David Valero is now the best cyclist in the world in the UCI XCM ranking

David Valero is now the number 1 in the UCI MTB Marathon world ranking. The update published on July 14 places the Klimatiza Orbea Team rider at the top of the classification after an extraordinary first half of the season and just a few months after definitively leaving XCO to focus his sports career on long-distance events.

David Valero reaches number 1 in the UCI XCM world ranking for the first time

The title of XCM European Champion won in Ramales de la Victoria has propelled Valero to the top of the ranking. The Spaniard now has 1,708 points, surpassing Belgian Wout Alleman, who drops to second place with 1,595. Samuele Porro, Valero's teammate at Klimatiza Orbea Team, completes the top three with 1,309 points.

David Valero completes an extraordinary first half of the season

The rise to number 1 in the world is not solely due to his recent victory at the European Championship. Valero has built his leadership thanks to extraordinary consistency since the beginning of 2026 and a collection of results that confirm how quickly he has adapted to his new sports phase.

The Granadan started the year by winning the Mediterranean Epic and shortly after finished third in the first round of the XCM World Cup held in Calpe. Then came the victory in the Andalucía Bike Race, fourth place in the Cape Epic, and the title of Spanish XCM Champion. After finishing 14th in the Elba World Cup, he achieved two consecutive victories in the championship, first in La Rabassa and then in the HERO Südtirol Dolomites. A second place in the Andorra Epic preceded his latest major success, the title of European Champion achieved in Ramales de la Victoria.

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In just over five months, Valero has won some of the most important events on the international calendar, has been crowned Spanish and European champion, and has achieved two consecutive victories in the XCM World Cup. A trajectory that has allowed him to reach the world leadership in the discipline for the first time.

From saying goodbye to XCO to becoming the world number 1 in XCM

The achievement takes on even more significance given the timing. At the end of 2025, David Valero announced that he was ending his career in XCO, a discipline in which he had become the great reference of Spanish mountain biking over the last decade.

His time in the Olympic discipline was marked by the medals won at the Olympic Games and World Championships, his historic victory in the XCO World Cup in Snowshoe, and an international consistency that in 2022 also took him to number 1 in the UCI ranking.

Valero then decided to start a new phase. For 2026, he signed with the Klimatiza Orbea Team and completely focused his calendar on MTB Marathon and stage races, disciplines in which he had previously demonstrated his qualities but had never dedicated a full season.

The results have confirmed the success of the change in just a few months. Valero has not only managed to transfer his experience and physical ability to long distances but has also reached number 1 in the world in XCM for the first time in his first season fully focused on the discipline.

World number 1 in XCO and now also in XCM

David Valero thus achieves a particularly significant milestone in his sports career. Four years after leading the UCI XCO world ranking in 2022, the Granadan now occupies the top position in the world XCM ranking.

His arrival at the top of the ranking confirms a transition in his sports career that is hard to improve upon. In just half a season since he decided to leave XCO and fully commit to long-distance events, Valero has gone from starting a new phase in his career to becoming the cyclist with the most UCI points in the world in MTB Marathon.

Moreover, the new ranking reflects the excellent moment of the Klimatiza Orbea Team. Samuele Porro occupies the third position in the world, meaning the team has two riders among the top three ranked.

Top 10 UCI XCM men's world ranking

1. David Valero Serrano – 1,708 points
2. Wout Alleman – 1,595 points
3. Samuele Porro – 1,309 points
4. Héctor Leonardo Páez – 1,192 points
5. Andreas Seewald – 1,097 points
6. Stefano Goria – 1,013 points
7. Dario Cherchi – 951 points
8. Sebastián Andrés Gesche Antona – 942 points
9. Tim Smeenge – 937 points
10. Luis Francisco Pérez Martínez – 921 points