Sina Frei wins by millimeters in Lake Placid and Jenny Rissveds takes the XCO World Cup

Sina Frei has won the last XCO World Cup of the season in Lake Placid, edging out Martina Berta by centimeters in a spectacular sprint. Samara Maxwell completed the podium, while Jenny Rissveds finished 11th and achieved the day's main goal, becoming the overall winner of the XCO World Cup 2026.

Sina Frei wins in a sprint and Rissveds secures the overall

The last women's XCO race of 2026 started with Jenny Rissveds in a privileged position. The Swede arrived in Lake Placid with 2,045 points compared to Sina Frei's 1,825, and she only needed to score 15 points to mathematically secure the overall title.

Rissveds, despite everything, set out with the intention of being at the front and was the first to attack. Martina Berta quickly responded by increasing the pace, and during the first lap, a front group formed with almost all the favorites.

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Alessandra Keller then took on a good part of the responsibility, and the first pass by the finish line still had Frei, Berta, Rissveds, Laura Stigger, Nicole Koller, and Savilia Blunk together.

The first significant incident came with a hard fall from Ronja Blöchlinger in a rocky areas. The Swiss rider ended up abandoning, as did Catalina Vidaurre. Rebecca Henderson, who was competing in the last race of her sporting career, also faced problems and had to enter the technical zone to change a wheel.

Meanwhile, Rissveds' situation began to change. After her aggressive start, the overall leader progressively lost contact with the front runners. By the third lap, she was already in tenth place, and shortly after, her gap exceeded half a minute.

With the overall title practically secured as long as she finished the race, Rissveds fell out of the fight for victory, and another race began at the front.

Berta breaks the race again

Gwendalyn Gibson took the lead during the fourth lap with her 32-inch Trek, but the main favorites remained very close together. Midway through the race, only a few seconds separated Gibson, Keller, Frei, Berta, Koller, Stigger, and Maxwell. It was Martina Berta who finally decided to break that equality.

The winner of Friday's Short Track and the XCC-XCO double at Soldier Hollow attacked during the sixth lap. Samara Maxwell was the first able to close the gap, while Frei, Gibson, Keller, and Koller chased from behind.

A snag by Berta in the rock garden compressed the race again, and Frei managed to return to the two leaders. Shortly after, Keller and Koller also closed in, but the pace increased again.

Maxwell attacked at the start of the penultimate lap, and Berta immediately responded. The Italian and the New Zealander opened a few meters, although Frei managed to neutralize the situation once more.

The final lap began with Frei, Maxwell, and Berta together at the front. Everything was set for the last XCO victory of 2026 to be decided among them.

Frei and Berta battle for victory until the last meter

The attacks began immediately. Frei was the first to try, Maxwell responded, and Berta seemed to have a bit more difficulty maintaining the pace.

Then came one of the decisive moments. Berta made a mistake in an uphill rock garden and had to put a foot on the ground. Maxwell was held up behind her, and Frei perfectly took advantage of the situation to attack. The Swiss rider opened a gap and for a moment seemed to have the victory secured. But Berta still had some strength left.

The Italian managed to recover ground surprisingly and caught up with Frei again before the finish. Everything was going to be decided in the sprint.

Frei did not wait. She launched the sprint from very far away and managed to hold off Berta's comeback by the narrowest margin. Both received the same time of 1:25:59, while Samara Maxwell crossed third, six seconds later.

The victory allows Frei to close the season with an outstanding weekend in which she finished third on Friday and became the overall winner of the XCC World Cup, and a day later, she took the last XCO of the year.

Behind, Nicole Koller confirmed her excellent return to the World Cup finishing fourth, 33 seconds back. Alessandra Keller completed the Top 5.

Jenny Rissveds finally arrived in 11th position. She didn't need more. After falling out of the fight for victory early on, the Swede completed the race and earned the necessary points to become the overall winner of the XCO World Cup 2026.

Top 10 Elite Women XCO – Lake Placid 2026

1. Sina Frei (Specialized Factory Racing) — 1:25:59
2. Martina Berta (Origine Racing Division) — 1:25:59
3. Samara Maxwell (Decathlon Ford Racing Team) — +6
4. Nicole Koller (Lapierre PXR Racing) — +33
5. Alessandra Keller (Thömus Maxon) — +1:05
6. Gwendalyn Gibson (Trek - Unbroken XC) — +1:19
7. Laura Stigger (Specialized Factory Racing) — +1:43
8. Savilia Blunk (Decathlon Ford Racing Team) — +2:03
9. Isabella Holmgren (Trek - Unbroken XC) — +2:42
10. Jennifer Jackson (Orbea Fox Factory Team) — +2:46