As a thunderstorm looms over the sun-drenched course, the women tackle the challenging XCC course in Pal Arinsal. Rain and thunderstorms create difficult conditions. Rissveds, however, remains unfazed and leads the pack right from the first climb of the opening lap. Jolanda Neff stays by her side at first. Although the Swiss rider is considered a strong rider in muddy conditions, she loses ground as the race progresses. 

The leading group sets a consistently fast pace, while the battle for position rages on. Laura Stigger and last week’s XCO World Cup winner, Martina Berta, briefly take the lead, but Rissveds keeps finding her way back to the front. Halfway through the race, Alessandra Keller takes the initiative, and for the first time, Rissveds appears to face serious competition. The reigning UCI XCC World Champion has already won four UCI XCC World Cups in Andorra and is chasing her first short-track victory of the season on her favorite course. By picking up the pace in lap seven, Keller decisively whittles down the previously large leading group. Martina Berta and overall race leader Sina Frei fall behind, leaving only six riders at the front.

The victory now appears to be a two-way race between Keller and Rissveds. On the penultimate lap, Rissveds takes the initiative and attacks using Keller’s signature move: an attack from a distance. Keller tries to counter, but slips slightly in the final turn. This causes her to lose crucial time, and Stigger pulls past her into second place. As the bell rings for the final lap, Rissveds has already opened up a gap to the chasing group, which is now led by Ronja Blöchlinger. Behind them, Stigger, Keller, and Nicole Koller battle for third place.

Rissveds is already savoring the victory in the final meters and crosses the finish line jubilantly. It is her second victory in the UCI XCC World Cup within two weeks. At the same time, she narrows the gap to overall leader Sina Frei to just 30 points. With a late attack, Stigger catches up to Blöchlinger and secures second place only at the finish line. With this victory, Rissveds further extends her record as the most successful rider in the history of the UCI XCC World Cup. She now has ten wins and will have the chance on Sunday to become the first woman ever to win the XCC/XCO double for the third time.

Riley Celebrates First Win – Boichis Takes Overall Lead

All eyes are on Adrien Boichis. The big question is whether he can celebrate his third consecutive short track victory or whether overall leader Mathis Azzaro can shake off the bad luck that has recently plagued him in XCC. At first, Charlie Aldridge sets the pace. Despite the high altitude, the Brit sets an impressively fast pace right from the start. Azzaro rides in second place, with Dario Lillo following in third. Aldridge remains in the lead at first, but on the third lap, the in-form Adrien Boichis catches up to him. The Frenchman leads the field into the singletrack section, while Aldridge visibly loses speed and pays the price for his early offensive.

As Luca Martin comes into view, the winner of the 2025 UCI XCC World Cup in Andorra is visibly frustrated and repeatedly slams his handlebars, while Azzaro appears to go down. He is ultimately forced to abandon the race, resulting in a new leader in the series standings. 

Halfway through the race, Boichis continues to lead the field but is joined at the front by Blevins. The American works his way up through the field and finds himself at the front of a race for the first time this season. The pace picks up again, and on lap six, a four-rider lead group forms consisting of Boichis, Blevins, Aldridge, and Martin. Behind them, Luca Schwarzbauer sits in fifth place. Bjorn Riley, however, has other plans. The American is in the form of his life and also wants to be in the mix at the front. On lap seven, he catches up to the leading group, becomes its fifth member, and, thanks to strong riding technique on the technically demanding singletrack sections, works his way up to second place.

Martin puts an end to a brief lull when the French champion picks up the pace once again. Aldridge holds his ground; the Scot wants to build on his only UCI XCC World Cup victory to date. On the penultimate lap, he rides into the forest first, while Boichis, behind him, pushes Martin into the descent. Meanwhile, Riley and Blevins stay calm and wait for their chance.

As they cross the start-finish straight for the last time before the final lap, Boichis accelerates on the climb. His surge is too strong for Martin, who is forced to drop back to the end of the group. Aldridge stays on the Frenchman’s wheel, while Riley remains in third place. Everything points to a three-way sprint, until Aldridge tries an alternative line in the woods, loses traction, and crashes into a tree. The Briton ultimately crosses the finish line in 30th place. That leaves only Boichis and Riley battling for the win. Two turns before the finish, the American attacks, passes the Frenchman, and keeps him behind him all the way to the checkered flag. Blevins finishes third and rounds out the podium. Even though Boichis is disappointed to miss out on his third consecutive victory, he takes the overall lead with his second-place finish. With three races remaining in the season, he now leads Azzaro by 116 points.

Corvi and Schehl Extend Their Overall Leads

Overall leaders Valentina Corvi and Paul Schehl continue to extend their leads in their respective standings. Corvi continues her winning streak following her home race in La Thuile, while Schehl has now celebrated five consecutive victories. Only at the season opener in MONA YongPyong (South Korea), where he finished third, did the German fail to stand at the top of the podium.

For Corvi, it was yet another dominant performance. The Italian rode in the lead group from the start but launched her decisive attack on the fourth of eight laps. Florencia Monsálvez Rojo and Lisa Kristine Jorde were initially able to keep up, but lost contact in the following lap as Corvi maintained a high pace. By lap six, her lead over a six-rider chase group was already nearly 30 seconds. Despite their numerical advantage, the chasers were unable to catch up to her.

Corvi rides confidently to her second consecutive U23 victory in the UCI XCC World Cup. Behind her, a sprint decides the remaining podium spots: Jorde finishes second, Rafaelle Carrier third. Florencia Monsálvez Rojo and Bloeme Kalis come away empty-handed.

The men’s U23 race is much more evenly matched. With two laps to go, six riders are still battling for the win. Paul Schehl, Thibaut François Baudry, and Nicolas Halter manage to split the group and build a small lead. Schehl once again demonstrates why he is the dominant rider in this category. On the final lap, he pulls away decisively and wins with a two-second lead over François Baudry. The increased pace on the final lap proves too much for Halter, who finishes in third place.

Complete results