Canada was tantalizingly close to adding another medal to the team’s rapidly-growing tally of hardware at 2025 mountain bike world championships on Thursday. All Cole Punchard had to do was chase down Nino Schurter.
Catching, and passing the G.O.A.T. of cross country racing is, uh, a tall order for any rider, but Punchard gave the Swiss icon a run for his money. The Ontario racer anchored the Canadian squad, starting seven seconds behind Schurter going out on the the sixth and final lap of the team relay. Schurter put in a lap time of 10:11. Punchard, 10:04. At the finish line, the Canuck was just one second behind Schurter, and one second away from a bronze medal for Team Canada.
France finished first, after an intense back-and-forth battle with the Italian squad. That gives France a staggering 17th medal at 2025 world championships so far and the eighth gold for the country.
The Canadian squad started off fourth and steadily chased down the Swiss team to finish within one second of the medals. Carter Woods, Ethan Wood, Isabella Holmgren, Rafaelle Carrier, Jenn Jackson and Punchard put on an incredible showing to nearly unseat the Swiss team at their home world championships. But Schurter, racing in the final worlds of his long and illustrious career, was not to be denied a spot on the podium.
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Racing at 2025 UCI mountain bike world championships continues on Friday. Wood and Carriere will be back on course for the junior men’s and women’s XCO events. Rafaelle Carriere will look to repeat her podium performance from 2024, when the Quebec racer finished second.
Elites and under-23 racers will trade off the final two days of 2025 worlds. Under-23 men and elite women race XCO on Saturday. Elite men and under-23 women take to the course on Sunday, September 14, the final day of racing. With team Canada earning numerous medals already, and sitting third in the overall medals table, it should be an exciting final three days of racing in Switzerland.
Top 10 Results: XC Relay – 2025 UCI mountain bike world championships (Valais, Switzerland)
- France – 1:05:14
- Italy – 1:05:48
- Switzerland – 1:06:47
- Canada – 1:06:48
- Czechia – 1:08:19
- United States – 1:08:40
- New Zealand – 1:09:02
- Germany – 1:09:16
- Poland – 1:10:34
- Denmark – 1:12:01
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