Highlights: World Cup XCO – Soldier Hollow, USA
Martina Bertha takes a double win for the weekend and Martin Vidaurre wins a chaotic Men’s Race
This weekend the World Cup Cross-country circuit dropped into Soldier Hollow for the penultimate round of the 2026 season. New to World Cup racing, the Soldier Hollow track was something different – with a mix of high-speed descents, natural techy rock features, long climbs and bikepark style sections it promised and delivered good racing.
Elite Women’s Race
Just over a minute into the race Martina Bertha moved to the front and signaled she was here for another win. Also intent on a good result, Sina Frei, Gwendalyn Gibson and Alessandra Keller were all mixing it at the head of the race. By the halfway mark and quite remarkably, just 16 seconds separated the top 10 riders on the course. Just one lap of the natural, fast and technical track later and it was a different story, a group of five formed at the head of the race with Bertha dropping watts and doing the most damage. As the fans cheered on, Gibson led Bertha onto the final lap some 36 seconds clear of the chase group consisting of Frei, Batten, Blunk and Keller. A final kick from Bertha up the climb at the back-end of the track edged out a gap for Bertha and she continued to hold the advantage to take the win ahead of Gibson with Frei winning the sprint for third ahead of Blunk. Further back, Candice Lill placed 13th.
Results
1st) Martina Berta: 1:15:51
2nd) Gwendalyn Gibson: +13
3rd) Sina Frei: +48
4th) Savilia Blunk: +48
5th) Alessandra Keller: +1:00
Elite Men’s Race
Resplendent in the American National Champs Jersey, Chris Blevins moved to the front and led the race up the first climb on the first lap. As usual, the opening laps were chaotic with position changes and crashes shuffling the top 10 around. By the midway point, it was Charlie Aldridge, Luca Martin and Mathis Azzaro rolling at the front with Punchard, Schatti, Guay, Vidaurre, Sarrou and Amos all within 17 seconds and still very much in contention. Aldridge was looking very good all race but mistimed a jump and then tomahawked over a turn on the penultimate lap which took him out of contention. Onto the last lap and Vidaurre opens the throttle on the final climb to put daylight between himself and the best of the rest. Holding the pace, Vidaurre crosses the line first ahead of Punchard and Guay. Luke Moir and Luca Ruwiel placed 54th and 57th.
Results
1st) Martin Vidaurre Kossmann: 1:28:55
2nd) Cole Punchard: +5
3rd) Mathis Guay: +7
4th) Luca Braidot: +12
5th) Mathis Azzaro: +15