The final day of the Mountain Bike World Championships in Val di Sole turned into yet another Swiss medal bonanza. Sina Frei dominated the Elite Women’s race to claim the world title, while Nicole Koller took bronze. Earlier, three Swiss women finished in the top four in the U23 women’s race, and Nicolas Halter rounded out the haul with a bronze. In the men’s race, Tom Pidcock prevailed after a spectacular comeback.  

Frei leaves nothing to chance

In the Elite Women’s race, Sina Frei makes it clear early on that the title can only go to her today. Defending champion Jenny Rissveds takes the lead initially, but Frei moves into first place after just about six minutes. What followed was a masterclass. The Swiss rider consistently powered up the steep climbs, recovered on the descents, and extended her lead lap after lap. After seven laps, she won in 1:27:50 hours with a lead of more than one minute.  

For the 29-year-old, this brings her journey full circle in Val di Sole. In 2021, she won her first Short Track World Championship title here and took bronze in Cross Country. Five years later, at the same venue, she claimed her first rainbow jersey in the Olympic discipline. Following her two European Championship titles in short track and cross-country, as well as her World Cup double victory a week earlier in Les Gets, Frei has thus capped off her season in style. She is only the third Swiss cross-country world champion, following Silvia Fürst in 1992 and Jolanda Neff in 2017.  

Behind her, a thrilling battle for silver unfolds. Martina Berta initially leads, before Nicole Koller passes her on the fifth lap. The two enter the home stretch practically side by side, where the Italian capitalizes on her sprinting strength in front of her home crowd. Berta takes silver, and Koller—who has so often finished fourth in the World Cup—finally secures bronze. Both finish 1:07 minutes behind the winner. For Switzerland, this marks the first time since 1995 that the country has won two medals in the same women’s World Championship race.  

The day didn’t go as well for Alessandra Keller. Her chain came off after just about four minutes, and the same thing happened again in the third lap. The defending short-track champion still managed to fight her way back to 13th place. Rissveds also suffered mechanical trouble and had to change her rear wheel. The Swede finished her title defense in seventh place. Puck Pieterse came in fourth, and Short Track World Champion Laura Stigger from Austria finished eighth.  

Results

Pidcock Comes From Way Back

In the men’s race, many eyes are on Tom Pidcock and Mathieu van der Poel before the start. Both have to start from the fifth row due to their limited number of World Cup starts. Their starting positions are identical, but the outcome couldn’t be more different.

Pidcock is initially stuck around 30th place after the start, but works his way up at an incredible pace. By the second lap, the Brit is already in eighth place, and by the fourth lap, he reaches the lead group. And this despite a hard training crash on Friday, which was still causing him back problems at the start of the race.  

Up front, World Cup winners Adrien Boichis, Martín Vidaurre, and Charlie Aldridge set the pace early on. But the longer the race went on, the stronger Pidcock became. In the final stages, the leading group continued to shrink. Vidaurre lost his chance at a medal due to a rear-tire puncture, while Pidcock also pulled away from Aldridge on the final major climb. He entered the final lap with a nine-second lead and extended it to 17 seconds by the finish. With a time of 1:25:26, Pidcock was crowned Cross-Country World Champion for the second time since 2023.  

Behind him, Charlie Aldridge and dark horse Cole Punchard round out the podium. The Canadian started from 27th position, fought his way through the field, and claimed the bronze medal, finishing 31 seconds behind. Vidaurre finished fourth despite the mechanical issue, and Boichi came in fifth. Van der Poel’s comeback attempt, on the other hand, never really got off the ground. The Dutchman finished the race 4:40 minutes behind in 30th place.  

The Swiss, however, made a strong statement just off the podium: Dario Lillo finished seventh, Filippo Colombo eighth, and Fabio Püntener ninth. Right behind them, Germany’s David List rounded out the top ten, capping off a remarkable DACH run with four riders in a row in the top ten.  

Results

Swiss Women Chase Corvi

Italy and Switzerland dominated the U23 women’s race right from the start. Valentina Corvi reaffirmed her status as the heavy favorite. The Italian, who has already won five World Cup races this season and played a decisive role in Italy’s team relay title with an outstanding lap, takes the lead early on and never relinquishes it. After six laps, Corvi wins in 1:19:34 hours.  

Behind her, the race turned into a Swiss affair. Anina Hutter took silver, finishing 43 seconds behind. Short-track world champion Monique Halter claimed bronze another 1:12 minutes later, while Fiona Schibler finished fourth and Mara Winter seventh. This means four Swiss women finished in the top seven.  

Results

Halter wraps up his World Championships

In the men’s U23 race, the outcome wasn’t decided until late. The Germans Benjamin Krüger and Paul Schehl initially set a fast pace, ensuring that a leading group of about seven riders formed. Schehl was one of the big favorites after nine World Cup victories this season. In the fifth of seven laps, however, Naël Rouffiac made his move. The Frenchman broke away from the leading group and defended his lead all the way to the finish.  

With a time of 1:17:20, Rouffiac won, nine seconds ahead of his French compatriot Alix Andre-Gallis. Nicolas Halter follows another four seconds later in third place. For the Swiss athlete, this is already his second individual medal at these World Championships: Three days earlier, he had claimed the world title in short track. Benjamin Krüger finishes fifth, Paul Schehl sixth.  

Results