Sportinsider

​Andorra has become a familiar fixture on the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series circuit, with Pal Arinsal featuring every year since 2022, aside from 2024 when it hosted the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships. Before that, under its previous name, Vallnord, the venue had been ever-present since 2016, having also hosted the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in 2015.
Located in the heart of the Pyrenees and a short journey from the Andorran border with Spain, both formats take place at the Pal Arinsal bike park. The park has more than 60km of trails across 30 different lines and five ski lifts to help riders experience the more than 1,000m of elevation drop on offer.
Downhill takes place on the venue’s third UCI World Cup track, with riders dropping from Pic del Cubil down to Fontanals on a rowdy 2.1km course.
The UCI Cross-country Olympic (XCO) and Cross-country Short Track (XCC) World Cup races, meanwhile, take on some of the hardest terrain that the riders will face all season, thanks to the addition of altitude. The XCO course is 4km long (160m elevation gain), while the XCC course is 1km long.

WILDCARD ENTRIES
The following wildcard teams have been confirmed to compete in Pal Arinsal - Andorra:
UCI Downhill World Cup: Crestline Speed Shop, Outlaw Intense Racing, Pivot Factory Racing, Team High Country, The Alliance, Stoic Racing.
UCI Cross-country World Cup: Cabtech Racing Team, KTM Factory Team, Lexware Mountainbike Team, Massi, Scott Creuse Oxygene Gueret, SUNN Factory Racing, Thömus Akros - Youngstars, UNNO Factory Racing.
Paul Schehl (Lexware Mountainbike Team) continues to be the leading wild card entrant – the German on seven-win streak across the Men U23 UCI XCO and XCC World Cups.

RISSVEDS LOSES PODIUM RECORD BUT STILL IN CHARGE
Jenny Rissveds (Canyon XC Racing) was on an incredible run of form that stretched back to Val di Sole - Trentino (Italy) on 20 June last year that saw the Swede finish within the top three of a UCI XCO World Cup for more than a calendar year. Her record came to an end, again in Italy, as she had to settle for fourth place in La Thuile - Valle d’Aosta (Italy) last Sunday, but the reigning UCI XCO World Champion retains a colossal lead in the overall that will be hard to overthrow. She finished third in Pal Arinsal - Andorra in 2025 behind Samara Maxwell (Decathlon Ford Factory Racing) and Alessandra Keller (Thömus maxon), and with Maxwell taking a sabbatical this season and Keller yet to hit her stride, she will be confident of getting back to winning ways.
Martina Berta (Origine Racing Division) is amongst the favourites to prevent Rissveds from returning to the top spot. The Italian finished fourth in Andorra 12 months ago and will line up in the Pyrenees bursting with confidence after winning her debut UCI XCO World Cup in front of a passionate home crowd last weekend.
Others knocking on the door include Savilia Blunk (Decathlon Ford Factory Racing), who is having her best season yet and is improving every round; Puck Pieterse (Alpecin-Premier Tech), who clinched her UCI XCO World Championship rainbow jersey at the venue in 2024; and Sina Frei (Specialized Factory Racing), who sits 212 points behind Rissveds in the overall, and as the only rider within 350 points of the Swede, is the last realistic challenger for the title.


MARTIN ON THE MARCH

Luca Martin (Cannondale Factory Racing) extended his extraordinary record in 2026 of not finishing outside the top two in the XCO by winning his second consecutive round in La Thuile - Valle d’Aosta following his victory in Lenzerheide (Switzerland). His lead in the overall standings is even more impressive than Rissveds’, and even if Adrien Boichis (Specialized Factory Racing) does the XCO-XCC double this weekend and Martin fails to score a single point, the Cannondale rider has such an advantage (343 points) that he will enter the summer break in the top spot. A likely scenario is that Martin will extend his lead in Andorra – the 24-year-old finished second at the venue behind Tom Pidcock 12 months ago, and with the Brit absent at the Tour de France, Martin will be confident of going one better on Sunday.
Boichis will also look to stand on the top step in Pal Arinsal - Andorra, while another Frenchman, Mathis Azzaro (Origine Racing Division), showed he can compete in the longer Olympic-distance format by finishing second in La Thuile - Valle d’Aosta. Bjorn Riley (Scott SRAM MTB Race Team) is another to watch – the American sitting third in the overall and the third most consistent rider (behind Martin and Boichis) in this packed block of racing since round three in Saalfelden-Leogang Salzburgerland (Austria).


ALL TO PLAY FOR IN THE SHORT TRACK
With some steaming ahead in the XCO overall standings, there are battles being fought in the XCC. In the men’s contest, any of the top six in the standings could mathematically go into the summer break in the lead, although series leader Mathis Azzaro and second-place Adrien Boichis are the most likely – only 55 points separating the pair.

Meanwhile, Sina Frei is the clear frontrunner in the women’s contest, and only Jenny Rissveds can catch the Swiss star this weekend (and would need a 170-point swing to do so). Frei is the only rider to win multiple UCI XCC World Cups in 2026, while Rissveds added a record-extending win in the short track in La Thuile - Valle d’Aosta to take her career total to nine. But while both will fancy their chances in Friday’s race, Alessandra Keller (Thömus maxon) will be the favourite – the Swiss rider holding a 100%-win record at Pal Arinsal - Andorra, clinching three UCI XCC World Cup wins in 2022, 2023 and 2025.

HÖLL CHASES BEST EVER SEASON
While the competition has come on leaps and bounds in the women’s field, when you’re as good as Valentina Höll (Commencal Schwalbe by Les Orres), your closest competition is yourself. The Austrian returned to winning ways in La Thuile - Valle d’Aosta, putting a disappointing 10th-place finish in Lenzerheide behind her to make it four victories from five rounds. The reigning overall series winner has already amassed a 363-point lead over second place Lisa Baumann (Commencal Schwalbe by Les Orres), and with four rounds still to go, she can be expected to clinch a fifth overall title before the series finale in Lake Placid Olympic Sites, New York (USA). Now, the 24-year-old can target personal records, starting with a career-best fifth win of the season in Pal Arinsal - Andorra. Victory would also be the 16th of her career, taking her level with Tracy Moseley in joint-fourth place in the overall, one shy of Sabrina Jonnier.
Höll isn’t the only rider taking to the start hut this weekend, and there are a number of riders ready to pounce if she makes an uncharacteristic mistake. Teammate Baumann has finished second best in the last two rounds, Anna Newkirk (Frameworks Racing / TRP) is the only rider other than Höll to have won in 2026, and Nina Hoffmann (Santa Cruz Syndicate) has tasted success in Pal Arinsal before, back in 2023. Tahnée Seagrave (Orbea FMD Racing) won’t be there to defend her top spot 12 months on from her 2025 win though – the Brit taking a break from racing to recover from injuries and focus on the UCI Downhill World Championships.


PIERRON LEADS A FOUR-WAY BATTLE FOR THE OVERALL TITLE

While the women’s contest is all-but decided, there’s a four-way fight for the men’s competition with four rounds to go. Amaury Pierron (COMMENCAL/MUC-OFF by Riding Addiction) leads the way, and having the experience of two overall title wins already in his career (2018 and 2022) will be confident of closing things out with his consistent performances.
The Frenchman’s advantage is only 12 points over Finn Iles (Specialized Gravity) though, and with the Canadian recording two wins in 2026 to Pierron’s zero, the Commencal rider will need to do something he hasn’t managed since Lenzerheide last September if he is to put more breathing space between himself and second place.
La Thuile - Valle d’Aosta winner Jordan Williams (Specialized Gravity) is next in line after his perfect score in Italy propelled him up the leaderboard, while Asa Vermette (Frameworks Racing / TRP) looks likely to join Williams in the two UCI World Cup wins club sooner rather than later.
One other rider you can’t rule out is Jackson Goldstone (Santa Cruz Syndicate). The rainbow jersey hasn’t been kind to the Canadian in 2026, but he is gradually starting to show the race pace that rocketed him to his first overall title last year. Scoring a win on Saturday would put him firmly in the title conversation with three rounds to play.​