This weekend, Mont-Sainte-Anne will play host to one of the most exciting battles in mountain biking. The Quebec venue always delivers thrilling racing, for downhill and cross country. But, with Jackson Goldstone and Loic Bruni in a race for the overall that has come down to the final round, the 30th MSA World Cup will be full of drama.
And yes, Mont-Sainte-Anne hosting World Cups, and potentially its last, is historic in its own right. 2026 leaves Quebec behind to head to Whistler. If Goldstone could land a win, or the overall title at home, what a send-off that would be for the iconic Canadian venue.
A numbers game
Depending on how Goldstone – and Bruni – finish in MSA, the Canadian could walk away with everything, something, or nothing. A win alone isn’t enough to take the overall away from Bruni. But Goldstone could win the overall without winning MSA, as long as Bruni finishes worse. In that scenario, it will matter exactly how far behind the Frenchman finishes.
Goldstone needs to make up 72 points to tie Bruni. The Specialized racer currently has 1768 points to Goldstone’s 1696. That leaves a pretty narrow set of pathways for the Syndicate racer to steal the 2025 World Cup away from Bruni.
With Luca Shaw in third at 1158 points, and only 250 points on the line for the winner, the U.S. racer is mathematically out of the running for the overall.
Hemstreet’s (relatively) simple route to second
On the women’s side, Vali Höll clinched the overall title with her win at Lake Placid. That gave her 2104 points to Gracey Hemstreet’s 1727. Hemstreet, who has three World Cup wins and a podium in La Thuile, is fighting to build on her 123-point margin over Tahnee Seagrave.
If Hemstreet doesn’t make the final this weekend, Seagrave still has to finish seventh or better to overtake the Canadian. If Hemstreet makes the final, Seagrave has to finish 4th or better. If Seagrave is second, Hemstreet has to place 9th or better. If Seagrave places third, Hemstreet has to place 17th or better. That’s it.
A true finals showdown
The final World Cup stop has slightly different rules. There are no points awarded for the first qualifying round, unlike every other stop this year. That mean’s only positions in the final count.
For those curious, that’s 4.11.013 in the UCI MTB regulations: “In the last round of the UCI World Cup season, no standing points for the qualifying round will…
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