Jenny Rissveds and Charlie Aldridge dominate the Internacionales Chelva 2025

One more year, Chelva witnessed one of the best XCO races of the season's start and you only had to take a look at the starting grid to confirm it. The Swedish Jenny Rissveds and the British Charlie Aldridge took the victory after two intense races that both knew how to lead with strength.

Charlie Aldridge wins the Internacionales Chelva 2025

The elite men's race started with a strong group at the front formed by the three cyclists from Cannondale Factory Racing; the British Charlie Aldridge, the French Luca Martin, and the Canadian Cole Punchard. And they were joined by the New Zealander Sam Gaze (Alpecin Deceuninck) and David List (Decathlon Ford Racing).

The group increased and decreased during the first laps, like the German cyclist Leon Kaiser (German Federation) who was one of the surprises of the day and remained strong at the front throughout the race or the Spanish David Valero (BH Coloma Team) and the Belgian Pierre de Foridmont (Orbea Factory Team) who both suffered punctures and were soon out of the fight for the podium.

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But the truth is that Aldridge gave few opportunities to his rivals. The British rider took care to show who was the strongest today in Chelva and after dominating the race from start to finish, a final attack allowed him to cross the finish line first with almost half a minute of advantage over the German David List. The podium was completed by Leon Kaiser, who will have to be closely followed this year after this great start to the season.

Elite Men's Results Internacionales Chelva 2025

1. Charlie ALDRIDGE - CANNONDALE FACTORY RACING - 01:24:02.027
2. David LIST - DECATHLON FORD RACING TEAM - 01:24:20.539
3. Leon Kaiser - GERMAN CYCLING - 01:24:39.032
4. Cole PUNCHARD - CANNONDALE FACTORY RACING - 01:24:45.906
5. Maximilian BRANDL - LAPIERRE RACING UNITY - 01:24:47.880
6. David VALERO SERRANO - BH COLOMA TEAM - 01:24:52.477
7. SAMUEL GAZE - ALPECIN-DECEUNINCK - 01:25:57.531
8. Luke Wiedmann - MAUNA LOA BIKERS - 01:26:00.470
9. Pierre DE FROIDMONT - ORBEA FOX FACTORY TEAM - 01:26:14.732
10. Luca MARTIN - CANNONDALE FACTORY RACING - 01:26:21.206

Rissveds achieves her first victory with Canyon CLLCTV in Chelva

The women's race also started with a star-studded grid where we saw former Olympic champions Jenny Rissveds and Jolanda Neff, last year's winner here Savilia Blunk, former world champion Evie Richard, or World Cup protagonists like the current US champion Kelsey Urban or the Italian Chiara Teochi.

The group start lasted until the Swedish Jenny Rissveds broke the pack with a pace that no one could follow. The British Evie Richard tried to chase Rissveds alone, but the Swedish rider showed superiority in climbing and was the fastest in the technical descents.

The race was led from start to finish by Rissveds, but the rest of the podium positions were highly contested. Jolanda Neff managed to catch Richards and both seemed to be fighting for the podium, but the surprise of the day was the American Kelsey Urban with a powerful finish that allowed her to finish second behind the Swedish rider.

With this victory, Jenny Rissveds achieves her first triumph with her new team, the Canyon CLLTV XCO. The podium was completed by Evie Richards.

Elite Women's Results Internacionales Chelva 2025

1. Jenny RISSVEDS - CANYON CLLCTV XCO - 01:24:46.873
2. Kelsey Urban - KMC RIDLEY MTB RACING TEAM - 01:26:20.369
3. Evie RICHARDS - TREK FACTORY RACING - PIRELLI - 01:26:22.536
4. Jolanda NEFF - CANNONDALE FACTORY RACING - 01:26:41.357
5. Savilia BLUNK - DECATHLON FORD RACING TEAM - 01:27:17.100
6. Isla Short - SHORT FACTORY RACING - 01:27:53.583
7. Nina GRAZ - LAPIERRE RACING UNITY - 01:29:22.080
8. Lia Schrievers - KMC RIDLEY MTB RACING TEAM - 01:30:01.830
9. Chiara TEOCCHI - LAPIERRE RACING UNITY - 01:30:23.573
10. Ana SANTOS - CANNONDALE FACTORY RACING - 01:30:40.843