After a well-earned one-week break, the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series goes again this weekend with the UCI Cross-country and UCI Downhill World Cups taking to the trails of Val di Sole - Trentino (Italy).

We look at everything you need to know about the Val di Sole - Trentino round of the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series races, including when the Cross-country Olympic (XCO), Cross-county Short Track (XCC) and Downhill (DHI) events are scheduled to take place, who is racing, and how to watch.

 

WHEN?

The 2025 WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series round in Val di Sole - Trentino (Italy) starts with the Women Elite UCI Downhill World Cup Qualification 1 at 12:30 (UTC+2) on Friday, June 20 and concludes with the Men Under 23 UCI Cross-country Olympic World Cup at 15:30 (UTC+2) on Sunday, June 22.

Below are the key timings for race weekend. All times are UTC+2 (EST+6/BST+1/CEST):

Friday, June 20

• 12:30 – UCI Downhill World Cup | Qualification 1 Women Elite
• 13:00 – UCI Downhill World Cup | Qualification 1 Men Elite
• 14:15 – UCI Downhill World Cup | Qualification Women Junior
• 14:40 – UCI Downhill World Cup | Qualification Men Junior
• 15:30 – UCI Downhill World Cup | Qualification 2 Women Elite
• 15:50 – UCI Downhill World Cup | Qualification 2 Men Elite

 

• 15:45 – UCI Cross-country Short Track World Cup | Women U23
• 16:25 – UCI Cross-country Short Track World Cup | Men U23
• 17:30 – UCI Cross-country Short Track World Cup | Women Elite
• 18:10 – UCI Cross-country Short Track World Cup | Men Elite

 
Saturday, June 21

• 10:50 – UCI Downhill World Cup | Finals Women Junior
• 11:20 – UCI Downhill World Cup | Finals Men Junior
• 12:15 – UCI Downhill World Cup | Finals Women Elite
• 13:10 – UCI Downhill World Cup | Finals Men Elite

 Sunday, June 22

• 09:00 – UCI Cross-country Olympic World Cup | Women U23
• 11:00 – UCI Cross-country Olympic World Cup | Women Elite
• 13:30 – UCI Cross-country Olympic World Cup | Men Elite
• 15:30 – UCI Cross-country Olympic World Cup | Men U23

WHERE CAN I WATCH?

There will be several ways to watch the action unfold at Italy’s only UCI Cross-country and first UCI Downhill World Cups of the 2025 season.

Follow the UCI Downhill World Cup Qualification day on live timing and across social media.

For the fourth UCI Downhill World Cup, fifth UCI Cross-country Short Track World Cup and fifth UCI Cross-country Olympic World Cup of the season, you can watch the finals live anywhere in the world. The men’s and women's Junior UCI Downhill World Cup races will be broadcast live on the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series YouTube channel, while the Elite finals will be shown on one of the below channels or streaming services:

North America

Canada – Flosports

USA – Max

South & Central America

All Central and South American territories – MTBWS TV

Asia

Indonesia, Macao, Malaysia, Mongolia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand – Eurosport

China - Zhibo.TV (only Elite Downhill races live)

All other Asian territories – MTBWS TV

Oceania

Australia – Stan Sport

New Zealand – MTBWS TV

Africa

Angola, Burundi, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Cape Verde, Cote d'lvoire, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial, Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mozambique, Mali, Mauritania, Namibia, Nigeria, Niger, Reunion, Rwanda, South Africa, Eswatini, São Tome and Principe, St Helena and Ascension, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Seychelles, Socotra, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zimbabwe, and Zambia – Supersport

All other African territories – MTBWS TV

Europe

Andorra – MAX, Eurosport

Austria – discovery+, Eurosport

Belgium – HBO Max, Eurosport and LN24 (only Elite XCO races live)

Bosnia & Herzegovina – Max, Eurosport

Bulgaria – Max, Eurosport

Croatia – Max, Eurosport

Czechia – Max, Eurosport and CT Sport+ (only Elite XCO and XCC races live)

Denmark – Max, Eurosport

Faroe Islands – Max, Eurosport

France – Max, Eurosport and La Chaine L’Equipe (only Elite Downhill races live)

Germany – discovery+, Eurosport

Hungary – Max, Eurosport

Ireland – TNT Sports

Italy – discovery+, Eurosport and Rai Sport (Women’s XCC, XCO and DHI races live on RaiPlay, Men’s XCO and DHI races live on Rai Sport, Men’s XCC live on RaiPlay)

Moldova – Max, Eurosport

Montenegro – Max, Eurosport

Netherlands – HBO Max, Eurosport

North Macedonia – Max, Eurosport

Norway – Max, Eurosport

Poland – Max, Eurosport

Portugal – Max, Eurosport

Romania – Max, Eurosport

Serbia – Max, Eurosport

Slovakia – Max, Eurosport

Slovenia – Max, Eurosport

Spain – Max, Eurosport

Sweden – Max, Eurosport

Switzerland – MTBWS TV and SRF/RSI (only Elite XCO and XCC races live)

Türkiye – Max, Eurosport

United Kingdom – discovery+, TNT Sports

All other European territories – MTBWS TV

RIDERS TO WATCH

The Canadian invasion continues at pace in Downhill, with riders from Canada recording back-to-back wins in the two most recent rounds to propel themselves up the rankings in both the men’s and women’s competitions.

Jackson Goldstone (Santa Cruz Syndicate) edged Loïc Bruni (Specialized Gravity) by less than a 10th of a second in Saalfelden Leogang - Salzburgerland to back up his win in Loudenvielle-Peyragudes. The 21-year-old appears to be fully recovered from the injury that ruled him out of the whole of last season and has fond memories in Val di Sole - Trentino too – winning the 2021 Junior UCI Downhill World Championships and his first Elite UCI Downhill World Cup at the venue in 2023.

Bruni still narrowly leads in the overall and is a favourite for every race he enters, but has never done it at the Italian venue in the Elite class. One rider who has (twice), is Bruni’s career rival, Amaury Pierron (Commencal/Muc-Off by Riding Addiction). The Frenchman had a disappointing Saalfelden Leogang - Salzburgerland, finishing down in 18th, but expect him to raise his game just north of Lake Garda.

Another to keep an eye on is Pierron’s teammate UCI Downhill World Champion Loris Vergier (Commencal/Muc-Off by Riding Addiction), who has shown solid recent form in qualifying and recorded a win in Val di Sole - Trentino back in 2022.

Anything Goldstone can do, compatriot Gracey Hemstreet (Norco Race Division) seems to be matching – the Canadian following up her first-ever win in Loudenvielle-Peyragudes with the win a week later.

She won’t have it easy though. Tahnée Seagrave (Orbea/FMD Racing) is breathing down her neck in the overall, and the resurgent Brit is a three-time winner already at the venue, including last year.

Reigning overall series winner Valentina Höll (YT Mob) meanwhile has now gone a full calendar year without a win at a UCI Downhill World Cup, but the rainbow jersey holder is always a threat. Anna Newkirk (Frameworks Racing/5Dev) is a rider on the up worth keeping tabs on, while Myriam Nicole (Commencal/Muc-Off by Riding Addiction) is another with three wins in Val di Sole - Trentino, including the 2021 UCI Downhill World Championships.

While the Cross-country contests aren’t as tight on paper, the results in varying conditions in Saalfelden Leogang – Salzburgerland have shown that the current XCO series leaders – Christopher Blevins (Specialized Factory Racing) and Samara Maxwell (Decathlon Ford Racing Team) – aren’t infallible.

Blevins will be looking to bounce back after his winning run that stretched back to Araxá, Minas Gerais (Brazil) in April ended with 17th in Austria. The American has never placed higher than 26th in the Elites at the Italian venue, but his early season form suggests that he’ll be competing for the honours this Sunday.

His teammate Victor Koretzky (Specialized Factory Racing) is another who had a disappointing time last time out, DNFing after two laps. Despite this, the round one winner still sits second in the overall, and will be targeting a response in Italy.

One man likely to stop them is Nino Schurter (Scott-SRAM MTB Racing Team). The G.O.A.T’s 2025 has got off to a mixed start by his high standards, but the Swiss legend is the king of Val di Sole, having won one XCO UCI World Championships and six UCI XCO World Cup rounds (including in 2024) at the venue.

In the women’s field, Maxwell still has a healthy lead in the overall and made it a hattrick of consecutive second-place finishes to go with her UCI XCO World Cup win at round one. Her consistency suggests that the New Zealander will be there or thereabouts, but it’s hard to look beyond one rider for the top spot on the podium – Puck Pieterse (Alpecin-Deceuninck).

The reigning XCO UCI World Champion was in electric form regardless of the conditions in Saalfelden Leogang – Salzburgerland, winning the XCO-XCC double to propel herself to 12th in the overall, despite not competing in the opening two rounds in Brazil. She has previous successes in Trentino, winning the UCI XCO World Cup in 2023 and finishing second last year behind Pauline Ferrand-Prévot.

The Flying Dutchwoman won’t necessarily have it all her own way though, and with four different winners in the XCO so far this series, the field is more competitive than ever.

It’s a similar story in the XCC, although here Blevins’ record remains unblemished – his winning streak currently sat at a record-breaking four. His teammates Koretzky and Martin Vidaurre Kossmann (Specialized Factory Racing) have been the next-best riders all series, but don’t expect them to stand in the way of the number one red jersey if it’s a straight sprint for the line. Charlie Aldridge (Cannondale Factory Racing) came closest to breaking up the Specialized dominance in Saalfelden Leogang – Salzburgerland and the Brit appears to be on an upward trajectory.

Like Blevins, Pieterse is unbeaten in the XCC races she’s entered this year, and won Val di Sole’s Short Track race in 2024. Evie Richards (Trek Factory Racing-Pirelli) remains in the overall leader’s red jersey and will hope to be back to full fitness after battling through illness to finish sixth in Saalfelden Leogang – Salzburgerland.

Racing gets underway on Friday, June 20 in Val di Sole – Trentino.

Full schedule and event details are available HERE.