Val di Sole offered a case study in what makes Tom Pidcock so good and why Mathieu van der Poel’s strength isn’t enough, and showed how Sina Frei and Sammie Maxwell might be extremely tough to beat in future seasons.
Piper Albrecht
Val di Sole delivered an outstanding mountain bike World Championships, with new world champions crowned and familiar faces pulling on the rainbow bands once again.
In the elite XCO races, Tom Pidcock reminded us just what he is capable of on a mountain bike, while Sina Frei turned what was expected to be a battle with Jenny Rissveds into a display of domination. Elsewhere, Mathieu van der Poel’s mountain bike woes continued, Samara “Sammie” Maxwell announced herself back at the sharp end of the field, and the French dominance of the men’s World Series might have shown some cracks.
With plenty to digest from a packed weekend in Val di Sole, here are five talking points from the 2026 UCI XC World Championships.
Why Tom Pidcock is a rare talent on the mountain bike
OK, this might not come as a shock. The two-time Olympic XC champion and 2023 World Champion already has the credentials to be one of the greats of the sport, even if he only shows his face sporadically behind flat bars.
Still, with all of that in mind, Pidcock’s ride in Val di Sole was something special, even by his own standards. For once, we had a gauge of just how exceptional it was, with Mathieu van der Poel starting from the same fifth-row position. We have seen Pidcock ride through the pack in the past, but collectively, the level in XC has been climbing year on year. Even earlier this year at Nové Město, Czechia, Pidcock was unable to convincingly snap the elastic to Luca Martin, finishing only 12 seconds ahead of the Frenchman after a race-long battle.
Starting on the fifth row, Pidcock put on a display of patience and pacing to take his second elite world title.
What made the ride at Val di Sole all the more impressive was the presence of Van der Poel. After coming a close second to Adrien Boichis just one week earlier in Les Gets, the Dutchman struggled to make the same progress as Pidcock towards the front of the race, never quite cracking the top 15.
That comparison showed that it wasn’t just power that got Pidcock to the front; it was his positioning, line choice, pacing and ability to capitalise on his strengths lap after lap.
We have seen it time and time again that Pidcock can go months, or entire seasons, without lining up between the tapes only to rock up to a World Cup or other premier XCO event and dance around the entire field. Over the past three seasons he has raced only rarely off-road, but in XCO events at the World Series, European or World Championship, and Olympic level, his hit rate from 2024-2026 is seven wins in eight starts. While his endurance and fitness from the road certainly help deep into a race, there is far more at play.
Pidcock appears to have an unusually good understanding of how to get the most out of himself specific to mountain biking, and at worlds he demonstrated a monk-like level of discipline in his chase to the front of the race. Watching the race splinter and the favourites assert themselves at the front, Pidcock remained calm and calculated deep in the pack, measuring his effort in a way that others did not.
Rather than burning matches to force his way through the field, Pidcock seemed content to wait for the right opportunities. And while his descending might not have been a match for the likes of Charlie Aldridge or Martin Vidaurre, his confidence to deviate from the main line on the descents allowed him to pick his way past riders without turning a pedal in anger. Little by little, he surfed through the field without having to exert himself unnecessarily.
What separates Pidcock from other road riders who cross over into XC is his mountain bike-specific race IQ. He might not have the biggest engine on the grid, nor is he the most technically competent, but bridging that gap is his understanding of how to optimise his effort for his skills off-road. With XC races being such an unpredictable effort, the maturity with which Pidcock tackles mountain biking is a rare sight even within the regular faces of the series.
Given how little time he has spent on the mountain bike, and having achieved a top-10 finish at the Tour de France just over a month ago, the mountain bike community might just be thankful that Pidcock aims to focus purely on the road next year.
Domination from Sina Frei could end Rissveds run at the top
While Pidcock may have grabbed the attention in the men’s race, Sina Frei left no doubt about who the strongest woman on the day was. Coming into Worlds, little separated Frei and Rissveds, with the Swiss rider ever so slightly edging the Swede out as favourite after pipping her to the win in Les Gets.
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