The 2025 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships are officially underway in Valais, Switzerland, marking a two-week convergence of all major mountain bike disciplines. From August 30 to September 14, the canton will host 27 world titles across eight destinations, from the legendary slopes of Champéry to the glacier-laced trails of Bellwald. The Swiss Alps are calling, and Canada’s best are ready to answer.
From glaciers to the Matterhorn
Forget one host city. This Worlds spans the full length of Valais, with races in internationally renowned locations like Zermatt, Crans-Montana, Verbier and Champéry. It kicked off with a weekend of enduro and e-enduro in the Aletsch Arena, where the trails weave around Europe’s largest glacier. From there, riders and support crews hopscotch across the canton.
Downhill takes place in , a venue that’s both feared and revered. A notable historical event is Danny Hart’s world championship win back in 2011. Cross-country riders head to Crans-Montana and Zermatt. Pump Track hits Monthey. Even the growing field of e-MTB has its own start gate.
Canadian talent on deck across the board
Canada’s biggest medal hopes are spread across multiple disciplines. In downhill, Jackson Goldstone enters as the reigning men’s overall World Cup leader, hungry to bounce back after a chaotic crash-filled Les Gets race. In the women’s field, Gracey Hemstreet has four World Cup wins this year and a chance to take rainbow glory on a historic track. Others like Finn Iles, Lucas Cruz, Bodhi Kuhn, Jacob Jewett and Emmy Lan will be dropping in.
Cross-country star Jenn Jackson will be racing both XCC and XCO. And after last weekend’s perferomance in Les Gets, all eyes will be on Cole Punchard for sure. Other Canadians like Emilly Johnson, Marin Lowe, Owen Clark and I an Ackert will be chasing the rainbow jersies.
Canada also has athletes like Bas van Steenbergen and honorary Canadian Niels Bensink competing in pump track.
Streaming and schedule: How to watch in Canada
While the broadcast coverage is vague, it’s looking like the best way to watch the events will be Flobikes. So far the schedule if pretty unclear, with lots of TBDs. The UCI YouTube channel is also threatening to have live streaming, but geo-blocking may be an issue (7 day VPN trial anyone?).
That said, here’s the basic schedule for the main events over the next week:
Sept 5: Pumptrack starts at 14:30 (CET), finals at 18:00 (CET)
Sept 6: XCM starts at 06:40…
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