Adrien Boichis wins the XCO World Cup in Andorra

Adrien Boichis has won the XCO World Cup in Pal Arinsal 2026 after completing one of his best races of the season. The Frenchman managed the demanding Andorran circuit perfectly to take the win solo ahead of Mathis Azzaro and Luca Schwarzbauer.

Adrien Boichis wins the XCO World Cup in Andorra after a tough duel with Mathis Azzaro

The race also brought one of the big surprises of the weekend with Luca Martin's collapse. The leader of the overall standings, winner of the last two XCO events held in Lenzerheide and La Thuile, started to lose positions during the early laps and ended up completely out of the fight for the front positions.

Boichis and Azzaro break away from the first laps

The race began with Jofre Cullell taking the lead during the first meters, followed by a large group of favorites. But the situation changed quickly when Adrien Boichis started to pick up the pace.

The Frenchman took command of the race initially accompanied by Luca Schwarzbauer, Mathis Azzaro, and Luca Martin. José Gerardo Ulloa also had a great start and managed to stay among the top riders during the initial laps.

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The Pal Arinsal circuit, located at nearly 2,000 meters above sea level, soon began to make a difference. Boichis and Azzaro showed themselves to be the strongest riders, while Luca Martin started to lose ground surprisingly.

At the start of the third lap, Boichis and Azzaro were already leading practically together, with Schwarzbauer trying to stay on their wheel. Behind them, Christopher Blevins led the chase while Martin continued to lose positions.

Luca Martin collapses and falls out of contention

The World Cup leader arrived in Andorra after winning the XCO events in Lenzerheide and La Thuile consecutively, but it was clear from the early laps that he was not having his best day.

Martin started losing a few seconds to the leaders, but the gap progressively increased. First, he gave way to Boichis, Azzaro, and Schwarzbauer, and later was overtaken by the chasing group that included riders like Bjorn Riley and Martin Vidaurre.

As Martin disappeared from the top positions, Boichis and Azzaro continued to increase the pace.

Schwarzbauer managed to hold on for several laps, but eventually also had to yield to the pace set by the two Frenchmen.

Boichis and Azzaro are left alone

Past the halfway point of the race, Adrien Boichis and Mathis Azzaro were riding completely alone.

Both began to set the fastest laps of the race and quickly extended their lead over Schwarzbauer. Christopher Blevins was in fourth position, while behind them Simone Avondetto, Bjorn Riley, and Martin Vidaurre were engaged in their own battle.

With three laps to go, Boichis and Azzaro were still separated by just a few seconds, and it seemed that the victory would once again be decided in the final moments.

Azzaro even tried to surprise his compatriot with an attack, but Boichis immediately responded and neutralized the move.

The decisive attack by Adrien Boichis

The race changed definitively with two laps to go. Boichis increased the pace, and for the first time, Mathis Azzaro could not keep up with him. The gap started at just a few seconds but quickly began to grow.

The Frenchman from Specialized Factory Racing entered the last lap with a sufficient lead to manage the effort, although far from reducing the pace, he set the fastest lap of the race again.

Behind, Azzaro secured second place while Luca Schwarzbauer completed one of his best performances in recent seasons to take third place.

Adrien Boichis finally crossed the finish line solo with a time of 1:14:48, achieving his second XCO victory of the season and his fourth podium of the year in the World Cup.

Mathis Azzaro finished second, 19 seconds behind, and Luca Schwarzbauer completed the podium at 1:12.

Top 10 XCO World Cup Pal Arinsal 2026 – Elite Men

1. Adrien Boichis (Specialized Factory Racing) – 1:14:48
2. Mathis Azzaro (Origine Racing Division) – +19 s
3. Luca Schwarzbauer (Canyon XC Racing) – +1:12
4. Christopher Blevins (Specialized Factory Racing) – +2:02
5. Simone Avondetto (Wilier-Vittoria Factory Team) – +2:10
6. Bjorn Riley (SCOTT-SRAM MTB Racing Team) – +2:27
7. Martin Vidaurre (Specialized Factory Racing) – +2:46
8. David List (Decathlon Ford Racing Team) – +2:47
9. Riley Amos (Trek-Unbroken XC) – +3:09
10. Jordan Sarrou (BMC Factory Racing) – +3:27