Koretzky and Forster win the qualifying rounds: these are all the ones who will start in the XCC World Championship

The Short Track World Championship will take place tomorrow in the Swiss town of Zermatt, but today was the turn of the qualifying rounds. Frenchman Victor Koretzky and Swiss Lars Forster have won each of the rounds, but a total of 40 riders have qualified, here we leave them all for you.

The XCC World Championship 2025 kicks off with the men's qualifying rounds: Koretzky and Forster dominate, everything ready for the finals

The decisive week of the 2025 Mountain Bike World Championship started this Monday in Zermatt (Switzerland) with the dispute of the men's qualifying rounds of the Short Track (XCC) modality. In two brief but explosive heats, the finalists who will fight for the rainbow jersey have been defined.

Spain will finally not have participation in the Elite Short Track World Championship. Jofre Cullel could not finish his round and was the only hope for the Spanish team in this modality.

Why are there only qualifying rounds in the men's category?

Unlike the women's category, which will have a single direct final, the men's race required qualifying rounds due to the high number of entries. With more than 60 riders on the grid, and a limit of participants in the final, the UCI activated the system of elimination heats to reduce the peloton.

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On the other hand, in the women's category, it was not necessary to hold qualifying rounds and all riders have direct access to the big final on Tuesday.

Victor Koretzky and Lars Forster, the strongest in the heats

The first qualifying heat was dominated by the French with Victor Koretzky and Mathis Azzaro crossing the finish line at the same time (19:45), ahead of Danish rider Simon Andreassen.

In the second heat, Swiss rider Lars Forster imposed himself with authority in front of his home crowd (19:49), ahead of American Christopher Blevins and New Zealander Sam Gaze. Among the non-qualifiers are names like Luca Martin (FRA) and Joel Contreras (ARG), who did not manage to enter the top twenty.

Qualified for the 2025 XCC World Championship

After these rounds, the men's final of the 2025 XCC World Championship already has its protagonists defined, who will finally be 40:

1. Victor Koretzky - France
2. Lars Forster - Switzerland
3. Mathis Azzaro - France
4. Christopher Blevins - United States
5. Simon Andreassen - Denmark
6. Samuel Gaze - New Zealand
7. Luca Braidot - Italy
8. Luca Schwarzbauer - Germany
9. Sebastian Fini Carstensen - Denmark
10. Alan Hatherly - South Africa
11. Martin Vidaurre - Chile
12. Filippo Colombo - Switzerland
13. Maximilian Brandl - Germany
14. Pierre de Froidmont - Belgium
15. Carter Woods - Canada
16. Vital Albin - Switzerland
17. Knut Rohme - Norway
18. Luke Moir - South Africa
19. Jens Schuermans - Belgium
20. Bjorn Riley - United States
21. Alex Malacarne - Brazil
22. Riley Amos - United States
23. Simone Avondetto - Italy
24. Jose Gerardo Ulloa - Mexico
25. Fabio Püntener - Switzerland
26. Filippo Fontana - Italy
27. Joshua Dubau - France
28. Martins Blums - Latvia
29. Tyler Orschel - Canada
30. Tobias Lillelund - Denmark
31. Anton Cooper - New Zealand
32. Erik Hægstad - Norway
33. Leon Kaiser - Germany
34. Luca Schätti - Switzerland
35. Michael Foster - South Africa
36. Jose Gabriel Marques de Almeida - Brazil
37. Krzysztof Lukasik - Poland
38. Gustavo Xavier de Oliveira Pereira - Brazil
39. Julian Schelb - Germany
40. Roberto Ferreira - Portugal

The women's final will be composed of 47 riders ready for the rainbow jersey:

1. Samara Maxwell - New Zealand
2. Jenny Rissveds - Sweden
3. Alessandra Keller - Switzerland
4. Evie Richards - United Kingdom
5. Nicole Koller - Switzerland
6. Jennifer Jackson - Canada
7. Laura Stigger - Austria
8. Sina Frei - Switzerland
9. Jolanda Neff - Switzerland
10. Puck Pieterse - Netherlands
11. Tamara Wiedmann - Austria
12. Rebecca Henderson - Australia
13. Savilia Blunk - United States
14. Gwendalyn Gibson - United States
15. Kira Böhm - Germany
16. Isla Short - United Kingdom
17. Kelsey Urban - United States
18. Catalina Vidaurre - Chile
19. Chiara Teocchi - Italy
20. Karen Fernandes Olimpio - Brazil
21. Emilly Johnston - Canada
22. Sofie Pedersen - Denmark
23. Caroline Bohe - Denmark
24. Raiza Goulao - Brazil
25. Lia Schrievers - Germany
26. Vita Movrin - Slovenia
27. Linda Indergand - Switzerland
28. Ronja Blöchlinger - Switzerland
29. Madigan Munro - United States
30. Jitka ?abelická - Czech Republic
31. Gabriela Wojtyla - Poland
32. Nicole Pesse - Italy
33. Janika Loiv - Estonia
34. Nuria Bosch Picó - Spain
35. Paula Gorycka Kurmann - Poland
36. Tatiana Saitarova - Russia
37. Hercilia Najara Ferreira de Souza - Brazil
38. Raquel Queirós - Portugal
39. Faranak Partoazar - Iran
40. Kristina Ilina - Russia

Both the men's and women's finals will take place this Tuesday at the Zermatt circuit, under the imposing backdrop of the Matterhorn. The short track will award the first rainbow jerseys of cross-country, and will also serve to assess the form of many favorites for the weekend's XCO.