Weinbeer and Dorigoni Win the Marathon World Cup on Elba

Hero Marathon Weltcup 2026, Capoliveri/ITA

The second stage of the Hero UCI Marathon World Cup in Capoliveri (Elba, Italy) was won by South Tyrolean Jakob Dorigoni after he broke away at the front alongside Stefano Goria (2nd). Gioele De Cosmo secured third place. In the women’s race, Switzerland’s Anna Weinbeer rode to a clear victory, with Spain’s Natalia Fischer finishing second and Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Lejla Njemcevic third.

The verdict from both the elite riders and the numerous amateur riders was clear: the courses of the Capoliveri Legend Cup are beautiful, technical, and fun. For this reason, too, the mountain bike race—which counts as the second stage of the 2026 Hero UCI Marathon World Cup—was a true high-performance competition featuring head-to-head battles and solo breakaways.

Over 1,800 male and female mountain bikers from 22 countries, competing in the Elite and Master categories, lined up at the start early Saturday morning for the 74-kilometer race course with its 2,600 meters of elevation gain, earning points toward the overall standings of the 2026 Hero UCI Cross-Country Marathon World Cup. As in all races in this series, amateur riders also had the opportunity to participate in Capoliveri: over 1,800 gathered at the start in the town center of Capoliveri.

In the men’s race, the first phase saw the strongest contenders for victory sizing each other up and playing it safe. But already after the mountain classification on Monte Calamita—which bore the name “KOM Andrea Crispu Challenge”—the first breakaway attempts were made, such as that of Fabian Rabensteiner with Stefano Goria and Gioele De Cosmo on the Strada delle Mimose about a third of the way into the race.&

But the breakaway soon came to an end as Colombian Leonardo Paez of Team LeeCougan Basso closed in from behind, followed in turn by South Tyrolean Jakob Dorigoni, who was in absolutely brilliant form today. But then the cards were reshuffled once again—just before the “Muro della Leggenda” had to be conquered. Here, veteran Paez (born in 1982) had to make way for the younger riders De Cosmo, Goria, and the extremely spirited Jakob Dorigoni. In the final kilometers, a two-man lead group emerged, consisting of Goria and Dorigoni, who, although riding for competing teams, cooperated in a way that went beyond mere tactics: For instance, Dorigoni helped Goria remove a small branch that had become caught in his rear wheel. But as the finish line came into view, the alliance was over—and 28-year-old Jakob Dorigoni claimed the day’s championship title (though he still has the academic degree he’s pursuing while studying sports science at the University of Innsbruck ahead of him).

“It’s always nice here on Elba—beautiful, even—because the course is extremely technical, stimulating, and fun. Today, for example, I rode a real full-throttle race; I pushed hard from start to finish without any recovery phases. Of course, when you win on top of that, it’s a particularly great race,” said a delighted Jakob Dorigoni. “Above all, this result confirms my current form and shows me just what possibilities I still have for the coming season.”

Stefano Goria of the Scott Racing Team fought his way to an honorable second place, crossing the finish line just a few seconds behind the winner. Gioele De Cosmo, Dorigoni’s teammate, finished third, 1 minute and 10.23 seconds behind—thus completing the all-Italian podium.

Belgian Wout Alleman, who started the race wearing the World Cup leader’s jersey, didn’t make it onto the podium but was able to retain his lead in the overall standings because his direct rival, Germany’s Andreas Seewald, finished the race in 27th place.

The women’s race is a much quicker story. Swiss rider Anna Weinbeer, who leads the World Cup standings after winning the season opener in Calpe in February, demonstrated once again on Elba that whoever wants to win the World Cup will have to contend with her: After the mountain classification, the rider from Team KTM Spada Powered by Brenta Brakes soon left the field behind and remained in the lead for the rest of the race, crossing the finish line first after 3:46:35 hours.

“I rode a fantastic race in a beautiful location. I’m taking this double memory home with me from Elba. The race went really well in every respect: The course was technical and fun, and my fitness was great,” said Anna Weinbeer immediately after the race. “And I was in such good spirits that I can even say I enjoyed the scenery on certain sections toward the end! Of course, without losing my focus on the race. Now I’m looking forward to the upcoming races with a bit more ease.”

Also securing a spot on the podium were Spain’s Natalia Fischer of the Extremadura Ecopilas UCI MTB Team, who finished 4 minutes and 29 seconds behind the winner, and—in third place—Bosnia’s Lejla Njemcevic with a time of 3:53:23 hours. The fastest Italian rider was Chiara Gualandi of LeeCougan Basso, who fought her way to sixth place, finishing over 15 minutes behind the winner.

It was also exciting in the Master License category, where victory went to the current World Cup leaders: Spaniard Alexandre Llado Diaz in the men’s race and Polish rider Anna Magoń-Romanów in the women’s race.

Now the Hero UCI Marathon World Cup caravan continues on to the Pyrenees, where the third stage of the race series will take place in less than three weeks at Naturland – Andorra on May 31, 2026. The leader’s jerseys are still worn by Wout Alleman and Anna Weinbeer, who will defend them against the competition by any means necessary.