UCI MOUNTAIN BIKE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW: TOM PIDCOCK AND PAULINE FERRAND-PRÉVOT AIMING FOR A GOLDEN DOUBLE, WHILE LOÏC BRUNI AND VALI HÖLL AMONGST DOWNHILL FAVOURITES

Apocalyptic conditions greeted the UCI XCO World Cup riders in South Korea as heavy rain turned the course into a mud bath, leaving races that seemed to play out in slow motion. Frei and Lillo defied the miserable weather to chalk up their maiden XCO victories.On the UCI XCO World Cup’s first visit to Asia, Frei became the 53rd women’s victor in the discipline and the 10th to triumph in Cross-country Olympic and Short track in the same week after her Friday triumph in MONA YongPyong, while Lillo joins a club of 63 other male winners.They took their wins in contrasting styles, as Lillo dominated while Frei waited until the final lap to make her move, but both riders lit up the gloomy day with beaming smiles as they crossed the finish line.Meanwhile Nicolas Halter (Thömus maxon) and Valentina Corvi (Canyon XC Racing) claimed victory in the Under 23 competitions, as the 2026 WHOOP UCI MTB World Series curtain-raiser came to a close in South Korea.FREI BESTS RISSVEDS AND MUNRO IN BATTLE ROYALEJenny Rissveds (Canyon XC Racing) looked to have the Elite Women’s race sewn up when she shot out to a 25-second lead on the opening lap, instead she was forced to settle for second following an enthralling race-long battle against Frei and Madigan Munro (LIV Factory Racing).Rissveds immediately piled on the pressure with only Frei and Savilia Blunk (Decathlon Ford Racing Team) able to follow, as Evie Richards (Trek - Unbroken XC) missed her pedal at the start on what turned out to be a difficult day for the Brit that included a heavy crash.Soon Rissveds went completely clear and appeared set to pick up where she left off last season and run away with her third successive victory, but she hit a wall on the second lap, allowing Frei to re-establish contact after dropping Blunk.As conditions continued to cause problems behind - including domino effects whenever a rider crashed on descent - Frei, Rissveds and Munro continued to trade blows, with the latter attacking Frei as she took the bell for the final lap.Yet the Swiss rider bounced back to first overhaul Munro, who recorded the best performance of her career on the way to the podium, then Rissveds who had led every single time across the line until the one that mattered most.As Jennifer Jackson (Orbea Fox Factory Team) inched into view behind, Rissveds slipped at a crucial moment giving Frei the critical breathing space she needed to clinch her maiden XCO win – just months after breaking her hand.“Finally. It took years, but once again our staff was so amazing. We had such great bikes, so light and that was crucial in these weather conditions,” Frei said.“This winter when I was injured, I did a lot of stepper work [in the gym] so maybe it helped me because otherwise I never run! Patience was crucial for sure today, and for me it was important to try and ride my own race. The bike was working so smooth up and down and it was such a great atmosphere here.”LILLO SECURES DOMINANT MAIDEN WINWith Specialized Factory Racing’s reigning champion Christopher Blevins missing the opening XCO round with a collarbone injury suffered in training in South Korea, the Elite Men’s field was wide open and the young guns stepped up in style.The entire podium was aged 25 or under while another of the most impressive riders of the day was Finn Treudler (CUBE Factory Racing), making his first appearance in an Elite UCI World Cup.Treudler’s afternoon was derailed by a series of mechanical issues that the rookie struggled to manage, but even if he had enjoyed a trouble-free race then it would’ve been a struggle to match the peerless Lillo.Like Rissveds, Lillo built a comfortable lead of 17 seconds over Treudler in the first lap as the 22-year-old was the only rider within half a minute of the early favourite. And though Treudler kept in touch for another lap, ultimately his first chain slip cost him any shot at victory and further bike problems consigned him to a 12th-placed finish.With the men’s race significantly more impacted by equipment than the women’s, some riders including Canyon Factory Racing’s Luca Schwarzbauer elected to switch to an intermediate tyre à la Formula 1, while early Specialized Factory Racing contender Martín Vidaurre saw his challenge also ended by a premature puncture.Instead, Cannondale Factory Racing pair Luca Martin and Charlie Aldridge stepped to the fore in Treudler’s absence, toting the famous Cannondale ‘leftie fork’ that worked wonders in the mud, and rode onto the podium at 1:46 and 2:39 behind the victorious Lillo.“I don’t know what to say. At the beginning of the week, when I looked at the forecast and I saw it was rain predicted for Sunday, I already told my teammates that Sunday’s going to be my day,” Lillo said.“When I woke up in the morning it was like ‘ok, today is the day’, I was so nervous before the start. We had a plan and everything just happened.“During the race, before the last lap, I didn’t really have any emotions in me. I crossed the finish line and the feeling I have at the moment, I’ve never experienced something in my life like that.It’s really difficult to put into words, I think I need a few minutes to understand what just happened.”CORVI AND HALTER STORM TO U23 WINSValentina Corvi became the first UCI XCO World Cup winner of the 2026 season as she stormed to U23’s victory at MONA YongPyong.The Italian attacked from the off and built a 40-second lead on the opening lap that she continued to grow throughout the race, eventually finishing 3:28 ahead of Elina Benoit (Lexware Mountainbike Team) as Bailey Cioppa rounded out the podium.Returning to the category that she won by 178 points last season, Corvi stamped her authority on the race immediately with Benoit clearly the second-best rider as she looks to improve on her seventh-place overall finish in 2025.“It’s amazing, today has been a really hard race,” Corvi said. “The mud was really hard and we had to run a lot, it was really tough. I’m super happy to win this.“I just tried to make my pace, my speed and not to make mistakes in the downhill. And just keep pushing, I saw the gap was becoming really big, I’m really happy. I just enjoyed this win and I’m looking forward to the next stages.”Nicolas Halter didn’t have quite as straightforward an afternoon as Corvi, but he also led every lap en route to a 35-second victory.Paul Schehl (Lexware Mountainbike Team) rallied on the final lap to cut almost half a minute off Halter’s lead, but the Swiss rider had built up such a buffer that he still crossed the line arms aloft with no other riders in sight.Like Corvi, Schehl simply rode the rest of the pack off his wheel early on, and Canyon XC Racing’s Thibaut François Baudry was the only other rider to finish within a minute of him.“I can’t believe it yet,” Halter said. “I already felt really good in the first uphill and I knew today is a good day. I think the key today was to ride smooth. Everybody makes faults but no big faults so I think that was the key today. Full gas all the time but never in the dark red.“I just concentrated on myself, I knew the race will be long, it was pretty slow so I just tried to ride smooth all the time and then I got the gap.”Five countries were represented on the U23 podiums, a fraction of the 37 nations that were on the entry sheets across the UCI Cross-country and Downhill World Cup rounds in South Korea.However, neither Halter nor Corvi could help their teams make much impact in the mixed team standings as Specialized Factory Racing lead the way after round one, with Trek - Unbroken XC and Cannondale Factory Racing just 56 and 62 points behind.Frei, Lillo, Halter and Corvi’s victories brought an end to the opening WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series of the season but the Cross-country competitors aren’t out of action for long as the UCI World Cup returns to Nové Město na Moravě in Czechia from May 22-25.

Asa Vermette (Frameworks Racing / TRP) and Vali Höll (Commencal Schwalbe by Les Orres) stamped their authority on a historic opening round of the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series at MONA YongPyong in stunning style. Höll defied a flat back tyre as she stormed to victory while Vermette became the first rider to win an Elite UCI Downhill World Cup round on debut after qualifying fastest.It was a day for the history books as the UCI Downhill World Cup raced in South Korea for the first time, with Myriam Nicole (COMMENCAL/MUC-OFF by Riding Addiction) equalling Sabrina Jonnier’s record for the most race starts in women’s Downhill (93), while Höll’s victory means Commencal draws level with Cannondale as the winningest bike brand in the women’s discipline.Nicole made it a day to remember by finishing third in the women’s elite final, behind Gloria Scarsi (MS-Racing) and Höll who proved it was new team, no problem.Yet it was a tale of two UCI World Champions at MONA YongPyong as a disappointed Jackson Goldstone (Santa Cruz Syndicate) began the defence of his overall UCI World Cup title with a 26th-placed finish following a crash.After surrendering the UCI World Cup overall crown to Goldstone in the most dramatic of circumstances last year, it looked like Loïc Bruni (Specialized Gravity) would kickstart his revenge tour with victory, but he was upstaged by the 2025 Junior Men’s UCI Downhill World Cup runner-up in an Elite men’s competition that had everything.Meanwhile Höll wasn’t the fastest woman down the course as Aletha Ostgaard (Canyon DH Racing) sensationally won the Junior race with a time 0.841 seconds faster than the Austrian, and Jonty Williamson (Yeti / Fox Factory Race Team) won the Men’s Junior crown.VERMETTE LEADS NEW WAVE IN SOUTH KOREAA fascinating challenge greeted the riders in Korea as the surface of the dusty, rocky course made it hard to regain speed after errors, emphasising the importance of smoothness over aggression on the brand new 1.8km run.And a string of Elite male riders started strongly but saw their chances fade on the constantly evolving course, which caused particular problems in the wooded section before the Monster Energy Drop in the third quarter.That was where Jackson Goldstone came unstuck - though that wasn’t even the most dramatic crash of the day - in a men’s marathon competition.Kenneth Ryan Pinkerton (Mondraker Factory Racing DH) spent well over an hour in the hotseat thanks to his benchmark time of 2:47.578. In what was a theme all day, plenty of riders spent time in the green before either succumbing to Pinkerton’s rapid finish or losing control of their bikes, underlining the need for consistency and control on the tricky MONA YongPyong course.Finally, debutant Till Alran dislodged the American after his brother Max (both COMMENCAL/MUC-OFF by Riding Addiction) had been less than two tenths off taking the lead, but his reign didn’t last long as Bruni surged ahead by over two seconds. However, Bruni had barely taken his place on the throne when second-placed qualifier Amaury Pierron (COMMENCAL/MUC-OFF by Riding Addiction) looked set to take another huge slice off the leading time.Pierron was 1.6 seconds in the green approaching the final split but dramatically slid out, then remounted his bike and still went second at less than half a second behind Bruni.“I was quite suspicious about that section, I first lost my front wheel on the previous left, came into the following left maybe with too much angle, too much fire in me. I wanted it so bad,” Pierron said.His slip left just one rider with the opportunity to beat Bruni: Vermette starting his first-ever elite UCI World Cup race.Yet after he was slightly down at the first split, the American responded emphatically to take his historic first victory by a massive 1.5 seconds. He was the lone set of stars and stripes at the top of a leaderboard otherwise dominated by French riders as Bruni, Pierron, Alran plus Loris Vergier (COMMENCAL/MUC-OFF by Riding Addiction) and Nathan Pontvienne (Santa Cruz Burgtec by Goodman) all finished in the top six.Vermette paid tribute to the impact of legendary new Frameworks Racing / TRP signing Aaron Gwin (who finished 17th in South Korea) in advising him on how to navigate the time between qualifying and the race, adding: “I was so nervous at the top. My first World Cup, I’m dropping last, I was like ‘Oh my God’, I did a good run yesterday, so I just tried to do the same thing. I guess it worked.“I just had to go back to remembering why I started doing this, I love biking and that’s all I’m doing really, riding a bike down a mountain, that’s all I had to do. It all went away when I got on the track.“I’ve been dreaming of a World Cup win and doing it my first time is insane, I would never have dreamed of it like this. All the emotions were going through my head; I couldn’t believe it really.”HÖLL BACK TO HER BEST TO TAME TRICKY COURSESacha Earnest (Trek-Unbroken DH) was the early pacesetter in the Elite Women’s competition, gliding down the course to set a benchmark time of 3:17.409 that wouldn’t be beaten for another half an hour, as several higher-profile names came up short.Anna Newkirk (Frameworks Racing / TRP), Phoebe Gale (Orbea FMD Racing) and Marine Cabirou (Canyon DH Racing) were all up on the New Zealander before crashing while Gale’s teammate Tahnée Seagrave also came unstuck in the lower part of the course.Indeed, had Cabirou stayed on her bike throughout then, she may have been Höll’s toughest opponent, as the Frenchwoman threw everything at her run and was the fastest rider of the day through the first two splits before hitting the floor.Vali Höll finally ended Earnest’s stint in the hotseat despite carrying a flat tyre that she didn’t notice because of the loose surface, and none of the final five riders even rode a sector faster than the Austrian.Myriam Nicole showed discretion can be the better part of valour on a reserved run that contrasted sharply with her compatriot Cabirou. While not able to end her 624-day wait for a UCI World Cup win, she went second before being knocked down a peg by Gloria Scarsi. Harriet Harnden couldn’t repeat her qualifying heroics, missing out on a podium place by three tenths.“I’ve never struggled that much on a track ever before, I really doubted myself” Höll said. “Or [considered] just going back to Seoul and going shopping or something.“I also know the juniors’ times. Congratulations Aletha [Ostgaard] that’s pretty insane. I have to go a little bit faster or just not look at the times, so I’m not so stressed at the start.“It was really hard to race, it didn’t feel like a proper race run because you had to be so patient and ride it more like Enduro. I’m blown away that I could take the win here especially with a new team and a new bike, new people around. It’s a pretty good time.“I was a bit nervous about Max Commencal being here so I’m happy I could tick that off and I made him happy, made the whole team happy and made myself happy. I hope we can keep it going.”OSTGAARD AND WILLIAMSON DRAW FIRST BLOOD IN JUNIORSMany of the Junior field were racing on this UCI World Cup for the first time, including the spectacular Tilly Boadle (Commencal Schwalbe by Les Orres), whose eye-catching riding style was spectacular if not so well-suited to the YongPyong course.Instead, 2025 runner-up Aletha Ostgaard became the first victor of the UCI Downhill World Cup season, continuing her fine form from the end of last campaign. Ostgaard’s tidy run secured her third successive win while reigning champion Rosa Zierl (Cube Factory Racing) was forced to settle for second after some minor mistakes on her run.Last off the start ramp, Zierl couldn’t match the woman she bested last season, but the Austrian looked far from disappointed to have 50 points on the board while Ostgaard said:“It feels unreal. Honestly, I know how Rosa [Zierl] is, she just gets faster throughout a run, so I was so scared especially when I saw that first green split. But I had a solid day today, I felt really really good so I knew if I had a clean run in anger, I could put down a good run.“[Qualifying] made me angry in a way, I knew that I could do it, put in a clean run but I struggled in a section and I crashed. When I get angry I do pretty good because I find the fun in having a really hard challenge so when I’m having fun it’s good. I love racing Rosa because she keeps me on my toes, I’m just going to have fun, ride well.”With even more changes to the Men’s Junior start list from 2025, only one of last season’s top ten returning, the second event of the day was incredibly incident-packed. A host of riders bit the dust, none harder than Luke Mallen (Outlaw Intense Racing) whose crash caused a red flag on the course.At that stage Felix Griffiths (Santa Cruz Syndicate) and Stan Nisbet (AON Racing) led a British 1-2, but New Zealand came to the fore afterwards initially through Malik Boatwright (Continental Atherton) and Camden Rutherford (Nukeproof Axess Racing)After Alex Mallen (Outlaw Intense Racing) shook off the shock of his brother’s crash by moving onto the podium, Jonty Williamson shot to the top.Sacha Brizin (Commencal Schwalbe by Les Orres) pushed Rutherford into fourth but none of the three remaining riders could beat Williamson as the best returning rider from 2025 won by a quarter of a second from his compatriot.“I’m really happy with it, it’s been a dream since I was a kid to win a World Cup,” Williamson said, in a post-race interview eerily similar to Vermette’s. “Pretty good run, loose up the middle section where I lost quite a bit of time but managed to pull it back so I’m stoked.“It wasn’t my favourite [track] but still a super fun track, super loose compared to the other ones. A bit more slow-paced, quite difficult.”Brizin and Boadle’s podiums helped Commencal Schwalbe by Les Orres into second in the Team standings after round one too, though COMMENCAL/MUC-OFF by Riding Addiction have already opened up a commanding lead of 33 points. Behind them, the battle for the final podium spot currently held by Frameworks Racing / TRP is a tight one with eight teams separated by 22 points.The action continues in MONA YongPyong, South Korea as the UCI Cross-country Olympic World Cup gets underway on Sunday, completing the first of 14 action-packed weekends of WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series action. Meanwhile Höll, Vermette, Ostgaard, Williamson and the rest of the Downhill field are next in action in the French town of Loudenvielle - Peyragudes at the end of May.

The 2026 WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series kicks off in style this weekend with South Korea’s MONA YongPyong set for a historic season opener.The venue will see the first-ever Asian UCI Cross-country Short Track (XCC) and UCI Cross-country Olympic (XCO) World Cups in the formats’ histories, while it will host only the fourth UCI Downhill (DHI) World Cup on the continent, and the first in 25 years. If that wasn’t enough, the tracks, terrain and conditions will provide complete unknowns for the majority of the field – all of whom will be keen to make strong starts to their 2026 series.From course information and how and who to watch, here’s all you need to know ahead of the MONA YongPyong UCI World Cup.ENTER THE UNKNOWNSouth Korea’s largest and oldest ski resort, and a venue of the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games, MONA YongPyong transforms in summer into a trail network worthy of hosting the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series and the world’s best athletes.Located 186km east of Seoul, the bike park offers a mix of fast, technical Cross‑country and All Mountain trails that wind through dense woodland and open terrain. For this event, a brand‑new Downhill track has been purpose‑built, combining high‑speed open piste sections with wide, off‑camber forest terrain, punctuated by a series of large jumps.After a long off-season, these new trails are set to challenge riders in both the Endurance and Gravity fields. As a completely new venue, athletes will need to learn the respective courses from top to bottom. For many, it will also be their first time racing in Asia, and specifically in South Korea, which will involve getting to grips with different terrain and climate conditions.Vali Höll (Commencal Schwalbe by Les Orres), the defending UCI Downhill World Cup champion, welcomed the unpredictability of the venue: “It’s cool that there’s a brand‑new track that nobody could pre-practice on, it’s very rare nowadays that riders don’t get to ride the track in advance, especially for the first round of the season, so it’s going to be super exciting.”Jenny Rissveds (Canyon XC Racing), who enjoyed a strong finish to her 2025 campaign with 8 UCI World Cup wins across XCC and XCO, also highlighted the appeal of racing somewhere new: “I’m always excited for new venues and new places. Change is good. I appreciate changes in the World Cup”.WHEN IS THE MONA YONGPYONG UCI WORLD CUP?The 2026 WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series round in MONA YongPyong starts with the Women’s U23 UCI XCC World Cup at 10:35 (UTC+9) on Friday, May 1 and concludes with the Men’s UCI XCO World Cup at 15:30 (UTC+9) on Sunday, May 3.All key timings for race weekend can be found HERE.WHERE CAN I WATCH?There will be several ways to watch the action unfold at Asia’s only Cross-country and Downhill UCI World Cups of the 2026 season. Mountain bike fans can enjoy live coverage of the Elite UCI XCO, XCC and DHI World Cup Finals anywhere in the world.Europe:Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Baltics, Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Tajikistan, Türkiye, Ukraine – HBO Max / EurosportIreland – TNT SportsUnited Kingdom – HBO Max, TNT SportsCzechia – CT Sports (Only Elite XCC, Elite Downhill and Women Elite XCO races live)Switzerland, Liechtenstein – HBO Max (full coverage) and SRG/RSI (Only Elite XCC and XCO races live)Asia:Indonesia, Macao, Malaysia, Mongolia, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Philippines, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Thailand - Eurosport WorldSouth Korea – Eurosport World (full coverage) and KBSN (Only Elite Downhill races live)Oceania:Australia – Stan SportNew Zealand : MTBWS TVNorth America:Canada – FloSportsUSA – HBO MaxSouth & Central America: Direct TV (LATAM) and MTBWS TV (all other territories)Africa: MTBWS TVFor more information, visit the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series official website to check availability in your location.The men’s and women’s Junior UCI Downhill World Cup races will also be available on HBO Max (in all available territories) and MTBWS TV via subscription. Follow the UCI Downhill World Cup qualification day on live timing and across social media.RIDERS TO WATCH:RISSVEDS TO RESUME DOMINANCE?While the 2025 UCI XCO World Cup overall was won by Samara Maxwell (Decathlon Ford Racing Team), it was her rival Jenny Rissveds (Canyon XC Racing) who appeared to be in the form of her life at the season’s conclusion. With Maxwell taking a season-long sabbatical, the reigning UCI XCO World Champion and Rio 2016 gold medalist becomes an automatic favourite at every round, but it will be interesting to see if she has been able to maintain that momentum over a long, seven-month off-season.There will be a number of riders looking to halt the Swede’s string of back-to-back wins with Evie Richards (Trek-Unbroken XC) the most likely contender. Alessandra Keller (Thömus maxon) would have been an obvious pick, but the Swiss rider has decided to skip the South Korean round to recover after winning the Absa Cape Epic. Richards meanwhile finished 2025 with back-to-back UCI XCO World Cup podiums, highlighting how she has added Olympic-distance duration to her explosive XCC attributes.BLEVINS THE RIDER TO BEATChristopher Blevins (Specialized Factory Racing) had a record-breaking 2025 and the American will do well to match his results, which included three XCO-XCC doubles throughout the series. The reigning UCI XCO World Cup overall winner will be the rider to beat in South Korea and has shown already in his career that he tends to start seasons strongly – finishing second at the opening round in Araxá (Brazil) in 2025 and winning 2024’s curtain raiser in Mairiporã (Brazil). He will be without two of his main rivals and teammates in Asia – Victor Kortezky (Specialized Factory Racing) absent due to injuries and Adrien Boichis (Specialized Factory Racing) currently racing in the Tour de Romandie. It won’t be a foregone conclusion for Blevins though, who will face competition from his other teammate and second-place finisher in last year’s overall Martín Viduarre Kossman (Specialized Factory Racing), Luca Martin (Cannondale Factory Racing), and Finn Treudler (Cube Factory Racing), the Swiss young gun making his step up to the Elite ranks after dominating the Under 23s.RICHARDS AND BLEVINS TARGETTING STRONG START IN XCCBefore Sunday’s Cross-country Olympic action, there’s Friday’s Cross-country Short Track race for riders and fans to sink their teeth into. Again, it will be the usual suspects in contention for the win and superior starting spots in the XCO – Richards and Rissveds in the women’s competition, and Blevins, Martin and Charlie Aldridge (Cannondale Factory Racing) in the men’s – but there will be a number of other riders looking to stake their claim and capitalise on any confusion caused by a new course.Sam Gaze (Alpecin-Premier Tech) and Haley Batten (Specialized Factory Racing) both managed it back in 2024 at Mairiporã and Araxá respectively. Prior to that, Mathias Flückiger (Thömus maxon) came out on top at the inaugural XCC in Pal Arinsal (Andorra) back in 2022.ALL EYES ON HOW HÖLL COPES WITH NEW SETUPVali Höll (Commencal Schwalbe by Les Orres) had a successful 2025 by her high standards – adding a fourth consecutive UCI Downhill World Championship and fourth UCI Downhill World Cup overall title to her burgeoning collection. But the 24-year-old didn’t have it all her own way. Despite successfully defending her overall crown, she had to show grit, grinding out consistent top five finishes and winning just one UCI Downhill World Cup all season, which came in October’s penultimate round in Lake Placid Olympic Region, New York (USA). The off-season has also seen her switch teams to Commencal Schwalbe by Les Orres – meaning a change in bike and management – so it will be interesting to see how she fares in the first Asian UCI Downhill World Cup in 25 years.Höll’s single win in 2025 wasn’t just a reflection of her own form, but also of the rising competitiveness in the female field – the likes of Tahnée Seagrave (Orbea FMD Racing), Gracey Hemstreet (Norco x adidas Race Division) and Marine Cabirou (Canyon DH Racing) ready to pounce on any mistake from the Austrian.GOLDSTONE VS BRUNI RETURNS FOR ROUND TWOJackson Goldstone (Santa Cruz Syndicate) and Loïc Bruni’s (Specialized Gravity) battle for the 2025 UCI Downhill World Cup overall turned into an absolute epic – the Canadian securing his first title when defending champion Bruni was unable to start the final race run of the season due to injury. With Bruni back to full fitness, fans can expect their duel to resume from the off in Saturday’s finals, although there is added competition this year that means we might have more than a two-horse race on our hands.Max and Till Alran (COMMENCAL/MUC OFF by Riding Addiction) and Asa Vermette (Frameworks Racing/TRP) are some of the most exciting riders to make the step up from the Junior ranks. It’s also worth keeping an eye on Luke Meier-Smith (Giant Factory Off-Road Team - DH) – the Australian showing he’s a quick learner on new courses with a win at Lake Placid Olympic Region’s Downhill debut, and in good form having recently been crowned Oceanian Continental Champion.WILDCARD TEAMSThe following wildcard teams have also been confirmed to compete in MONA YongPyong: UCI Cross-country World Cup: Bike Team Solothurn, Trinity Racing, Lexware Mountainbike Team, Rouvy, BH-Wallonie MTB Team, UNNO Factory Racing and Massi.UCI Downhill World Cup: Outlaw Intense Racing, Crestline Speedshop, Team High Country, Pivot Factory Racing, The Alliance Racing and Stoic Racing.Most of them featured throughout the 2025 series, but Outlaw Intense Racing, Crestline Speed Shop, Stoic Racing and UNNO Factory Racing will all make their UCI World Cup debuts. The debutants are all predominantly youth-focused and their riders will be competitive in the Junior (Downhill) and Under-23 (Cross-country) ranks.Pivot Factory Racing will field a more experienced five-rider lineup that includes the 2026 American UCI Continental Champion Roger Viera, New Zealand national champion Jenna Hastings, multi-time top 10 UCI World Cup finisher Bernard Kerr, and exciting North American prospect Dylan Maples. Elsewhere, the likes of Team High Country and The Alliance Racing will look to build on their regular top 10 finishes in the Junior ranks from 2025.Racing gets underway in MONA YongPyong on Friday with the UCI Cross-country Short Track World Cup. Full schedule and event details are available here.