UCI MTB World Championships: Sweden's Jenny Rissveds earns first world title going solo in women's elite XCO contest

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Samara Maxwell second and Alessandra Keller third, while defending champion Puck Pieterse finishes sixth

UCI Mountain Bike World Championships, Crans Montana, Switzerland - 13 Sep 2025Jenny Rissveds of Sweden, 1st, crosses the finish line of the UCI MTB Elite Women Cross Country, XCO, at the Mountain Bike World Championship in Crans Montana, Switzerland, 13 September 2025.By: MAXIME SCHMID/EPA/Shutterstock
Jenny Rissveds (Sweden) delivers gold on a solo effort for the elite women's XCO victory at UCI Mountain Bike World Championships (Image credit: Shutterstock)
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2016 Olympic games XCO champion Jenny Rissveds (Sweden) won her first world title in the cross-country discipline on Saturday at the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Switzerland.

Samara Maxwell (New Zealand) finished 18 seconds back for sliver, while Switzerland's Alessandra Keller recovered from a crash on a descent just before the mid-point of the race and fought back for third, 56 seconds down.

“We all say that we want to become World Champion, it’s something we say from a very early age… but I think this year is the first year I really, really wanted it. It’s a pretty amazing feeling to achieve that,” Rissveds said.

“I knew that I was in good shape and I could manage to pull it off, but it was a close fight today, and I really had to keep believing in it.”

UCI Mountain Bike World Championships, Crans Montana, Switzerland - 13 Sep 2025Samara Maxwell of New Zealand, 2nd, Jenny Rissveds of Sweden, 1st and Alessandra Keller of Switzerland, 3rd, left to right, during podium ceremony of the UCI MTB Elite Women Cross Country, XCO, at the Mountain Bike World Championship in Crans Montana, Switzerland, 13 September 2025.By: MAXIME SCHMID/EPA/Shutterstock

Elite women's XCO podium (L to R): Samara Maxwell of New Zealand in second place, winner Jenny Rissveds of Sweden and Alessandra Keller of Switzerland in third place (Image credit: Shutterstock)

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Jackie Tyson
Jackie Tyson
North American Production editor

Jackie has been involved in professional sports for more than 30 years in news reporting, sports marketing and public relations. She founded Peloton Sports in 1998, a sports marketing and public relations agency, which managed projects for Tour de Georgia, Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah and USA Cycling. She also founded Bike Alpharetta Inc, a Georgia non-profit to promote safe cycling. She is proud to have worked in professional baseball for six years - from selling advertising to pulling the tarp for several minor league teams. She has climbed l'Alpe d'Huez three times (not fast). Her favorite road and gravel rides are around horse farms in north Georgia (USA) and around lavender fields in Provence (France), and some mtb rides in Park City, Utah (USA).

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