The 2025 WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series returns this weekend with the first Gravity event of the year – Pietra Ligure, Finale Outdoor Region (Italy) hosting the opening round of the UCI Enduro World Cup.

The racing in Italy kicks off five back-to-back weekends of off-road action in the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series that also takes in the Enduro Trails of Bielsko-Biała (Poland), Nové Mĕsto Na Moravĕ (Czechia) and Loudenvielle-Peyragudes (France) before concluding with a four-day festival in Saalfelden Leogang-Salzburgerland (Austria) between June 5-8.

But Enduro is the sole focus this weekend in Pietra Ligure and sees the format return to its adventurous roots with the racing spread over two days and seven unique stages. It’s hard to think of a better location to launch the 2025 UCI Enduro World Cup – the wider Finale Outdoor Region regarded as the spiritual home of the endurance-focused Gravity format.

CLASSIC CURTAIN RAISER

After the success of last year’s season opener in Finale Ligure, the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series returns to the Italian Riviera for the format’s 2025 curtain raiser – albeit slightly along the coast in the direction of France in the seaside town of Pietra Ligure.

The Finale Outdoor Region is something of a mountain bike Mecca and for three decades, the hills to the north of the coastal town have been a hive of activity, spawning a series of trails across the exposed limestone that are now world-renowned.

This year, the UCI Enduro World Cup will delve further into the chocolate box selection of technical natural features and adrenaline-fuelled downhill sections, while splitting the race across two days allows athletes to explore and become fully immersed in the area’s natural beauty as they take on seven stages during an 83km course featuring 4,200m of descent and 3,200m of pedal ascent.

Although the days are split fairly evenly in terms of distance, ascent and descent, the racing kicks off with two sizeable stages (Isallo Extasy, 5.9km, 940m; Hiroshima Mon Amour, 5km, 730m) meaning the chance for big-time splits from the off.

FAVOURITES IN PIETRA

Last year, Richie Rude (Yeti/Fox Factory Race Team) and Harriet Harnden (AON Racing - Tourne Campervans) recorded wins in the Men’s and Women’s Elite UCI Enduro World Cup in Finale Ligure, securing crucial points on their respective journeys to the UCI Enduro World Cup overall titles.

Although Rude and Harnden announced that they would be switching formats and focusing their attention on the UCI Downhill World Cup this year, both of the reigning series champions are on the start sheet in Pietra Ligure, Finale Outdoor Region after being swayed by the prospect of two days of racing in Enduro’s heartlands.

The pair go into the weekend as favourites, but there are plenty of other Enduro-only riders who will be looking to stake their claim to the title at the first race of the season.

Morgane Charre (Pivot Factory Racing) is likely to be Harnden’s main challenger on the north Italian coast. The Frenchwoman won Pietra Ligure’s last UCI Enduro World Cup in 2023, which featured four of this weekend’s seven stages. Others likely to be vying for a podium spot include privateers Ella Conolly and Raphaela Richter – the former finishing third in Finale Ligure last year, while the latter won two out of six stages en route to fourth spot in 2023.

In the Men’s Elite, Jesse Melamed (Canyon CLLCTV) was victorious in Pietra Ligure in 2023, and the Canadian has already got the better of Rude in 2025 at April’s Squamish Enduro. Jack Moir (YT Mob) and Martin Maes (Orbea FMD Racing) have also tasted success in this corner of the Mediterranean coast, while Enduro’s first UCI World Champion, Alex Rudeau, will be hoping the rainbow bands bring him race-winning speed on the trails of Finale Outdoor Region.

HOW TO FOLLOW THE ACTION

Race content will be available across the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series’ official platforms, including the official YouTube channel, website, and social media profiles. Fans can catch up with the action from Pietra Ligure with:

• A course preview featuring the route and its key sections
• Practice day and race day video highlights
• Key race moments on social media
• Real-time race updates via live timing on the official website

Racing gets underway in Finale Outdoor Region on Saturday – full schedule and event details are available here.