Race Wrap: 2025 Andorra World Cup XCO
Double Olympic XCO World Champion Tom Pidcock made a victorious return to the UCI Cross-Country Mountain Bike World Cup with a dominant ride through the field in his first XCO appearance of 2025 at Round 6 of the series in Pal Arinsal, Andorra.
From a fourth row start, Pidcock made quick work of riding his way into contention for the win. Setting a blistering pace on the climbs, within two laps he had worked his way up to the lead group and rode behind race leader Luca Martin. In the end, Pidcock moved clear of Luca Martin and rode to a solo victory. Rounding out the podium was Luca Martin and Charlie Aldridge. South Africa’s Alan Hatherly placed 28th and Luke Moir was 60th.
Tom Pidcock: “My tyres were a little bit hard in the end, due to a lack of experience in the races this year. It did play into my favour as I didn’t puncture or have any problems. I was nervous about getting a good launch at the start. If I’d have gone backwards from the fourth row, then I would have been really far back. My start was pretty okay; I went a bit hard midway through the race. It’s hard for everyone racing this high (at altitude), it’s not like you can find more oxygen anywhere.”
In the Women’s XCO, the current overall World Cup points leader Samara Maxwell powered to victory over Alessandra Keller and Sweden’s Jenny Rissveds in a rollercoaster race. Leading the race, Maxwell then had to fight back from a rear wheel puncture and two crashes before riding past her rivals and into the lead on the last of seven laps to claim a very impressive win over Keller by just nine seconds, while Rissveds completed the podium another six seconds behind Keller. Candice Lill finished 15th.
Samara Maxwell: “I genuinely can’t believe that I won today. Coming into today my biggest quote was ‘just because you have a thought doesn’t make it true’. I had a flat and two crashes all within what felt like five seconds. I thought ‘it’s going to be one of those days’ where I panic and drop down the rankings. “I told myself ‘just because I had the thought doesn’t make it a fact’. I’m a fighter and just re-set and chipped them (her rivals) off one by one.”
In the overall XCO standings, it’s the three Specialized riders that are first, second and third in the points — that’s Chris Blevins, Martin Vidaurre and Victor Koretzky. Luke Moir is the first privateer in 22nd and Alan Hatherly (who has skipped some of the rounds) is 27th.
In the Elite Women’s XCO standings Sammy Maxwell has a commanding lead over Nicole Koller and Jenny Rissveds. Candice Lill is the first privateer, in 8th position. In the U23 Women’s XCO standings, SA’s Tyler Jacobs is 16th. World Cup Racing now takes a six week break before the last four rounds of the 2025 season. //