After seven fast and furious rounds, the 2025 WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series sets up camp in Italy for three back-to-back race weekends, starting in Val di Sole - Trentino (Italy).

Two weekends ago, Saalfelden Leogang - Salzburgerland (Austria) gave us a four-day festival of off-road racing, with Cross-country, Downhill and Enduro stars digging deep in changeable conditions in Austria. While the Enduro riders have a well-earned break, the Cross-country and Downhill athletes are gearing up to go again and tackle the legendary Val di Sole – Trentino trails.

Located in the heart of the Italian Alps, Val di Sole is known globally as a mountain biking paradise. When it comes to top-level competition its pedigree is no less long and illustrious. Since the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships were first held there in 2008, it has never failed to thrill and it has been a regular UCI World Cup venue since 2010.

The UCI Downhill World Cup takes place on The Black Snake – one of the series’ most notorious tracks named after the tree roots that litter the trail and throw up sizeable challenges for the riders, especially if the conditions are wet.  At 2.1km long with an average gradient of 24% and total drop of 550m, taming this course requires more technical skills than most.

The UCI Cross-country Olympic and UCI Short Track races meanwhile take on some of Val di Sole Bike Park’s most testing terrain – both on the ups and downs. The 3.54km Olympic course underwent a refresh last year, but remained just as tough with its 224m of ascent, while the 940m Short Track circuit sees a return to flatter, faster racing after the climb-heavy loop of Saalfelden Leogang – Salzburgerland.

PIETERSE IN RED-HOT FORM

Puck Pieterse (Alpecin-Deceuninck) might have missed the first two rounds of the 2025 WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series to focus on the road, but the Cross-country Olympic (XCO) UCI World Champion is making up for lost time. She did the XCO- XCC (Cross country Short Track) double in dominant form last time out to go with her XCC win in Nové Mĕsto Na Moravĕ (Czechia) and has fond memories of Val di Sole - Trentino, having finished on the podium (2nd in 2024, 1st in 2023) in both starts as an Elite.

Samara Maxwell (Decathlon Ford Racing Team) is likely to be Pieterse’s closest rival – the New Zealander recording three consecutive second places after her round one win – while Mona Mitterwallner (Mondraker Factory Racing XC) and Jenny Rissveds (Canyon CLLCTV XCO) have both shown they’ve got what it takes to stand on the podium’s top spot this season.

BLEVINS LOOKING TO GET BACK TO WINNING WAYS AFTER BLIP

Christopher Blevins (Specialized Factory Racing) had an XCO race to forget in Saalfelden Leogang - Salzburgerland – the series leader struggling in difficult conditions to finish down in 17th and outside the top two for the first time in 2025. The American will be hoping to return to winning ways in Val di Sole - Trentino, but there will be a number of riders looking to take advantage of any signs of weakness.

Nino Schurter (Scott-SRAM MTB Racing Team) will be leading the charge. The Swiss rider has an amazing record in Trentino, winning seven XCO races from nine starts (the other two results second and third). He always raises his game for Val di Sole – Trentino, so expect him to be taking Blevins to task.

Victor Koretzky (Specialized Factory Racing) and Ondrej Cink (Cube Factory Racing) meanwhile are the only riders other than Blevins to have won in 2025. The former pulled out in Saalfelden Leogang – Salzburgerland and will be looking for a statement result as we approach the season’s halfway point, while the latter recorded his first UCI XCO World Cup win in 12 years in Austria. Now that he’s secured his first, could the Czech rider make it two from two?

SAME AGAIN IN THE SHORT TRACK?

Pieterse and Blevins both have a 100% win record from race starts in this year’s XCC series, and it’s hard to look beyond the pair for Friday’s Short Track shakedown. XCC UCI World Champion Evie Richards (Trek Factory Racing-Pirelli) can beat anyone on her day, but the British rider looked off the pace in Saalfelden Leogang – Salzburgerland. Charlie Aldridge (Cannondale Factory Racing) meanwhile is the rider who has come closest to breaking up the Specialized Factory Racing monopoly and will be hoping he can hold out long enough to take a first UCI Cross-country Short Track World Cup win in Trentino.

HEMSTREET ON A ROLL

Gracey Hemstreet (Norco Race Division) is having a flyer of a series – the Canadian racking up her first two UCI Downhill World Cup wins to find herself top of the standings. She will be looking to make it a hat trick on The Black Snake track and given her form you wouldn’t bet against her.

Tahnée Seagrave (Orbea/FMD Racing) meanwhile is looking back to her best. The Brit missed out on a podium finish for the first time this series in Saalfelden Leogang – Salzburgerland but has three wins to her name in Val di Sole - Trentino, including last year.

Anna Newkirk (Frameworks Racing/5Dev) is another rider likely to be in contention, while you can’t rule out Valentina Höll (YT Mob), even if the Austrian has now gone a full calendar year without a UCI Downhill World Cup win.

CAN BRUNI FINALLY TAME THE BLACK SNAKE

Loïc Bruni (Specialized Gravity) narrowly leads the men’s overall after bouncing back from disappointment in Loudenvielle-Peyragudes (France) with second place in Austria, but to definitely hold on to his status he’ll have to do something he’s never managed – win in Trentino.

He’ll be extra keen to break his winless record in north Italy because the man breathing down his neck in second place – Jackson Goldstone (Santa Cruz Syndicate) – has won the last two UCI Downhill World Cups, and knows what it takes to tame the Black Snake having claimed his debut Elite win on the course in 2023.

Elsewhere, Amaury Pierron (Commencal/Muc-Off by Riding Addiction) will be targetting a return to the podium after he could only manage 18th in Austria, while his teammate Loris Vergier (Commencal/Muc-Off by Riding Addiction) and Laurie Greenland (Santa Cruz Syndicate) are just some of those racing who have recorded UCI Downhill World Cup wins on the circuit’s most notorious course.

Racing gets underway in Val di Sole - Trentino on Friday with the Downhill Qualifications followed by the UCI Cross-country Short Track World Cup.

Full schedule and events details are available here.