient 1x drivetrains.
Inspirational performances
With the opening of the 2026 UCI World Cups for XCO and XCC just days away (in Mona YongPyong, South Korea, 1-3 May), we whet our appetites with some historic standout rides…
Amongst the legendary Frenchman Julien Absalon’s many memorable rides, in 2015, ten years after his first UCI World Cup victory, he won in Albstadt, Germany, for the second successive year. It marked his 30th UCI World Cup win, which he subsequently extended to 33.
Etched in memories are the many victories signed by Nino Schurter. Not least his first UCI World Cup win in April 2010 (Scotland’s Dalby Forest in the United Kingdom), out-sprinting Absalon. Then there was 2017’s ‘perfect season’ when the Swiss won all six UCI World Cup rounds and the UCI World Championships. And In June 2023, age 37, on home soil in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, he won his 34th UCI World Cup round – the most ever, and a record he subsequently extended to 36.
Jolanda Neff's dramatic 2018 overall title win in La Bresse, France, was another iconic moment. Some intense racing in that decisive race saw the Swiss star clinch her third overall title in five years.
2016 Olympic Champion Jenny Rissveds returned from episodes of mental ill health to secure a memorable win in Lenzerheide (Switzerland) in 2019. The Swede overcame a first-lap crash to reel in a lead group including Neff and Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (FRA) and solo to the line.
Two years later, Lenzerheide was also the venue for a commanding victory for Evie Richards. The Briton won her first UCI World Cup race soon after being crowned UCI World Champion.
Bringing us right up to date, USA’s Christopher Blevins took home wins at Lake Placid in both XCO and XCC last year to confirm a double UCI World Cup overall title.