After seven months, nine rounds, and countless storylines, Mont-Sainte-Anne provided the final chapter of the 2025 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup. The season’s last stop brought both closure and firsts: Christopher Blevins arrived with the men’s title already sealed, while in the women’s race, Samara Maxwell still had work to do to fend off a surging Jenny Rissveds, having led the World Cup overall from the very first race of the season in Brazil.
Brief Results
Women's elite
1st. Jenny Rissveds: 1:20:35 (Canyon CLLCTV XCO)
2nd. Samara Maxwell: +3:30 (Decathlon Ford Racing Team)
3rd. Evie Richards: +4:07 (Trek Factory Racing Pirelli)
4th. Sina Frei: +4:12 (Specialized Factory Racing)
5th. Alessandra Keller: +5:05 (Thömus Maxon)
Men's elite
1st. Charlie Aldridge: 1:21:41 (Cannondale Factory Racing)
2nd. Martin Vidaurre: +11 (Specialized Factory Racing)
3rd. Mathis Azzaro: +20 (Origine Racing Division)
4th. Adrien Boichis: +46 (Specialized Factory Racing)
5th. Marcel Guerrini: +57 (Bixs Performance Race Team)
Jenny Rissveds closes 2025 in style with commanding Mont-Sainte-Anne win
Jenny Rissveds capped off the 2025 World Cup season with a statement ride at Mont-Sainte-Anne, dominating the elite women’s cross-country race from the opening climb to the finish line, repeating her performance from a week ago in Lake Placid.
From the moment the riders rolled off the line for the final time this season, it was clear Rissveds meant business. The Swedish World Champion hit the front almost immediately, surging past early starter Ronja Böchlinger and taking control on the short start loop. Behind her, Linda Indergand briefly made a farewell appearance at the front in her final World Cup start, before Rissveds reasserted herself and began to test her rivals.
Heading onto the first full lap, Rissveds had already managed to extend her advantage over her nearest chasers to 29 seconds, her smooth, efficient cadence belying the chaos unravelling behind. Only Samara Maxwell, the overall series leader, managed to hold the gap under a minute through the opening laps, while Candice Lill and a splintering chase group of six fought to keep touch.
Lap by lap, Rissveds’ advantage grew. A minute quickly became two, as she continued to press on with the same paced aggression that’s defined her late-season form. By the halfway mark, her lead over Maxwell had ballooned to nearly two minutes, and the rest of the field was scattered on the course with no answer to Rissveds' charge.
While the World Champion disappeared up the trail, Maxwell rode her own race. Sitting comfortably in second, the young New Zealander knew what was on the line: a top-two finish would be enough to lock in the overall title. She held her pace steady; it was less about the gap to Rissveds and more about maintaining distance to the riders behind.
Further back, the battle for third was wide open. After the early chase group splintered, Sina Frei and Evie Richards emerged as the final podium contenders, trading turns in a well-matched duel as the race wound into its final laps.
Out front, though, the race belonged entirely to Rissveds. Untouchable on the climbs and unflappable through the roots and rocks of Monte-Sainte-Anne, she started the final lap with nearly three minutes in hand. From there, it was a coronation lap, a showcase of control and class from the rider who has owned the latter part of the 2025 season.
Crossing the line alone, she claimed another World Cup victory, closing out 2025 on her own terms, dominant, composed, and in full command. Behind her, Samara Maxwell rolled in to secure second place on the day and, with it, the 2025 overall World Cup title.
World Cup overall final standings
1st: Samara Maxwell - 2341 pts
2nd: Jenney Rissveds - 2250 pts
3rd: Alessandra Keller - 1890 pts
Charlie Aldridge storms to first elite XCO World Cup win at Mont-Sainte-Anne
With the women's season wrapped up, all that was left was for the men to bring the curtain down on the 2025 season. After taking his first short track win in Les Gets, Scotland’s Charlie Aldridge took his first-ever elite XCO victory after an all-action finale that exploded on the final lap.
The last race of 2025 got underway at a furious pace. Short track winner two days prior, Luca Martin and Luca Schwarzbauer lit up the start loop before chaos struck. Both Martin and Christopher Blevins went down in early crashes, scattering the pack and setting the tone for a frantic afternoon.
Out of the commotion, Blevins quickly regained composure and asserted himself at the front of the field, heading off the start lap and onto lap one, but the intensity was only heading in one direction. Simon Andreassen and the Specialized duo of Adrien Boichis and Martin Vidaurre surged forward on the first major climb, turning the front of the race into a sea of red and black. By mid-lap, Specialized Factory Racing held a commanding one-two-three, with Blevins hanging onto the back of the train by his fingernails.
Behind the trio, the chasers refused to settle. As lap one drew to a close, the top seven riders were separated by just six seconds, the kind of tight, high-speed battle that’s been a common theme in 2025 for the elite men. Behind them, the field was already splintering; Maximilian Foidl sat 20 seconds adrift, the rest even further back.
As the laps ticked by, a new leading trio emerged. Vidaurre, Mathis Azzaro, and Charlie Aldridge carved out a slender lead, working smoothly to hold a small gap over the chasers. Boichis clawed his way back on the start-finish straight to make it four at the front, while Martin and Andreassen dug deep in pursuit.
It was Aldridge, though, who seemed to grow stronger as the race went on. The young Brit set the pace as the race entered its latter stages. Behind them, Fabio Püntener was quietly producing one of his best rides of the season, closing to within 10 seconds of the leaders, ultimately fading as the tempo at the front spiked.
With two laps to go, Aldridge attacked. A perfectly timed move on the climb blew the leading quartet apart, leaving only Boichis and Vidaurre able to follow. Azzaro briefly clung on with just a small gap between him and the leaders before drifting out of contention as Aldridge continued his bid for his debut victory.
Each time the gradient kicked, Aldridge applied pressure; with a lap remaining, Vidaurre did what he could, clawing back to within seconds of the lead, but Aldridge was defiant. He responded with another surge, this time decisive, six seconds clear and flying through the final technical sections.
As the finish line loomed, there was no catching him. Aldridge crossed the line alone to take his maiden elite World Cup victory, a performance that combined tactical composure, raw power, and ambition, perfectly encapsulating modern XC racing.
Behind him, Vidaurre and Azzaro completed the podium, while Adrien Boichis and Simon Andreassen rounded out the top five.
Even though Blevins could only manage 23rd place on the day, the overall was already his, with Specialized teammate Vidaurre the best of the rest, behind the duo, Luca Martin closed out the season's overall podium.
World Cup overall final standings
1st: Christopher Blevins - 1996 pts
2nd: Martin Vidaurre - 1695 pts
3rd: Luca Martin - 1546 pts
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