Christopher Blevins (Specialized Factory Racing) overcame a last lap dropped chain to make history in the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series at Nové Mĕsto Na Moravĕ (Czechia). Meanwhile, Puck Pieterse (Alpecin-Deceuninck) returned to mountain bike action in style to win the elite women’s UCI Cross-country Short-Track (XCC) World Cup.

Cross-country action returned following a six-week break and the iconic Vysočina Arena course and provided XCC drama with a strong headwind on the finish straight resulting in close finishes. Thin gravel tyres were selected by a host of elite riders as the fast course resulted in close criterium style racing packed full of incidents. Blevins left it late to snatch a victory from team-mate Victor Koretzky to become the first rider to ever win the opening three UCI XCC World Cup rounds. 

Like the men’s race which followed the elite women’s event was an equally cagey affair with a large leading group coming into the last lap together. Fresh from her road racing exploits in the Spring Classics it was Pieterse who was quickest to take victory. Evie Richards (Trek Factory Racing - Pirelli) had a perfect UCI XCC World Cup record coming into the event but could not come past Pieterse at the line and had to settle for runner-up. 

Meanwhile, Canadian Ava Holmgren took her first ever XCC victory in the Under-23 category and ended the perfect record of her sister Isabella Holmgren. Ava paid tribute to the work of her sister who patrolled the chasing group before finishing second to keep her overall lead. Heby Gustav Pedersen (Wilier-Vittoria Factory Team) sprinted to victory following a tactical battle in the Under-23 men’s category. 

BLEVINS CONTINUES 100% RECORD WITH LATE CHARGE 

Christopher Blevins (Specialized Factory Racing) produced a blistering finish to take his third win from as many UCI XCC World Cup events this season. The American had to overcome team-mate Victor Koretzky who launched his sprint early into a headwind finish. Blevins had to come back from last lap drama himself after suffering a dropped chain which shuffled him down the pack. 

Blasting away from the starting line, Luca Schwarzbauer (Canyon CLLCTV XCO) showed his form. Not content with allowing the early pace to slow into the headwind Schwarzbauer regained control and took the wind at the front of the early leading group. 

French national champion Mathis Azzaro (Origine Racing Division) was also amongst a tightly packed leading group before crashing heavily on a small set of jumps. UCI XCC World Champion Victor Koretzky (Specialized Factory Racing) looked calm and composed as he monitored the front placings past the half-way mark. 

The pace eventually rose on the penultimate lap as Swiss rider Filippo Colombo (Scott-SRAM MTB Racing Team) powered up the climb, but a large group of 28 riders came into the final lap together. Coming into the berm on the final lap a large crash midway inside the leading group ended the hopes of many. 

Meanwhile at the front Koretzky launched an explosive attack up a grassy climb but was followed by Colombo and Schwarzbauer. 

Koretzky continued his momentum on the finishing straight only for Blevins to come charging back through the leading group to take victory. 

“This one was definitely harder than the others,” said Blevins following his third UCI XCC World Cup win of the season. “I felt great, but I dropped my chain with a lap to go, right before the last climb, and the mindset just changes. 

“It was all out, the strategy out the window and I just gave it everything. I was really surprised as it was such a long finish into a headwind which really helped me, it was crazy. 

Talking about his tactics Blevins added: “It was just to stay safe, to not get into any dangerous situations even if it meant spending a little more energy. 

“I felt that I did that, rode defensively and waited for the last lap. Everything went to plan except I dropped my chain. It was my mistake; I had a bad shift over the logs.” 

Adding about having aerodynamic socks, helmet and riding gravel tyre, he added: “Gravel is getting a lot more like mountain bike and you get a lot of two-edge tyres. It is pretty funny to have gravel tyres in a mountain bike race, but they are so fast and work so well.” 

PIETERSE POWERS TO DOMINANT SPRINT VICTORY ON RETURN 

Puck Pieterse (Alpecin-Deceuninck) showed her turn of speed as she powered away from her opponents to win in Nové Mĕsto Na Moravĕ. 

In a cagey race, a strong second position for Evie Richards (Trek Factory Racing - Pirelli) extended her overall lead. After finishing on the podium in the opening UCI XCC World Cup of the season, Jenny Rissveds (Canyon CLLCTV XCO) was missing on the start-line due to illness. 

Other pre-race favourites had difficult races as a tangle on a sweeping berm corner resulted in American Kate Courtney coming down and shuffled outside the top 20, while Samara Maxwell (Decathlon Ford Racing Team) was also caught further back after crashing. 

On her return to mountain bike racing Pieterse used the bunching into the headwind finish to her advantage to take the front. Jolanda Neff (Cannondale Factory Racing) also showed her form with a quick descent at the front but was quickly caught by the large leading group. 

UCI XCC World champion Richards won the opening two UCI XCC World Cup rounds in Araxá, Minas-Gerais (Brazil) and battled throughout the opening half to maintain her position at the front. Heading into the final lap riders battled for position with 26 riders within five seconds of the lead. 

Pieterse also joined the fight for the lead and sprinted alongside Alessandra Keller (Thömus Maxon). However, it was Neff who took charged through to lead on the descent down to the finish. A headwind up the finishing straight resulted in a group of five riders coming together, before Pieterse launched her winning effort to win by a bike-length. 

Richards did enough to take second in a blanket finish and Linda Indergand (LIV Factory Racing) came through for third. 

Despite missing out on her third consecutive XCC win of the season Richards extended her overall lead of 220 points with a hard-fought second position. 

“It was a blast,” said Pieterse. “My start was not so good, so the first two laps it took me a while to move up. Luckily on the road section because of the headwind the peloton came to a standstill. I could move up and not leave the top three. 

“It was a bit different [to road racing] with the wide bars because now you are touching literally everybody if you want to move up. Apart from that I used my race-smart a bit by staying in the wheels on the parts where it was necessary.” 

HOLMGREN SISTERS DOMINATE AS AVA TAKES HER MAIDEN UCI XCC WORLD CUP TRIUMPH 

Ava Holmgren marked her return to the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series by taking her first ever UCI XCC World Cup victory after fending off a late charge. 

Isabella Holmgren had a 100% record from the opening two rounds in Araxá, Minas-Gerais (Brazil) but allowed her sister to break clear in Czechia and she narrowly held on for victory.

Away from the line it was Marta Cano (Trek Future Racing) who got the quickest start. However, it did not take long before the Canadian trio of Isabella and Ava Holmgren took the head of proceedings along with Ella Macphee (Wilier-Vittoria Factory Team). 

Following her sister’s dominance in the opening two rounds it was Ava Holmgren who looked to stamp her authority and pulled out a slight margin over her rivals. Despite dominating the front of the race in the opening three laps with the top 10 positions separated by nine seconds, Ava Holmgren was persistent in her pressure and made her move on the fourth lap to pull clear once again, with her sister Isabella and fellow Canadian Macphee monitoring the chasing group. 

After 19 minutes of racing Ava Holmgren was keeping her lap times and had a slender lead of 11 seconds, before sister Isabella made her move to bridge across. The gap quickly disappeared and the Holmgren duo were once again joined by Macphee and Swiss competitor Anina Hutter. 

After missing the opening two rounds of the 2025 WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series Ava Holmgren also had to overcome sickness leading into the event. She said: “It was my very first UCI World Cup in Short Track. I had my sister racing with me and I owe a lot of credit to her, we played the tactic so well. I’ve been sick the whole week and wasn’t sure how I would feel, but it was good enough to stay away. Thanks to Isabella, she played it super-well and I owe this victory to her.” 

PEDERSEN BLASTS TO VICTORY AND OVERALL LEAD FOLLOWING CLOSE FINALE 

Heby Gustav Pedersen (Wilier-Vittoria Factory Team) sprinted to his first UCI XCC World Cup victory of this year’s World Series following a tactical battle in the under-23 men’s event. 

Pedersen thanked team-mate Elian Paccagnella for the victory as the pair worked together to catch lone attacker Rens Teunissen Van Manen (KMC Ridley MTB Racing Team) late in the event.

With the top 34 riders separated by eight seconds it was all to play for following the opening three laps as Norwegian duo Sondre Rokke and William Handley patrolled the front positions. Manen and Pedersen were also present at the front, after finishing well in the opening two rounds. 

With 15 minutes of racing gone, the leading pack remained a large one with 26 riders within 10 seconds of the lead. After biding his time, Manen attacked for glory with two laps remaining and pulled out a three-second lead over Rokke, Pedersen, Paccagnella and Edvin Elofsson as the race behind fragmented.

In the closing stages Manen was pulled back and Pedersen sprinted to glory, ahead of overall rivals Rokke in second and series leader coming into the event Paccagnella in third. 

With the race victory Pederson also took the overall U23 UCI XCC World Cup lead and is 10 points ahead of Rokke. 

“It was super-hard today,” said Pedersen. “Every time passing the finish line there were a lot of tactics and people coming from behind and coming to the front. It was like a washing machine all over. Rens [Manen] went with two laps to go and from then on it was a big chase. With my team-mate Elian [Paccagnella] we worked together and helped each other a lot, each pulling, and we caught up and it was a sprint. Short Track is 20 minutes all out, it’s just go, go, go.”

Racing continues in Nové Mĕsto Na Moravĕ (Czechia) tomorrow with the UCI Cross-country Olympic (XCO) World Cup. Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) is set to make his return  to elite men's mountain bike racing after a strong campaign on the road during the Spring Classics. However, Jordan Sarrou (BMC Factory Racing) will be absent after suffering a broken collarbone during course recon on Friday morning. Sarrou also missed today’s XCC action. 

Sunday’s racing kicks off at 10:00 AM CET with the Women Elite UCI XCO World Cup, followed by the Men Elite at 12:00, then the U23 Women’s race at 14:00 and the U23 Men’s at 16:00. 

Live and on-demand coverage of every race is available through WBD’s channels and platforms including Eurosport (Europe) and TNT Sports (UK & Ireland) with streaming on Max, HBO Max and discovery+, as well as around the world through WBD’s broadcast partners. Both the Men and Women U23 UCI XCO World Cup races will be streamed live on the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series YouTube channel. Find full details on where to watch the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series in Nové Město na Moravě here.