Pal Arinsal – Men Elite XCC Highlights | 2025 WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Cup

Watch the Men Elite XCC highlights from the finals of the 2025 WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Pal Arinsal, Andorra.
 
Full Results and race calendar at https://www.uci.org/discipline/mountain-bike/4LArSj7CKcytMrGEDtKwkb?discipline=MTB
 
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And they go green. Vidari slightly slow off the line. Fle extremely good start for the rider in red and leads him around the righthander for the first time. Schwarz bars up alongside him on the right hand side though as the pack all stay upright. Yeah, good start as well for Mattz lookinger on the inside. Matte Ler who leads him up this little punch into the woods for the first time. You see Ble in second, Vidari third, Schwarzbau fourth. Super punchy start by Mate looking up. We need to talk about that man on in the shop. No, Victor Caretsky Ollie. He needs a win this year, doesn’t he? He needs to establish himself back at the front of the short track. Yeah, world champion here last year. And just say not quite being firing, especially the last couple of races. Caretsky shuffled back in the pack slightly now. The UCI World Champion. There’s Aldridge though behind Aaro having a good dig. Aldridge a rider second here at world champs last year. So loves the venue, loves the course. Another rider who’s been up at altitude as well in preparation. Clevens leads him into the woods. Martan favoring that right hand side each time. And look how close they get to that tree on the exit round there. He’s looking fast to that line. And as Martan going to take the lead with that line choice as well. Looked like it just smash back together again. Yeah, Martan in the lead now ahead of Blevens. Levens will have to be wary of this move because Martan full of confidence from that French national champs win. I think Chris Cleven will be happy for Luka Martin to take the lead of it. This means you can sit back and follow. They want to take the fight back at Specialized, don’t they? That old rivalry continues on in mountain biking. I mean, Specialized and from from 10 races, they’ve only lost one so far this season. So the dominance and that the other big factory teams are desperate to get a win and take it to the Levens overtakes Martan up the top of this climb. Aaro still in contention alongside this compatriate just gets moved out of the way slightly by Aldridge. Then it’s Nino Sher. Yeah, Nino on this line, this right hand line that I think is just a little bit faster. Oh, Aldridge into the lead now. So Charlie Aldridge really making that right hand line work for him and doing a really good race so far. Oh, he didn’t have the best of starts. His gridding was a little further back. Just looking down at the bike now. Aldridge took a chain off. It’s another He’s had another problem with a chain. Charlie Aldridge in 2025. Cannot catch a mechanical break and that puts Christopher Blevens in the lead of this race. Ollie Beck not liking what he’s seeing. Absolute nightmare. He hits the front. He’s doing the perfect race and then a mechanical chain offki up in the second place behind his teammate now. Look at Martan though in that French national champs jersey again at the base of this climb attacking the front of the range. You can see this attack from Caretski on the left hand side. Leven’s marked them for most of it but Caretski got the job done. Caretski the first time we’ve really really seen it this year you’d have to say Ollie really attacking and really looking sharp at the front of it. Martan just has to anchor up to allow the big man from Bezier into the lead. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Caresy nearly losing things. Just adjusting his hand on the grip there. Just got a bobble on a route in he was kind of the first rider to react when Caretsky went lap nine out of 11. And there’s Charlie Aldridge coming through after have to stop chain back on. Yeah, look at that. Oie Keski’s done all that work to get in the lead of the race and he just lost three positions in that first quarter. Yeah, Nino Sherto as well. Third position now doing a really good short track race. Martan back on the front though. And here comes Victor back up the climb. Caretski Leven just managing to stay in front of him. And it’s Luca Martan who’s a choker in the packet in front of this one. The young Frenchman. So all these riders know that Christopher Leven’s going to go on that last hill on the last lap. So what they need to do is just try and go a little longer. Maybe go for a longer effort. Put the pressure on. That’s Carter Woods. Giant factory offro getting in amongst things now as well. Caretski in fifth place as it stands being hurt by this attack from Luca Martan. T him though. Nino Sher still right at the mix. Two laps to go. Luka Martan still leads them, but this pace at the front is starting to hurt them. It’s stretching the elastic band behind them. Free of breast as they tip into this little descent. Martan 182 beats per minute, 12.7 on the stream gauge. So, he’s working hard, but there’s room left there. Oh, that goes up to 21. And it’s his front group of six now putting clear. Two specialized two Scotch Rams. That’s in a strain number on a short track’s impressive. So this attack from Christopher Blevens on the climb. Martan goes with him. Aaro tries to go with him. Martin’s got it covered. Interesting. And what do you read from that is that Leven’s just stretching things out, giving himself a few less people to beat. I think he knows he’s know we know he’s got this big sprint, but there’s also that little chance to recover through here. But Luka Martan as well got that one covered. Aaro just struggling to get on terms, but I think he’ll do it. Blevens has just so much control over these races now. He can make the decision. He can decide who’s in this group around him. But the way that Chris Bleven’s like to ride, he did that big attack and therefore he needs Victor Caretski down and he’s taken Nino Sher with him and it’s a chain that’s gone. Meanwhile, at the front, they take the bell. This is it. Last lap. All action here and Salandura as we’ve come to expect from this place. Oh, and the attack is on. Look at Luca Martan on the right hand side here. Shot the number 17 Canondale attacking on the descent down into this lefthander that leads him on the bottom of this climb. It’s Luca Martan. Blevins. Aaro Columbo. Martan attacks. Blevens up the climb. Aaro’s right there. has been with them all race long at the front, but Martan leads him in the woods on the last lap. Here comes Luca Martan out into the daylight. And for the first time in 2025, really, you’d have to say Christopher Leven’s looking like he may be in trouble on the last lap of a short track here, but he’s closed the gap down through there. Ollie, he’s back in the world. We got this drag up to the finish. He cuts round. There’s no recovery now. Martan grits his teeth. This is it. Time to burn whatever matches you have left. Christopher Levens undefeated in 2025 is in second place currently. They’re up out of the saddle. They’re heading for the start finish straight. Blevens has got a problem in the shape of Luca Martan to solve here. Cannondale versus Specialized. Here they go under the star finish straight for the last time. It’s Martan versus Blevens. Martan kicks. Bleven sticks deep. Christopher Blevens has to play second place for the first time in 2025. It was so hard to tell from that shot if he got it or not. That was close. But the French national champion has done it. Martan Levens Aaro your top three.