Łukasik and Conolly Dominate to Win Debut Overall Enduro Titles

In its third season as broadcaster, promoter and organiser, Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) Sports drove the 2025 WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series to new records across broadcast, digital and social platforms, and on-site fan attendance*.2025 reached a true turning point with significant updates to UCI Regulations, including major changes to the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup qualification system and the introduction of WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series Teams. These reforms build on a groundbreaking long-term partnership between WBD Sports and the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) launched in 2023, unifying most major mountain bike formats under a single brand for the first time.During 16 race weekends in 10 countries across three continents, 64 UCI World Cup winners were crowned, with new overall champions emerging in all-but-one Elite category, highlighting the heightened competitiveness and excitement driven by the latest reforms. On the industry side, 30 mountain bike manufacturers secured UCI World Cup victories through their trade teams during the season with Canyon leading the table, closely followed by Cube and Specialized.The 2025 season also welcomed an exciting new long-term partner venue in La Thuile – Valle D’Aosta  (Italy), which hosted the first-ever UCI Enduro World Cup night race, alongside the introduction of a thrilling Downhill course at a 2024 newcomer venue Lake Placid Olympic Region (USA) and the return of several iconic venues across South America, North America and Europe.NEW BENCHMARKS SET FOR VIEWERSHIPFor the third consecutive year, the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series saw record-breaking worldwide TV viewership. WBD’s channels and platforms (HBO Max, Eurosport, discovery+ and TNT Sports) accounted for the majority of the audience, generating over 87 million cumulative views across the season. This growth was fuelled bythousands of hours of racing broadcast on over 25 partner TV and streaming channels, extending the series’ reach to fans in over 150 countries and territories worldwide.As part of the reform, the UCI and WBD Sports also worked closely with the teams to deliver greater exposure and enhanced marketing opportunities. Broadcast graphics were upgraded to maximise on-screen visibility and increase the media value for teams, athletes and brands, incorporating elements such as headshots, race bike images, team logos, colours, career numbers and national flags. These enhancements helped raise awareness among millions of fans watching worldwide, while creating a more cohesive and recognisable visual identity across events and media platforms.In parallel, WBD continued to enhance its broadcasts to help viewers better understand the racing and provide deeper context for fans at home, with accessible, data-driven insights such as heart-rate zones and athlete strain metrics during races — all powered by WHOOP.In 2025, WBD also invested in a portfolio of non-live cycling content, with the launch of two new, original documentaries – Grit and Glory: Enduro Mountain Bike Racing, an inside look at the 2025 UCI Enduro World Cup season, and Race Bikes, a deep dive into the sport’s fastest machines.FAN-LED GROWTHWBD takes storytelling beyond live broadcasts, capturing every moment on and off the track through comprehensive digital and social coverage.During the 2025 season, more than 250,000 new users followed the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series official accounts (TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube), bringing the total follower count to 1.25 million. This season, social channels have continued to bring fans closer to the action whilst attracting new audiences to the sport, surpassing one billion impressions since the start of the WBD Sports era in 2023.This interest carried over into the expanded media coverage of the series on owned and earned platforms. The new official WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series website (an essential hub for all news, previews, reports and athlete profiles) saw record-breaking volumes of traffic in 2025, generating 5 million total page views (+233% vs 2024) taking the total to more than 10 million since the series’ inception in 2023.Along with the millions of viewers watching at home and online, a record 440,000 fans attended on-site, with 97% of those surveyed saying they would return to another WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series event in the future. More than 100,000 descended on Haute-Savoie alone over two weekends of racing in Les Gets and Morillon.Chris Ball, VP Cycling Events at Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe, said: “The third year of the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series has exceeded all expectations. What began as an ambitious vision a few years ago has now become one of the most thrilling spectacles on the international sporting calendar. With the continued support of the UCI, which has embraced our ambition for change, we have introduced reforms that are genuinely transforming the sport and elevating the experience for both athletes and fans.We are proud to see these results reflect the positive response to the changes we believed in from the outset, and we remain confident that we will continue to drive growth and innovation with every new season.”UCI President David Lappartientsaid: "From the opening rounds in Brazil in April, to four months of racing in European destinations, before returning to the American continent for the final two rounds - in the USA and Canada – the 2025 WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series was an enormous success. Thanks to our collaboration with Warner Bros. Discovery Sports we have taken this leading mountain bike series to new heights, both in terms of sporting interest and international popularity. We will continue to work together to build on this success and ensure that both mountain bike athletes and fans can continue to look forward to innovative and exciting season-long competitions.”EYES ON 2026The 2025 season marked the most significant overhaul in mountain bike since the inception of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in 1991, reshaping the sport’s landscape, raising professional standards across the series, and elevating elite teams to new levels and new audiences worldwide. Building on these strong foundations, the 2026 WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series aims to deliver another record-breaking season across all four formats.The 2026 season kicks off in May with the Race of South Korea – marking the return of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup to the Asian continent for the first time in 25 years. The series will also make first-time stops at Soldier Hollow, Midway, Utah (USA) and Downhill’s spiritual home of Whistler Mountain Bike Park, British Columbia (Canada), delivering on decades of anticipation from fans, teams and athletes alike. And this is just a taste of things to come, with 14 race weekend across three continents, nine countries, including two quadruple headers and a series finale in the US at the iconic Lake Placid Olympic Region.*Figures from January 1st – November 1st 2025

Trentino, a staple region on the WHOOP UCI MTB World Series calendar, has been awarded hosting rights for the 2031 Cycling Super World Championships.Announced in Kigali, Rwanda following a vote during the UCI’s annual congress, the event will follow a series of world-class events to grace the region over the next six years that also includes the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games, Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games and the 2028 Winter Youth Olympics.The 2031 edition of the UCI Super World Championships will span two weeks and unite all major cycling disciplines in one location, including road, track, mountain bike, gravel, BMX, trials, enduro, granfondo, indoor cycling, cycling e-sports, pump track, and bike polo. More than 10,000 athletes are expected to participate across 20 disciplines, with over 200 rainbow jerseys on the line in elite, youth, para-cycling, and masters categories.“This result rewards Trentino’s proven ability to host world-class events,” said Maurizio Fugatti, President of the Autonomous Province of Trento. “We are extremely proud that the UCI has entrusted us with organizing the 2031 Super World Championships.”Andrea Abodi, Italian Minister for Sport and Youth“The awarding of this ‘World of Worlds’ to Italy for 2031 – said Minister Andrea Abodi – is another wonderful international recognition of our ability to present a bid rich in content and opportunities, capable of combining an excellent project with the credibility of a team of institutions that have worked together over time for a common goal. Trentino, together with Veneto for the velodrome being built in Spresiano, confirms itself as a land of sport, the land of cycling par excellence, with all the requirements needed to guarantee a fantastic world-class event, both technically and in terms of the emotions this land can offer. These will be six years of joint work with the Autonomous Province of Trento, Trentino Marketing, all the municipalities involved, and the Italian Cycling Federation, aiming to add many other cultural and social contents to the sporting dimension, making the world cycling festival unforgettable. The Government will work to ensure a positive legacy in three areas: promoting cycling in schools, developing infrastructure for the various cycling disciplines, and improving safety for those who ride bikes for sport or leisure. I wish good work to everyone from now on for this exciting new chapter in Italian sport, congratulating President Fugatti and his team for achieving this prestigious goal and thanking UCI President David Lappartient for the trust he has placed in us.”Luciano Buonfiglio, CONI President“With pride and satisfaction, I welcome the awarding of the 2031 UCI World Championships to Trentino. Today a unique territory has been rewarded, and once again Italy’s ability to organize major sporting events has been recognized. This is the result of fantastic teamwork between institutions, the Federation, and local organizations. This ‘Super Worlds,’ which brings together all disciplines, will provide an extraordinary showcase for our country and its sporting and cultural heritage, fueling the passion for two-wheeled sports that has always inspired Italians.”Cordiano Dagnoni, President of the Italian Cycling Federation“We are particularly pleased with the awarding of the 2031 UCI Super World Championships to Trentino, which rewards the ability of a region that has demonstrated in recent years that it can welcome and organize every cycling discipline in the best possible way, consistently achieving excellent participation levels. At this point, we just need the new velodrome, which the Federation is working on together with the UCI: it will be a facility worthy of a world-class event. As a country and as the Italian Cycling Federation, we are particularly proud because this confirms our reliability as organizers and our high-quality standards, now universally recognized.”

The 2025 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships are well underway in Valais, Switzerland, and it was the Gravity formats that were getting in on the action first. For the second-ever UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Enduro, Aletsch Arena/Bellwald was chosen as the venue, with racing split over two days – three stages on day one, and three stages on day two. The UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Downhill, meanwhile, returned to the canton’s iconic Champéry track – scene of the Downhill 2011 UCI World Championship and Danny Hart’s (Great Britain) wet and wild ride. RUDE AND LUKASIK GO TO THE WIRE Richard Rude Jr (USA) might be a legend of Enduro riding, but his impressive collection of honours lacked a rainbow jersey after he missed out on the debut UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Enduro to Alex Rudeau (France) last year.  While the American might have switched his focus this to Downhill season, the 30-year-old wasn’t going to let the opportunity to right the wrongs of last year pass him by, and lined up in Aletsch Arena/Bellwald, Valais with a point to prove. There was one man who would attempt to stand in his way, though –Yeti/Fox Factory Racing Team teammate Sławomir Łukasik (Poland). The Pole had already clinched this year’s overall series, which included his first three UCI Enduro World Cup wins, and had his own goal to become the first ride to win the overall UCI World Cup and UCI World Championship in the same year. Initially, the advantage went to Lukasik, who led after the first day’s three stages, even with a 25th place finish in stage three. Rude was his consistent self, though, remaining within the top four on the first three stages to sit second. After stage four, Łukasik extended his advantage, but Rude had other ideas. The American smoked the field, using all of his race-winning experience to claw back five seconds on Łukasik on stage five, before edging him in the final stage to win by 2.5 seconds. Image: SWpix Stage one winner Elliot Jamieson (Canada) would round out the podium, recording his best Elite Enduro result to date. 2025 UCI Enduro World Cup winner Melvin Almueis (France) also took the men’s Junior UCI World Championship title. HOSKIN OVERCOMES CONOLLY IN FINAL STAGE SHOWDOWN The battle was almost as tight in the women’s field, albeit with four riders within 10 seconds of the winning time. Elly Hoskins (Canada) set the early pace, winning stage one and stage three. But it was Ella Conolly (Great Britain), who led at the halfway point – the UCI Enduro World Cup overall winner fastest on stage two and still showing strong form despite skipping the final UCI Enduro World Cup round of the season in Morillon, Haute-Savoie (France). Image: SWpix Stage four saw last year’s overall winner, Harriet Harnden (Great Britain), come to the fore, but it was too little too late for the Brit, who like Rude, has also been focusing on Downhill this year. Stage five witnessed a big swing in the lead, Hoskin taking 20 seconds from Conolly. And it would ultimately set up the win for the Canadian, who took another nine seconds from the Brit on the final stage to win by 4.53 seconds. Mélanie Pugin (France) would take the final podium spot, pipping Harnden in the final stage. Nežka Libnik (Slovenia) claimed the women’s Junior top spot. GOLDSTONE BLITZES THE FIELD Jackson Goldstone (Canada) is making up for lost time. After sitting out last season with injury, the 21-year-old has been the in-form rider of 2025, equaling Aaron Gwin’s record by winning four consecutive UCI Downhill World Cups, and finds himself at the top of the UCI Downhill World Cup rankings. A firm favourite ahead of the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships, it was interesting to see how the Canadian reacted after a disappointing result last time out in Les Gets, Haute-Savoie (France) the week before. It didn’t seem to phase him, and he piloted his Santa Cruz V10 down the bone dry course in his signature smooth style. He led from the first intermediate split and didn’t look back, piecing together an insanely fast run that no one could get close to. Henri Kiefer (Germany) was the surprise package and had a long wait in the hot seat until Goldstone finally shaved almost two seconds off of his 2:56.099 time. Ronan Dunne (Ireland) meanwhile continued his strong form, adding a bronze medal to his second UCI Downhill World Cup win in Les Gets, Haute-Savoie. Frenchman and five-time World Champion Loïc Bruni was the last rider down the hill but crashed out before posting a time, handing the rainbow jersey to the Canadian and adding another dramatic chapter to their season-long battle in the UCI Downhill World Cup. Frances’s Max Alran took the Men Junior UCI World Championship title. HÖLL EDGES NICOLE TO WIN HER FOURTH CONSECUTIVE TITLE Valentina Höll (Austria) hasn’t won a bike race since the 2024 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Andorra last August. The 23-year-old has been close to the top spot since, and even leads the UCI Downhill World Cup rankings thanks to her consistency, but a win has seemingly alluded her at every turn. When it comes to the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships, though, she can raise her game to another level – as shown in her three consecutive rainbow jerseys coming into Champéry. Image: SWpix After the first split, it was looking like it might be the end of her winning streak – Tahnée Seagrave (Great Britain) recording the fastest first section. But Höll was just getting into her groove, and set about dominating the rest of the mountain. By split two, she was in the green, and she gradually started to increase her lead thanks to her consistent and calculated way of riding. The last rider other than Höll to wear the rainbow jersey – Myriam Nicole (France) – was the only athlete within a second of the Austrian’s time, stopping the clock 0.667 seconds down. Marine Cabirou (France) made it a French 2-3. In the junior category, Rosa Zierl (Austria) took the win.