Adrien Boichis and Laura Stigger take the Elite Cross-country Short Track rainbow jerseys on Thursday, August 27th at Daolasa di Commezzadura, both of them on the final straight. Swiss siblings Nicolas and Monique Halter win the U23 titles minutes apart. In the morning, Australia’s Connor Wright and Switzerland’s Anja Grossmann take the Junior Cross-country Olympic titles. Downhill qualifying follows on Friday, August 28th
There is a reason the Cross-country Short Track needed only a few seasons to win over fans and insiders alike: 20 to 30 minutes of racing flat out, with the front of the race changing hands over and over, is hard to resist.
Thursday, August 27th, at the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships Val di Sole-Trentino, running from August 26th to 30th, belonged to Adrien Boichis. The 23-year-old from Aix-en-Provence, already a Team Relay and Junior Cross-country UCI World Champion in Val di Sole in 2021, beat no less than Mathieu van der Poel at the Les Gets World Cup last weekend. He will meet the Dutchman again in Sunday’s Cross-country Olympic, and in the meantime he has sent the clearest possible message, in front of a Daolasa di Commezzadura crowd already large and loud ahead of a hotly awaited weekend.
In the Elite women’s race it was Austria’s Laura Stigger who took the spotlight, pipping Great Britain’s Evie Richards on the line after a nerve-shredding finish. The U23 titles went to Nicolas and Monique Halter, the most unusual story of the day and perhaps of the whole Championships: two siblings pulling on rainbow jerseys minutes apart is not something that happens often.
The Cross-country programme had opened in the morning with the Junior races, won by Australia’s Connor Wright and Switzerland’s Anja Grossmann. The pattern running through the day is hard to miss: Boichis rides on the road for Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe, Wright is about to join Tudor Pro Cycling’s development squad, and Grossmann, at 17, already has a Road World Championships medal. Cross-country’s – and overall cycling’s – new generation is arriving from every direction at once.
FRANCE’S GOLD: ALDRIDGE SPLITS BOICHIS AND MARTIN
France’s gold was not only the most valuable medal won at Daolasa di Commezzadura on Thursday. It was the emblem of a generation that has already taken over the Cross-country scene this season.
Adrien Boichis is its brightest exponent, and in Val di Sole he made the point emphatically, racing the whole Cross-country Short Track at the front alongside compatriots Luca Martin and Mathis Azzaro. It was a collective show of strength that says everything about the depth of a team ready to own the future, and the present with it.
The only rider to stand against the French tide was Charlie Aldridge. The Briton had to settle for silver, finishing between Boichis, the gold medallist, and Martin, who took bronze.
“I am in a fantastic moment,” said Adrien Boichis. “The last seven days have been extraordinary and what is happening is really incredible. It was a very fast Short Track. I tried to make it selective, because I am better when the race gets harder. Aldridge pushed very hard on the last lap, especially on the climbs, but in the end I got the better of him in the sprint.”
STIGGER PIPS RICHARDS ON THE LINE
A nerve-shredding Elite women’s Short Track at Daolasa di Commezzadura came down to a five-rider sprint, and to Laura Stigger’s raw power. The Austrian edged out Great Britain’s Evie Richards on the photo finish, with Switzerland’s Sina Frei taking bronze.
The first half of the race was finely balanced. On lap four, a mistake by Ronja Blöchlinger cost her Swiss teammate Alessandra Keller, the defending champion, who was forced into a furious chase. At the front, Jenny Rissveds set the tempo and led the Short Track almost to the end.
On the final lap Evie Richards took control, only to be reeled in on the finishing straight by Stigger, who came through on her left to take it on the line. The 26-year-old Austrian had already won a Short Track in Val di Sole, at the 2023 World Cup round.
“I have no words. These have been really difficult weeks, but I had so much support from my coach, who is always by my side, and from my family, who were here cheering for me,” said Laura Stigger. “Jenny Rissveds set a furious pace, but in the end I came out of the last corner well and won. Val di Sole is a special place for me. I have goosebumps. This is a dream coming true.”
SHORT TRACK U23: A HALTER FAMILY AFFAIR
It is a family story, but also one of cool heads and strong legs. Nicolas and Monique Halter wrote a page of their own in the shortest format in mountain biking, taking the U23 world titles at the end of two races decided exactly where this discipline usually decides them: on the last lap.
Both races were close and fought out to the finish, rewarding the Swiss siblings’ ability to stay in the group, read the race and strike at the sharpest moment.
In the men’s race, Nicolas Halter had to settle it in a two-up sprint with Germany’s Paul Schehl, in a duel that stayed open to the final metres. The Swiss came out on top, while behind them Rens van Manen Teunissen completed the podium and gave the Netherlands bronze.
The women’s U23 race was just as balanced, under control for the first seven laps until Monique Halter made the decisive move. Her attack, launched two laps from the end, broke the resistance of Great Britain’s Bethany-Ann Jackson and the USA’s Makena Kellermann, who took silver and bronze.
Connor Wright first, then the best of European junior cycling: that is the Junior men’s Cross-country race in one line, dominated by a pace the Australian’s rivals could not live with.
On the opening lap Filippi, Hettegger and Ghibaudo tried to hold his wheel, but over the next two they had to let go. The last to give in was Austria’s Michael Hettegger, who still took silver.
Another multi-discipline talent moving between road and off-road, and about to join Tudor Pro Cycling’s under-23 squad, Wright crossed the line after the scheduled five laps with 1 minute 16 seconds in hand over Hettegger. Switzerland’s Marwan Barhoumi came through from further back to take bronze at 1 minute 43 seconds.
“I attacked exactly where I wanted to attack,” explained Wright afterwards, “even after coming off the bike, and I kept it clean through the singletrack and the roots. I got to the bottom of that descent with 22 seconds and I couldn’t believe it. From there I rode my own race and I could really soak it in over those last two laps.”
JUNIOR WOMEN’S CROSS-COUNTRY: GROSSMANN COMPLETES THE DOUBLE
Switzerland took the top step in the first Cross-country medal race of the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships Val di Sole-Trentino. Anja Grossmann won the Junior women’s title after a race she led from start to finish. Behind her, the Czech Republic’s Barbora Bukovska took silver at 48 seconds, with France’s Agathe Vauchamp third at 1 minute 29 seconds.
A versatile rider who took bronze in the road race at the 2025 UCI Road World Championships in Kigali, Rwanda, the 17-year-old Swiss made her intentions clear from the opening laps of the Val di Sole Cross-country circuit. Bukovska stayed on her wheel for a lap before having to concede on the second, and Grossmann rode clear to the world title.
It completes a notable double for Grossmann, after her European title in Monteceneri: continental gold and world gold in the same year.
“This is a moment I have dreamed about for years,” said Anja Grossmann. “I thought about it in every training session and I never stopped believing. The last few years have taught me a huge amount, disappointments included, and I have had the best people around me: people who give everything, every day, and who believed in this dream as much as I did.”
Maria Chiara Signorelli was the leading Italian in fifth, 3 minutes 18 seconds down, after an excellent ride from well back.
FIRST LOOK AT THE BLACK SNAKE: DOWNHILL QUALIFYING ON FRIDAY, AUGUST 28TH
While the Junior Cross-country races and the Short Track programme were under way, the Downhill riders began getting to grips with the Black Snake, the legendary course that on Saturday, August 29th will decide four titles across the Elite and Junior categories, men and women.
Friday, August 28th is when it starts in earnest, with the Qualifying Round. The Junior riders go first from 10:30 CEST, the women opening proceedings ahead of the men. The Elite categories follow from 15:30 CEST, again with the women before the men.
In the Elite men’s race, Jordan Williams of Great Britain looks the rider in form, but the fight for the title is wide open. Amaury Pierron, Max Alran and Loris Vergier of France, Australia’s Troy Brosnan and Asa Vermette and Ryan Pinkerton of the United States all have the credentials to contest a race that has rarely been this uncertain. Italy have been improving too, with Loris Revelli crowned European Champion in Bulgaria ahead of Stefano Introzzi.
In the Elite women’s race everything points to Valentina Höll, the Austrian who has won the last four world titles in the discipline. Her main rival will once again be France’s Myriam Nicole, the last rider to beat her at a World Championships, in 2021, in Val di Sole itself. The outsiders are Switzerland’s Lisa Baumann, Canada’s Gracey Hemstreet and the USA’s Anna Newkirk. It has been a difficult season for Great Britain’s Tahnee Seagrave and France’s Marine Cabirou, but if there is one course where the stars can shine again, it is the Black Snake.
For Italy, newly crowned European Champion Gloria Scarsi has every chance of getting into the medal fight. Alongside her is Eleonora Farina, at the final weekend of a career that brought her two European titles and left its mark on the World Cup.
“The feelings are good,” said Eleonora Farina. “This will be the last race of my career and I want to do well. I have to hand it to the organisers: the Black Snake is in excellent condition. I still need to do another track walk and one last training session before the qualifying round.”
4X PRO TOUR QUALIFYING IN THE EVENING
The evening at Daolasa di Commezzadura, from 21:00 CEST, brings the first of these Championships’ side events.
On the Four-Cross track, which has hosted several editions of the discipline’s World Championships in the past, the riders entered in the 4X Pro Tour meet for the first time. The qualifying round sets the draw for the finals, scheduled for Friday, August 28th, again from 21:00 CEST.
