Following back-to-back rounds of Gravity-fuelled action in the Enduro Trails of Bielsko-Biała (Poland), this weekend sees the return of the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series’ Cross-country contests after a six-week break as the Endurance competitions descend on Nové Mĕsto Na Moravĕ (Czechia).

 If April’s Brazilian double-header in Araxá, Minas Gerais was the season’s South American appetiser, then the third round is the start of the series’ European entrée. And it’s kicking off at an iconic spot – the Vysočina Arena course, an annual staple in the UCI Cross-country Olympic (XCO) World Cup schedule every year since 2011, except in 2016 when it hosted the UCI Mountain Bike XCO World Championships.

Two hours southwest of the Czech capital Prague in the region of Vysočina, Nové Mĕsto Na Moravĕ has built a reputation for fast, frantic racing, with huge support present around the course and in the start/finish straight’s grandstand arena. And this year is set to be no different.

 FAST AND FURIOUS COURSE

Both the XCO and cross-country short track (XCC) races feature incredibly technical courses that take in the area’s picturesque forests and countryside before riders cross the start-finish line in front of the arena’s raucous grandstand. Punchy climbs are followed by fast, tricky descents and there’s little let-up for the riders.

Nino Schurter’s (Scott-SRAM MTB Racing Team) six XCO wins (including one at the UCI World Championship) make him the most successful men’s rider of all time in Nové Mĕsto Na Moravĕ. While the G.O.A.T could extend his record this weekend, Tom Pidcock’s (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) run of four consecutive XCO wins will definitely come to an end – the Brit’s absence to ride the Giro d’Italia meaning there will be a different men’s XCO winner for the first time since 2020.

ALL EYES ON VAN DER POEL AND PIETERSE

Reigning XCO UCI World Champion Puck Pieterse (Alpecin-Deceuninck) returns to mountain biking after a full Spring Classics season on the road where she didn’t finish outside the top 10, winning La Flèche Wallonne Féminine and podiuming at Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes and Amstel Gold Race Ladies Edition.

Her team-mate Mathieu Van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) is arguably the most eye-catching name on the start list though. The Dutchman hasn’t raced off-road since September 2023 and last lined up at a UCI World Cup at Nové Mĕsto Na Moravĕ in 2021. But with sights set on an illusive XCO title at the UCI Mountain Bike World Championship in 2025 and one eye on the Olympic Games in LA 2028, the multi-discipline star is adding flat bar racing to his racing program after four years predominately focused on the road.

It’s not a foregone conclusion for Pieterse and Van der Poel. Samara Maxwell (Decathlon Ford Racing Team) is the woman to beat from the first two rounds, winning her first UCI XCO World Cup at the season opener in Araxá and following it up with second place six days later. Jenny Rissveds (Canyon CLLCTV XCO) also looks back to her 2016 Olympic-winning best, while Nicole Koller (Ghost Factory Racing), Evie Richards (Trek Factory Racing - Pirelli) and Alessandra Keller (Thömus Maxon) are likely to be in contention in Czechia.

The men’s competition meanwhile is the Specialized Factory Racing show – the American team’s riders occupying the top four spots in the XCO overall table. Christopher Blevins (Specialized Factory Racing) is in the form of his life, almost completing a perfect double-header in Araxá with his second place in round one’s XCO race the only time he wasn’t on the top spot. Victor Koretzky (Specialized Factory Racing) has carried his strong season-ending form through to 2025 and will push his team-mate every pedal stroke of the way. Others outside the Specialized stable worth keeping an eye on are record-holder and age-defier Schurter and Riley Amos (Trek Factory Racing - Pirelli) – the first-year Elite rider did the U23 XCO-XCC double in 2024.

In the XCC, UCI World Champion Evie Richards has a 100% record this year and in previous Nové Mĕsto Na Moravĕ events – winning both UCI XCC World Cups at the venue in 2020. If she claims first this weekend, the Brit will equal Annika Langvad’s 2018 record of winning the opening three UCI XCC World Cup rounds. Again, expect Koller, Maxwell and Keller to be fighting the rainbow bands for the lead in the shortened format.

In the men’s competition, Blevins and XCC UCI World Champion Koretzky went 1-2 at both races in Brazil, and the American could become the first rider to ever win the opening three rounds with victory in Czechia. But with 10 XCC wins to his name and red-hot form on the road and cyclo-cross bike this Spring, the most successful short-track rider of all time Van der Poel will fancy his chances.

Racing gets underway in Nové Mĕsto Na Moravĕ on Saturday with the U23 UCI XCC World Cup.

Full schedule and events details are available here.