Lenzerheide : When is It? Who is Riding? How and Where to Watch?

While the dust might have just settled in Saalfelden-Leogang Salzburgerland (Austria), the Gravity and Endurance athletes are gearing up to do it all over again across the border in Lenzerheide (Switzerland) in the second of six back-to-back WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series rounds.Only one rider holds a 100% winning streak – Valentina Höll (Commencal Schwalbe by Les Orres) in dominant form – and 2026 has seen a number of first-time UCI World Cup winners seize their chance as more established names have been ruled out through injury or are yet to find their race pace.BIKE KINGDOM BECKONSThe downhill and cross-country riders now head west to the Bike Kingdom in Lenzerheide, which this year celebrates the 10th edition of the UCI World Cup at the venue.Lenzerheide first hosted a UCI Cross-country Olympic (XCO) World Cup back in 1994, before a 21-year hiatus. It returned to the calendar in 2015 with both XCO and downhill racing and has since become a staple of the series, absent only in 2018 - when it staged the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships -, 2020 and 2024.Located in the shadow of the Lenzerhorn in the town of Lenzerheide, the bike park more than lives up to its Bike Kingdom moniker, connecting Arosa, Lenzerheide and Chur to form the largest bike area in Switzerland.The UCI Downhill World Cup takes place on the venue’s Straightline World Cup track – a 1.7km course that features 402m of descent and a monster big drop to navigate into the finish corral.The cross-country Olympic (XCO) and cross-country short track (XCC) races, meanwhile, will be duked out in the densely packed woodland and expansive, exposed sections of mountain that lend themselves to close racing.WILDCARD ENTRIESThe following wildcard teams have been confirmed to compete in Lenzerheide:UCI Downhill World Cup: Crestline Speed Shop, Outlaw Intense Racing, Pivot Factory Racing, Team High Country, The Alliance, Stoic Racing.UCI Cross-country World Cup: Bike Team Solothurn, KTM Factory Team, Lexware Mountainbike Team, Massi, Scott Creuse Oxygene Gueret, SUNN Factory Racing, Thömus Akros - Youngstars, UNNO Factory Racing.All 14 teams have featured already this season, with Lexware Mountainbike Team’s Paul Schehl the pick of the wildcard entrants with the German currently leading the Men U23 UCI XCC World Cup overall and sitting in second place in the Men U23 UCI XCO World Cup overall.RISSVEDS THE WOMAN TO BEATJenny Rissveds (Canyon XC Racing) is in the midst of a memorable year. Since the 2025 European Continental Championships in July, the Swede hasn’t finished outside of the top two in an XCO race, and her win in Saalfelden-Leogang Salzburgerland took her career total to eight – bumping her up to 10th in the all-time women’s race winners.The reigning UCI XCO World Champion starts in Lenzerheide as the woman to beat and is the most successful rider in the current women’s field at the venue, with two wins (2016 and 2019) already to her name.Sina Frei (Specialized Factory Racing) and Laura Stigger (Specialized Factory Racing) are the only two riders to have got the better of Rissveds in the XCO this year, and Frei in particular will be extra motivated on Sunday with Lenzerheide being her home race. But it is another Swiss rider, Alessandra Keller (Thömus maxon), who is likely to pose the biggest threat to Rissveds. The 30-year-old has been her consistent self in the two WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series rounds that she has raced so far this season, and had the edge on Rissveds at the venue when they went bar-to-bar in 2025.BLEVINS RETURNS TO SHAKE UP PROCEEDINGSWhile the 2026 series has served up three different winners, two of whom were first time victors, one rider’s absence has loomed large over proceedings. Christopher Blevins (Specialized Factory Racing) has been out since the opening round in MONA YongPyong (South Korea) with a broken collarbone, but the reigning XCO-XCC overall champion is back between the race tape this weekend – and will be targeting a winning return.Luca Martin (Cannondale Factory Racing) is the most likely rider to stand in his way – the Frenchman collecting a hat-trick of second place finishes this season and looking likely to add to his debut UCI XCO World Cup win from Les Gets, Haute-Savoie (France) in 2025. Adrien Boichis (Specialized Factory Racing) had the edge over the Cannondale Factory Racing rider in Leogang though, taking the win and selecting the number 2 as his career number.But the Swiss contingent will also be amped up to perform in front of a passionate home crowd, and Dario Lillo (Giant Factory Off-Road Team - XC), Filippo Colombo (Scott-SRAM MTB Racing Team) and Fabio Püntener (Scott-SRAM MTB Racing Team) all occupy spots in the top five in the individual rankings.RISSVEDS AIMING TO MAKE IT FIVE IN A ROW, AZZARO OUT TO PUT AUSTRIAN ROUND BEHIND HIMRissveds will also start the Women Elite UCI XCC World Cup as the out-and-out favourite – the Swede winning the last four XCC races in Lenzerheide and aiming to make it number five this Friday. She won’t have it easy though. Frei appears to be in the form of her life, adding XCC win number two to her tally in Saalfelden-Leogang Salzburgerland, while XCC specialist Evie Richards (Trek-Unbroken XC) is still absent after suffering a concussion in a crash in Nové Město Na Moravě. UCI XCC World Champion Keller will also be in contention, while Puck Pieterse (Alpecin-Premier Tech) should never be overlooked.The men’s field is just as feisty but there will be one rider – Mathis Azzaro (Origine Racing Division) – looking to put Austria’s round behind him after a mistake cost him a podium finish in the XCO last time out. The Frenchman already has two XCC victories to his name this year and will be targeting number three in Lenzerheide.Blevins will likely be in contention, while Charlie Aldridge (Cannondale Factory Racing) is another rider worth keeping tabs on.HÖLL IN CONTROL AND ON COURSE FOR PERFECT SEASONValentina Höll (Commencal Schwalbe by Les Orres) can’t stop winning. After only picking up one UCI Downhill World Cup all season in 2025, the Austrian has three from three this year, and few would bet against her extending her 100% record in Lenzerheide.The Bike Kingdom track has offered up mixed results for Höll – she won the 2018 Junior UCI Downhill World Championships here but is yet to go better than third in the Elite class. She arrives with undeniable momentum, and her form so far suggests she will be hard to stop as she looks to emulate Rachel Atherton’s perfect 2016 season.Myriam Nicole (COMMENCAL/MUC-OFF by Riding Addiction) is the rider with the best results in Lenzerheide – securing three of her 10 career UCI World Cup wins here – so in theory is Höll’s closest challenger this weekend, but the French icon hasn’t finished higher than third in 2026 or won a UCI World Cup since 2024.Marine Cabirou (Canyon DH Racing) meanwhile is finding her flow after a disappointing start to the season, backing up her qualifying win in Saalfelden-Leogang Salzburgerland with second place in finals.TITLE WIDE OPEN IN COMPETITIVE MEN’S FIELDWhile Vali Höll will remain at the top of the women’s contest regardless of results in Switzerland, in the men’s field, there are 19 riders who could mathematically find themselves in first place at the end of Saturday’s finals.This alone shows how open the 2026 series is with no one rider putting together a string of results to pull away from the pack.Amaury Pierron (COMMENCAL/MUC-OFF by Riding Addiction) has been the most consistent to date – the Frenchman recording a second podium finish of the season last weekend and a favourite to add another to his collection as the rider with the best winning record in Lenzerheide. But it could just as likely be Finn Iles (Specialized Gravity), Asa Vermette (Frameworks Racing / TRP), or Luca Shaw (Canyon DH Racing) – the three riders to have stood on the top spot so far in 2026.One rider we can expect more of is the 2025 UCI Downhill World Champion and UCI Downhill World Cup overall winner Jackson Goldstone (Santa Cruz Syndicate) – the Canadian yet to break into the top 10 this year. Loïc Bruni (Specialized Gravity) remains out for a minimum of three months with a wrist injury.Racing gets underway in Lenzerheide on Friday with the UCI Cross-country Short Track World Cup.  Full schedule and event details are available here. Find out where to watch here.

All four formats were in action this weekend, as the UCI Enduro, Downhill, Cross-country Short Track (XCC) and Cross-country Olympic (XCO) World Cups converged on Saalfelden-Leogang Salzburgerland (Austria) for the first of two quadruple of the 2026 WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series.The racing kicked off on Friday with a wet and wild XCC and didn’t let up until the final stage of Sunday’s UCI Enduro World Cup.Only one rider – Valentina Höll (Commencal Schwalbe by Les Orres) – retains a 100% win record for 2026, while there were first-time UCI World Cup victories for Simon Andreassen (Orbea Fox Factory Racing) in XCC, Adrien Boichis (Specialized Factory Racing) in XCO, and Winnifred Goldsbury in the UCI Enduro World Cup.But the winning riders only tell a small portion of the story from Austria. From a historic first in Downhill where the women’s Elite race closed the program, to dealing with a surprise disqualification in the Elite men’s XCO, here are some of the behind-the-scenes highlights from this week’s THE B LINE.HÖLL ROLLS ONVali Höll is following in the footsteps of the mountain biking greats Anne-Caroline Chausson and Rachel Atherton by going three-from-three in 2026, but the Austrian was over the moon to have won in front of a passionate home crowd.“It’s so cool to win at home. It’s the best thing in the world,” she said to Josh Carlson.“It’s cool to see Leogang become more of a hotspot for Downhill and the crowd every year is bigger. Lina [Frener] won in the Juniors category, so the future of Downhill is also Austria.”KIEFER PLEASED WITH PODIUMHenri Kiefer (Canyon DH Racing) has had a slow start to 2026, but things aligned for the German rider in Leogang as he followed up third in qualifying with third in finals.“The season kicked off, I didn’t start well, but I’m so stoked. Leogang is a fast track and pushes your limits so you have to expect some small things. This place means a lot because the family is always coming here. It’s like my home race. I live in Austria now, near Innsbruck, I’m an ambassador for Leogang, it all worked out so well. It’s a dream scenario.”CABIROU MAKES HISTORY IN MOMENTOUS DAY FOR WOMEN’S DOWNHILLSaalfelden-Leogang Salzburgerland also witnessed history on Saturday with the women’s Elite field taking to the mountain at the end of the session and swapping with the men’s contest for the first time. For fastest qualifier Marine Cabirou (Canyon DH Racing), it also meant closing out the racing with the last race run of the day.“It’s pretty amazing, and it was pretty amazing to live that once in my life. It was insane to see everyone go at the top and feel alone. I think it’s amazing for women’s sport to do that at least once per year.“My highlight is winning the qualifying because it was the first time in my life, and I finished second after starting last. Finally, I start to feel myself again on the bike so I’m happy with that. It gives me a lot of confidence. I was feeling good in South Korea but I crashed in the race run so I lost a bit of confidence. It was a bit hard to find the pace in Loudenvielle and to push again, but finally I feel good again and confident on the bike so it will be good for the next one.”NEWKIRK A FAN OF THE SWITCHAnna Newkirk (Frameworks / TRP Racing) was also a fan of the women’s race swapping with the men’s field, although noted how it left her with more time than she is used to on race day.“It was really cool getting to drop so late in the day. I dropped at 3pm. I normally race at 1pm or 12:30pm depending on how I qualified. It was so cool getting to go so late and having such a big crowd was really awesome as well.“What time I put my race run down doesn’t really matter to me. I guess it’s the same with start order – I don’t care if I drop first. I’ve never dropped last but I’ve dropped second to last a handful of times now. I don’t really care when I drop. I’m racing against myself.“I guess one thing that was pretty different was having so much time to overthink everything. We had five hours between practice and finals, so I was just sitting there thinking all day. I tried to take a nap and instead of napping I was just going through the track again over and over in my head.”ILES HAPPY TO BE OUT OF THE ONE WIN CLUBAnother Elite winner in Saalfelden-Leogang Salzburgerland was Finn Iles (Specialized Factory Racing). The Canadian has been on an upward trajectory this season and his victory was the first since his debut in 2022.“I didn’t expect it today. It feels good to get it done. Second time feels a lot different. It feels like we put a lot of work to get here. Four years, five seasons since I won in MSA. It’s been a long time.“I can’t say thank you enough to the team I have around me. The bike is a machine and I think Loïc [Bruni]’s been second in Korea, Jordan [Williams] was third in Loudenvielle and for me to win it means a lot. The biggest thing we did was trust what we already knew about the bike. We’ve done so much testing so we can predict what the conditions are going to be like and how the bike is going to react to those predictions. The boys made a big change after practice day. They softened the rear end, we stiffened the fork and we added air to the main chamber. “Last year was such a downer. I just struggled through everything. I was dealing with injuries to my back, so I never felt like I could train or ride properly. I can’t say thank you enough to Specialized, all the people around me, my girlfriend, my family for just helping me build myself back up into who I know I can be, and to be at the top feels amazing. I hope I can stay here and just build upon myself, build confidence, focus and continue to make this bike faster than it already is. All the stuff I went through last year has just made me a better athlete. It’s made me look at all the small details”.MARTIN, RILEY AND ALDRIDGE SHARE THOUGHTS ON VARIED RACE WEEKENDThe cross-country riders took to the Saalfelden-Leogang Salzburgerland trails either side of the downhill action, and Ashleigh Wilmot caught up with Luca Martin (Cannondale Factory Racing), Bjorn Riley (Scott-SRAM MTB Race Team) and Charlie Aldridge (Cannondale Factory Racing) after the dust had settled on a feisty XCO that saw second-place finisher Mathis Azzaro (Origine Racing Division) disqualified for taking the wrong line through the tech zone and Martin and Riley bumped up to second and third respectively as a result.“My first feeling is I was sorry for him because he did the wrong thing, but it’s not nice to be disqualified,” said Martin.“I had no clue. I thought I was fourth,” added Riley. “I felt like it was super cool, but the same as Luca [Martin], at the end of the day if you’re in [Azzaro’s] position, it’s a big bummer. It’s a hard one. It’s still really cool to be third.”Aldridge meanwhile had to settle for 35th, but the Brit was returning from a chest infection so was realistic about his result.“I tried to manage my effort. When you’ve had a chest infection for the last two weeks and you’re still coughing, your body’s not at 100% and you can’t push the same. The short track I thought was going to be fine and then I lasted about 15 minutes and blew my doors off. I still came 17th, so that was still good. [For the XCO], I was on cruise control, managing my effort, but the last two laps were pretty tough. I enjoyed it. It’s cool to be here, and the descents are really good fun.”Talk then turned to hobbies, with Martin and Riley sharing a passion for rally cars, while Aldridge likes to spend his off-season trail building for his bikes.“I’m lucky at home, I’ve got some good places to build trails near me,” added Aldridge. “The mountain is my canvas and my art. I go out and can really make it feel how I want to. You can make the trail and then ride it after with your mates. I built my own cross-country course so I can go and train on that.”All three will be in action again this weekend in Lenzerheide (Switzerland) with the racing coming thick and fast over the coming weeks.“It’s great because you can be so lazy,” said Riley. “Now, it’s about recovering, getting your easy spins in, a few intervals and then other than that, you just go and eat food and get physio. It’s nice to have a flow. The hardest thing is managing form. You need to have a bigger block every couple of weeks but you have six weeks and it’s full gas. Your form is hard to hold."

The second UCI Enduro World Cup round of this year’s WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series brought riders to the iconic slopes of the Epic Bike Park in Saalfelden Leogang – Salzburgerland (Austria).Riders completed 73.37 kilometres of racing across six demanding stages, including 2,000 metres of descending. The conditions were also a challenge with heavy rain showers throughout the day resulting in slippery conditions on the slopes.After finishing third at the venue last year, 19-year-old Winnifred Goldsbury showed her talent by winning the Elite Women’s race by an impressive margin of 24 seconds from defending overall champion Ella Conolly and Mélanie Pugin (Speed Project) in third.Defending Elite Men’s overall champion Sławomir Łukasik (Yeti/Fox Factory Race Team) took his first win of this season’s campaign by just four seconds ahead of Lief Rodgers in second, while Marius Tenet Berrat took third in a close finish.Speed Project won the mixed team competition and extended their lead in the overall team standings, ahead of Yeti/Fox Factory Race Team. In the Men’s Junior category Hugo Marti Montessinos recorded his second win of the season, while Nežka Libnik took the Women’s Junior honours.GOLDSBURY SHOWS TALENT IN MAIDEN ELITE UCI WORLD CUP WINIn just her second year as a Women’s Elite rider Winnifred Goldsbury conquered the slippery Saalfelden Leogang – Salzburgerland slopes to make her own history. However, it was rival Ella Conolly who came into the race full of confidence after dominating the previous round at Loudenvielle-Peyragudes (France).The 2.4-kilometre opening stage provided a rocky feel of what would follow. Goldsbury showed her talent and took an early 16-second lead, ahead of Mélanie Pugin (Speed Project) and Conolly was at 22.3 seconds. The battle continued into the longer 3.6-kilometre X Line section and Goldsbury again led the way, despite riding the stage with a puncture. Conolly used her previous experience of the stage to remain just seven tenths of a second behind, while Nadine Ellecosta placed a close third.The 1.7-kilometre long Matzalm Trail provided a test of bike handling with the course littered by chunky roots. Goldsbury had further issues after a small crash resulted in her losing four seconds. Elly Hoskins set her first best time on the stage of 4:53, with Conolly just two seconds behind the leading time. Pugin was another casualty of the difficult third stage as a crash saw her lose 16 seconds.Talented Slovakian rider Simona Kuchyňková (Cube Action Team) had a nightmare opening round in Loudenvielle-Peyragudes when a mechanical off the starting ramp ended her day. After losing time on the early stages Kuchyňková came charging back on the iconic Hangman test, finishing the 1.78-kilometre stage in 4:13.Goldsbury remained in overall control, despite seeing her early lead reduced slightly by Conolly. A short transition followed to the short but difficult 820-metre long Back to the Roots.Goldsbury showed her fearlessness nature as her time of 3:00 was 5.5 seconds faster than Pugin and 13.6 seconds better than Conolly. Despite finishing eighth on the short final stage Goldsbury had done enough to secure her maiden Elite UCI World Cup victory.Conolly finished runner-up and leads the overall standings after two rounds, while Pugin settled for third after suffering several crashes during the day.“To win my first Elite World Cup here means so much to me,” said Goldsbury. “This is where I won my first Junior World Cup. Coming back here and doing that well is crazy for me.”ŁUKASIK BATTLES BACK IN OVERALL TITLE DEFENCEDefending overall champion Sławomir Łukasik (Yeti/Fox Factory Race Team) was pushed all the way for victory on the slippery slopes of Saalfelden Leogang – Salzburgerland. The Polish rider came into the round looking for redemption after crashing in Loudenvielle-Peyragudes and losing vital points.Frenchman Marius Tenet Berrat finished a career-best eighth position two weeks earlier on home soil. The 20-year-old looked to go even better on the Austrian slopes and posted a best time of 5:55 on the 2.4-kilometre opening section.Łukasik was determined to have an improved performance in Austria and was three seconds back after the opening stage, along with Lief Rodgers. Meanwhile, Jt Fisher (Yeti/Fox Factory Race Team) was an early withdrawal after crashing on the first stage and was left frustrated following a promising practice session on Friday. Round 1 winner Alex Rudeau also had issues in the opening stage and lost 23 seconds to his title rivals.The second stage provided a mixture of terrain in 3.67 kilometres, including rocky and wooded sections, alongside a section of bike park with a good surface to help speed. Łukasik used his power and experience to post a fastest time of 7:23, some five seconds faster than Rudeau, while Tenet Berrat lost a further two seconds.Rudeau responded to the pressure and showed his bike handling ability again on stage 3 to post a quickest time of 3:54 over the 1.78-kilometre stage. Meanwhile, Łukasik only managed eighth on the stage some 10 seconds back and saw his overall lead cut to two seconds by Tenet Berrat, while Rodgers also remained in contention.The defending overall champion was tested again on the difficult 1.87-kilometre-long Hangman section. Łukasik rose to the occasion winning the stage by just one tenth of a second from Rodgers, while Tenet Berrat lost four seconds in the overall tussle. With little to separate the top three riders overall the fearsome Back to the Roots test the concentration of all the challengers. Rudeau was quickest clocking 2:24 over the 820-metre test, with Rodgers a close second and Łukasik losing three seconds and seeing his overall lead cut to four seconds.In the final stage Łukasik completed his performance by going fastest, while Rodgers secured a career-best runner-up spot overall. Tenet Berrat was also celebrating after clinching a first UCI Enduro World Cup podium with third. Rudeau recovered from a first stage crash to place sixth and keeps his lead in the overall heading into the third round.Race winner Łukasik said: “I’m so happy. I was so stressed after the last round. I felt pretty good in Loudenvielle-Peyragudes and I don’t know what happened. I knew Leogang is pretty good for me as I’ve known this place for many years from downhill and enduro. It’s finally getting number one after finishing twice in third place.”MONTESSINOS AND LIBNIK HOLD NERVES AND TAKE COMMANDING WINSHugo Marti Montessinos continued his domination of the Men’s Junior category by taking his second win from as many rounds. The Frenchman carried his confidence into the first stage and set the quickest time by five seconds. However, Italian Lorenzo Noferini responded on the 3.67-kilometre long X Line, with Montessinos losing 10 seconds and the overall lead to Czech rider Šimon Lehký. Montessinos responded and held his nerve on the iconic Hangman stage, posting the quickest time and finishing 10 seconds faster than Lehký. The Frenchman did not look back also winning the fifth and placing second on the last stage to secure the overall honours. Meanwhile, a battle behind saw German rider Quirin Bach place consistently to edge second place, finishing five tenths of a second quicker than Lehký in third.The Women’s Junior category was blown open after previous round winner Romy Williams failed to finish the opening stage and was out of the event. Nežka Libnik took control winning every stage and winning overall by 3:31. Swedish competitor Ella Mårtensson placed second and Emily Malin Hoyle was third.“The race was super fun,” said Libnik. “It was sketchy at moments, but it was very nice. I fell two times, but I got up and continued with the race. The views are so nice, I’ll definitely come back here.”The WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series will provide another weekend of packed action when it continues at Bike Kingdom – Lenzerheide in Switzerland between 19 and 21 June. UCI Downhill World Cup competitors will be joined by Endurance riders, who will compete in the UCI XCC and XCO World Cup. Meanwhile, Enduro riders will return to action at Val di Fassa – Trentino (Italy) on 26 to 28 June.