Only three riders have successfully defended the Elite Men’s XCO World Championship title. South Africa’s Alan Hatherly will attempt to be the fourth and his recent form indicates he’s ready for the big battle in Crans Montana, Switzerland on Sunday. Hatherly is joined by the strongest South African contingent ever assembled for a XCO World Champs. Here’s what we can expect.
By Sean Badenhorst
South Africa has a large team of 19 in the XCO discipline for the 2025 World Championships. It’s a mixture of Elite, Under-23 and Junior racers, some of whom will see this as the pinnacle of their competitive career, others as another opportunity to learn and grow into a more full-time racing career. As the 2024 Elite Men’s World Champion, Hatherly is by far the highest profile South African in the squad.
Denmark’s Henrik Djernis (1992-1994), France’s Julien Absalon (2004-2007, 2014) and Switzerland’s Nino Schurter (2009, 2012, 2013, 2015-2019, 2021, 2022) have all successfully defended XCO’s most coveted title. Can Hatherly join that exclusive club?
Most will say it’s unlikely. The field is stacked, the Swiss are hungry for a home win, the youngsters are on fire, the enigmatic Mattheu van der Poel is racing and the course hasn’t got enough heritage to say exactly who it suits.
Last year was the first World Cup race at Crans Montana and the wet weather made the conditions unpredictable. Tom Pidcock won ahead of Switzerland’s Mathias Fluckiger and Italy’s Luca Braidot. Hatherly was 20th. Two weeks later, Hatherly won both the XCC and XCO World Cup races at Les Gets.
Some will point to Hatherly’s change of team and dual focus on road and mountain bike racing this year as having disrupted his XCO rise. After being the dominant XCO racer in 2024, his four XCO World Cup results this year are as follows:
25 May – Nove Mesto: 9th
8 June – Leogang: 10th
22 June – Val di Sole: 13th
13 July – Vallnord: 28th
31 August – Let Gets: 4th
He was in contention for a podium in Nove Mesto when he crashed hard with 400m remaining and was ill in Val di Sole. But his fourth place at Les Gets a fortnight ago confirms that he’s peaking at the right time. Especially since his primary mountain bike goal for 2025 was to defend his World Championships title.
The race village is at 1500m above sea level (similar to Johannesburg) and the course is 3.8km long with 160m of ascent. It has two long climbs, one of them rooty in places and two long descents, which incorporate some technical sections. Not too dissimilar from Let Gets, which has suited Hatherly. The forecast is for cool, dry weather on Sunday.
The Elite Men’s favourites are expected to be Frenchmen, Victor Koretzky, Luca Martin and Mathis Azzaro, Italians Luca Braidot and Simone Avondetto, Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel, the Swiss pair of Mathias Fluckiger and Fabio Puntener, Dane Simon Andreassen, American Christopher Blevins and South Africa’s Hatherly.
Whether Hatherly is successful or not, the fact that South Africa has a XCO World Champion in peak form racing to defend his title is something pretty damn special and we are sure to be doing nothing else on Sunday afternoon but shouting our support.
The other South Africans scheduled to start are Luke Moir, Johan van Zyl, Michael Foster, Damon Terblanche and Unathi Nxumalo. Moir has been impressive in his first Elite season and it’s not unrealistic that he may challenge for a top 10 finish if he has a smooth race.
This race will be broadcast live by DSTV on Channel 206 on Sunday 14 September at 13h20.
ELITE WOMEN
South Africa’s only Elite women’s racer is Candice Lill. So far this season, she’s been unable to reach the same heights that she did in 2024, which saw her collect armfuls of UCI points and led to her occupying the World No. 1 ranked slot for eight weeks earlier this year.
With a 5th (Araxa, Brazil) and 3rd (Nove Mesto, Czech Republic) as her two best finishes this year, Lill should still be considered a medal contender in the Elite women’s race on Saturday. Lill was fourth at the 2024 XCO World Champs and will no doubt be aiming for a medal on Saturday.The long climbs definitely suit the South African, but the technical descents are where she will be on the defensive, especially against some highly skilled rivals.
This race will be broadcast live by DSTV on Channel 207 on Saturday 13 September at 13h50.
UNDER-23 WOMEN
Following her bronze medal performance in the Under-23 Women’s XCC race on Tuesday, South African Tyler Jacobs will no doubt start Sunday’s XCO race with a little more confidence in herself. A medal-winning ride is perhaps a long shot, but not out of the question. Lilian Baber is the other South African in this event.
This race will be broadcast live on the UCI YouTube Channel on Sunday 14 September at 10h30.
UNDER-23 MEN
There are five South Africans in this event on Saturday. As the current South African champion, Massi Ambrosi is the highest rated. He contested his first ever World Cup race at Let Gets a fortnight ago where he finished 14th, just over four minutes behind the winner. A top 10 finish will surely be within his reach at the World Championships should he have a smooth race.
The other South Africans in this race are Inus du Preez, Luca Ruwiel, Ernie Roets and Thabiso Zindela.
This race will be broadcast live on the UCI YouTube Channel on Saturday 13 September at 11h00.
JUNIORS
The five South African Juniors compete on Friday, 12 September. Nadia van Wyk is the only female, while Samuel Cleary, Joshua Kanis, Neil van der Vyver and Stephan Aldum tackle the men’s race.
Cleary is the most prominent of the males, having enjoyed a World No. 1 ranking for a bit earlier this year. It’s a good achievement, but comes partly as a result of Cycling South Africa hosting a series of UCI points-scoring races early in the year which are predominantly raced by South Africans and before the UCI points scoring races in Europe have kicked off.
A South African medal is unlikely in either of the Junior races, but top 10 finish by Cleary in the men’s race is a possibility if he has a smooth race.
The Junior Girls will race on Friday 12 September and 15h00 and the Junior Boys at 17h00. There is no live broadcast, but live timing can be found here.
