The XCO World Cup arrives in Val di Sole on Friday and all eyes are on Nino Schurter

From June 20th to 22nd, the World Cup lands in Val di Sole (Trentino, Italy), a mythical MTB enclave that will host the Cross-country (XCC and XCO) and Downhill (DHI) events on one of the most anticipated weekends of the calendar.

Schedule and how to watch the XCO/XCC World Cup in Val di Sole 2025

Like every World Cup weekend, the elite races can be watched live through the MAX digital app or on Eurosport channel. 

Friday, June 20th - Short Track (XCC)

• 17:30 - Elite Women
• 18:10 - Elite Men

Sunday, June 22nd - Olympic Cross-country (XCO)

• 11:00 - Elite Women
• 13:30 - Elite Men

Val di Sole, the Italian MTB temple

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Located in the Trentino region, in northern Italy and near the border with Austria, Val di Sole is synonymous with MTB history since hosting the Downhill World Championship in 2008. The XCO was added in 2013, and since then it has not missed its annual appointment with the World Cup.

With over 400 km of trails and paths, the Val di Sole Bike Park is one of the most complete in Europe, offering natural, technical, and physical terrain that challenges both XCO specialists and downhill kings.

The Val di Sole XCO World Cup is famous for being one of the toughest tracks on the calendar. The combination of steep slopes, roots, and artificial sections makes any mistake costly. Winning here is a test of fire that only the most complete riders can overcome.

In the last edition, in 2024, Samuel Gaze and Puck Pieterse dominated the Short Track for Alpecin-Deceuninck. However, the surprise came in the XCO where Nino Schurter took his ninth victory on one of his favorite circuits. Meanwhile, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot demonstrated her experience to win the women's race.

Favorites for Val di Sole 2025

In the men's category, all eyes will be on Nino Schurter, who will be seeking his tenth victory on a circuit that has given him more triumphs than any other. But if the Leogang race showed us anything, where the Czech Ondrej Cink won against all odds, it is that making predictions nowadays is very complicated. In any case, and although they stood out for their performance drop in Leogang, we cannot rule out the favorites from the Specialized team: Chris Blevins, Victor Koretzky, and Martin Vidaurre. We also cannot forget that Mathias Fluckiger was second in Leogang and is expected to be fighting for the podium, among others.

Among the women, the world champion Puck Pieterse and the overall leader Samara Maxwell are the two big favorites for the weekend, but we cannot forget that last year in Val di Sole, Candice Lill, Loana Lecomte, or Savilia Blunk also rode very fast, so it would not be surprising to see them at the front this year.

As we have seen, the action will start this time on Friday with the Short Track events and Sunday will be the turn of the XCO races.