As finales go, it was a bit messy. Vali Höll was probably quite happy to have wrapped up her 2026 overall title a couple of rounds ago as she watched all of the top three contenders for the men’s title miss the podium Sunday in Lake Placid. In fact, Amaury Pierron didn’t even make finals.

With the French rider out, the title fight was narrowed down to Specialized’s Jordan Williams and first-year elite for Frameworks Racing, Asa Vermette. If Vermette could clinch the title on home soil, he would become just the second man after Nicolas Vouilloz to earn the elite World Cup title in his first season.

Photo: Jack Rice / Whoop UCI Mountain Bike World Series
Meir-Smith repeats Lake Placid glory

The race for the overall wasn’t the only race on the mountain, though. Luke Meir-Smith (Giant Factory Off-Road) proved to be the class of the men’s field on Sunday. The Australian repeats his World Cup win from Lake Placid in 2025.

“It hasn’t really been the season I had been hoping for. To turn it around at the end and get another win here is just insane,” Meier-Smith said after his win. “I was getting a little bit of doubt in my head, not sure if I could do it again. But I just gave it my all. I didn’t have anything left at the bottom. I think that made the difference.”

Andreas Kolb (Santa Cruz Syndicate) takes second place. Lachlan Stevens-Mcnab (Trek Unbroken) finds some measure of redemption for his DSQ from Whistler a week prior, taking third place.

Finn Iles also turned around a season-low in Whistler to ride to fifth in Lake Placid. That result is enough to salveage a fourth overall for Iles, after a season that saw him win two World Cups, miss another due to injury and, heartbrakingly, miss finals at home in Whistler. The Canadian’s 1125 point total was less than 50 points shy of knocking Pierron off of the overall podium.

Showing that the UCI/WBD’s 30-rider cap on the elite men’s finals remains as cut-throat as it is cruel, Jackson Goldstone and both Jewett brothers joined Amaury Pierron on the sidelines after not making the elite men’s finals.

Michal Cerveny / Whoop UCI Mountain Bike World Series
Asa Vermette makes history

The story of the day, though, was Asa Vermette. The Frameworks racer finished eighth in Lake Placid. But, with Jordan Williams finishing sixth, the U.S. rider earns the 2026 World Cup overall title in his first year as an elite.

“It’s insane. I dreamed of it at the beginning of the season, so for it to happen is crazy,” Vermette said after the finish. “It has been a crazy season, with ups and downs. I don’t really have any words.”

Indeed, the road to Lake Placid was far from a straight line. Vermette opened the season with a win in South Korea. But he only had two more podiums to his name when the series arrived in Whistler. On the second new track of the 2026 season in Whistler, Vermette again claimed a big win.

As Vermette had a front row seat to see in Whistler, with the misfortunes of Iles and Goldstone, racing on home turf can be as perilous as it is energizing. Especially when the stakes are so high.

“My head was spinning,” Vermette admitted. “Before I dropped in, I was just like, ‘Just ride your bike.’ It was so hard to lock in with all those nerves. I was riding tight, but I was glad it was good enough to get down.”

Photo: Jack Rice / Whoop UCI Mountain Bike World Series
Bouladou crushes finals for first elite World Cup win

In the women’s race, with Höll already locking up her season overall, the race situation was much more clear. First person down the mountain wins it all. But history was still on the line. If Höll could earn one more win and bring her 2026 total to seven, she would match the single-season win record of two icionic racers: Anne-Caroline Chausson and Rachel Atherton.

Lisa Bouladou (Santa Cruz Burgtec) had other ideas. After qualifying first in Whistler, and landing on the podium in finals, the 21-year-old French racer again qualified first in Lake Placid. Höll took the win. This week, Boulaoud wasn’t going to be stopped in finals.

Bouladou takes the win in Lake Placid. Her first as en elite. That’s a huge milestone for any rider.

“At the start gate, I was like, ‘It’s my last run of the year, so I need to give it my all,’ and that’s what I did. My goal this season was to finish with as many top 10s as possible. And last week, being on the podium was already crazy. But winning a World Cup, I can rest in peace this winter.”

Michal Cerveny / Whoop UCI Mountain Bike World Series

Höll, while missing out on landing the single-season record, still has six wins and the World Cup overall title this season.

“I was trying to chase history and messed it up today,” Höll admitted after the finish. “I was quite stoked with my run until the open section. There was so much headwind. Unfortunately, it’s an outdoor sport and it’s part of the game. I’m happy with my season. It’s pretty insane to get these results.”

Gracey Hemstreet (Norco adidas Race Division) finishes seventh in Lake Placid.The Canadian ends her World Cup season third, just 15 points behind AON Racing’s Harriet Harnden, who made history herself by winning the Gates Belted Purse, and the Euro 100,000 prize that came with it. Hemstreet will head from Lake Placid to an arena where she’s put her own name in the history books: Red Bull Hardline. She’ll take on the first Red Bull Hardline to take place in Canada in just a couple of weeks.

Well, that’s it for the 2026 World Cup season. Now it’s on to Red Bull Rampage and then Red Bull Hardline, both still to come in a crowded October.