Jérôme Gilloux claims his fifth e-MTB World Championship and Anna Spielmann defends her rainbow jersey in Val di Sole

The 2026 MTB World Championship in Val di Sole has its first two rainbow jerseys. The French Jérôme Gilloux and the Austrian Anna Spielmann have been crowned world champions in E-MTB Cross-country after two very close races in Daolasa di Commezzadura. Gilloux now has five world titles in the specialty, while Spielmann repeats the victory achieved last year.

Gilloux and Spielmann debut the medal table of the MTB World Championship 2026

The E-MTB Cross-country events opened the competitive program of the World Championship in Val di Sole this Wednesday.

The names of the champions are not new. Anna Spielmann wears the rainbow jersey again after her victory in 2025, while Jérôme Gilloux further expands his palmarès with his fifth E-MTB XC World Championship and his third consecutive.

But neither of them had an easy race. Both Spielmann and Gilloux had to wait until almost the end to resolve their respective title duels.

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Anna Spielmann wins by just 11 seconds

Anna Spielmann completed the nine laps and the 21.6 kilometers of the women's race in 48:26, winning by only 11 seconds over the Swiss Kathrin Stirnemann.

The Austrian, who competed on a Haibike Hybe equipped with Bosch Performance Line CX-R motor, had Stirnemann as her main rival throughout the race.

The bronze also went to Austria thanks to Tamara Wiedmann, who finished third, 44 seconds behind the new world champion.

Behind, Anna Oberparleiter finished fourth at 1:47 and Tereza Kurnicka closed the Top 5 at 4:44.

The classification also shows how strong a selection occurred despite the small number of participants. Of the nine riders who started, only five managed to complete the nine laps planned. The rest were classified with two or three laps lost.

Top 5 E-MTB World Championship Women Elite

1. Anna Spielmann (Austria) — 48:26
2. Kathrin Stirnemann (Switzerland) — +0:11
3. Tamara Wiedmann (Austria) — +0:44
4. Anna Oberparleiter (Italy) — +1:47
5. Tereza Kurnicka (Slovakia) — +4:44

Gilloux and Ryf arrived tied at the decisive laps

The men's race offered an even closer duel between Jérôme Gilloux and Joris Ryf. The Swiss initially took the lead on his Specialized Turbo Levo, while Gilloux gradually closed the gap without losing contact with the title fight.

The balance was practically absolute. After the ninth lap, both were still together. But in the last kilometers, Gilloux finally managed to open a small gap and completed the eleven laps first to claim his fifth world champion title. Ryf arrived just eight seconds later.

The Frenchman achieved victory on a Lapierre Overvolt equipped with Bosch motor and raised his count to five world titles in E-MTB XC. Additionally, this is his third consecutive rainbow jersey.

The podium was completed with a well-known duel between two greats: Stéphane Tempier and Daniele Braidot.

Tempier finally secured the bronze with a time of 55:48, 2:10 behind the winner. The Italian finished fourth, 2:41 behind Gilloux and 31 seconds off the podium.

It was very striking to see that Stéphane Tempier, manager of the Decathlon XCO team, competed with a completely stickerless Specialized Turbo Levo.

Top 10 E-MTB World Championship Men

1. Jérôme Gilloux (France) — 53:38
2. Joris Ryf (Switzerland) — +0:08
3. Stéphane Tempier (France) — +2:10
4. Daniele Braidot (Italy) — +2:41
5. Lukas Dennda (Switzerland) — +3:47
6. Mirko Tabacchi (Italy) — +4:00
7. Martino Fruet (Italy) — -2 laps
8. Robert Williams (Great Britain) — -2 laps
9. Marcin Motyka (Poland) — -3 laps
10. Tommaso Bianchetti (Italy) — -4 laps