In first Asian stage of the UCI XCO World Cup, Frei became the 53rd woman to win the discipline and the 10th to triumph in both Olympic cross-country skiing and short track skiing in the same week, after his success on Friday at MONA YongPyong, while Lillo joins a select group of 63 male winners.
They achieved their victories with contrasting styles: Lillo dominated the race, while Frei waited until the final lap to launch his attack. Meanwhile Nicolas Halter (Thömus maxon) and Valentina Crows (Canyon XC Racing) took the victory in the U23 competitions.
Frei defeats Rissveds and Munro in a mud battle.
Jenny Rissveds (Canyon XC Racing) looked to have the victory in the bag in the women's Elite race, having accumulated a 25-second lead on the first lap, but was forced to settle for second place after a thrilling race-long battle against Frei and Madigan Munro (LIV Factory Racing).
Rissveds immediately increased the pressure, with only Frei and Savilia Blunk (Decathlon Ford Racing Team) able to follow them, while Evie Richards (Trek – Unbroken XC) made a bad pedal stroke at the start, in what turned out to be a difficult day for the British rider, culminating in a bad crash.
Shortly afterwards Rissveds dropped completely and looked set to pick up where she left off last season and take her third consecutive win, but on the second lap she hit a wall, allowing Frei to re-establish contact after dropping Blunk.
As conditions continued to create problems from behind, with knock-on effects every time a rider crashed on the descent, Frei, Rissveds and Munro continued to battle it out, with the latter attacking Frei just as the bell rang for the final lap.
Yet the Swiss cyclist managed to recover, first overtaking Munro, who recorded the best performance of his career, and then Rissveds, who had led every single stage until the one that mattered most.
While jennifer jackson (Orbea Fox Factory Team) was getting closer and closer, Rissveds slipped at a crucial moment, giving Frei the breathing space he needed to take his first XCO win, just a few months since the hand fracture .
"Finally. It took years, but once again our staff was extraordinary. We had fantastic, very light bikes, and that was crucial in these weather conditions.", Frei said .
"This winter, when I was injured, I did a lot of work on the stepper [in the gym], so maybe it helped me because otherwise I never run! Patience was key today, and it was important for me to try to run my race. The bike was great both uphill and downhill, and there was a fantastic atmosphere here.".
ORDER OF ARRIVAL ELITE FEMALE
| 1 | FREI Sina |  SUI | SPECIALIZED FACTORY RACING | 1:27:03 |
| 2 | Risveds Jenny |  SWE | CANYON XC RACING | 1:27:29 |
| 3 | MUNRO Madigan |  USA | LIV FACTORY RACING | 1:27:31 |
| 4 | JACKSONJennifer |  CAN | ORBEA FOX FACTORY TEAM | 1:27:38 |
| 5 | BERTHA Martina |  ITA | ORIGIN RACING DIVISION | 1:28:21 |
| 6 | STIGGER Laura |  TUE | SPECIALIZED FACTORY RACING | 1:28:51 |
| 7 | BLÖCHLINGER Ronja | SUI | LIV FACTORY RACING | 1:29:05 |
| 8 | NEFF Jolanda | SUI | CANNONDALE FACTORY RACING | 1:29:09 |
| 9 | BATTEN Haley | USA | SPECIALIZED FACTORY RACING | 1:29:51 |
| 10 | GRAPH Nina |  GER | TREK – UNBROKEN XC | 1:30:07 |
DARIO LILLO WINS A DOMINANT VICTORY IN HIS ELITE DEBUT
With Christopher Blevins, reigning champion of the Specialized Factory Racing, absent from the first XCO stage due to of a collarbone injury suffered in training in South Korea , the men's Elite category was wide open and young talents have come forward with style .
The entire podium was made up of athletes aged 25 and under, while another of the most impressive runners of the day was Finn Treudler (CUBE Factory Racing), at his debut in a UCI Elite World Cup race .
Treudler's afternoon was marred by a series of mechanical problems which the rookie struggled to manage, but even if he had had a smooth race, it would still have been difficult to match the incomparable Lillo.
Like Rissveds, Lillo built a comfortable 17-second lead over Treudler on the opening lap, the 22-year-old being the only rider within half a minute of the early favorite. And although Treudler stayed in contact for another lap, his first chain slip ultimately ended his chances of victory, and further bike problems relegated him to twelfth place.
In the men's race the impact of the equipment was significantly greater than in the women's: some runners, including Luke Schwarzbauer of the team Canyon Factory Racing, they opted for an intermediate tyre, while Martin Vidaurre, one of the early favorites of the Specialized Factory Racing team, saw his race end prematurely due to a puncture.
Instead, in Treudler's absence, the team's two riders Cannondale Factory Racing, Luca Martin e Charlie Aldridge, they stood out and climbed onto the podium respectively 1:46 and 2:39 behind the winner Lillo, thanks also to Lefty's excellent performance in the mud.
" I don't know what to say. At the beginning of the week, when I looked at the forecast and saw that rain was forecast for Sunday, I already told my teammates that Sunday would be my day. ", Lillo said .
" When I woke up in the morning I thought, 'OK, today is the big day,' I was so nervous before the start. We had a plan and everything went smoothly. .
" During the race, before the last lap, I felt practically no emotion. I crossed the finish line and the feeling I feel now is something I've never felt before in my life.. It's really hard to explain in words, I think I need a few minutes to understand what just happened .
MALE ELITE ORDER OF ARRIVAL
| 1 | LILLO Dario | SUI | GIANT FACTORY OFF-ROAD TEAM – XC | 1:24:36 |
| 2 | MARTIN Luke |  From | CANNONDALE FACTORY RACING | 1:26:22 |
| 3 | ALDRIDGE Charlie |  GBR | CANNONDALE FACTORY RACING | 1:27:15 |
| 4 | SARROU Jordan | From | BMC FACTORY RACING | 1:27:35 |
| 5 | DUBAU Joshua | From | DECATHLON FORD RACING TEAM | 1:27:39 |
| 6 | FOUNTAIN Filippo | ITA | OLYMPIA | 1:27:54 |
| 7 | PUNCHARD Cole | CAN | CANNONDALE FACTORY RACING | 1:27:59 |
| 8 | COLUMBUS Philip | SUI | SCOTT-SRAM MTB RACING TEAM | 1:28:00 |
| 9 | JUUL Sebastian Fini |  THE | MONDRAKER FACTORY RACING XC | 1:28:15 |
| 10 | PUNTENER Fabio | SUI | SCOTT-SRAM MTB RACING TEAM | 1:28:25 |
CORVI AND HALTER WIN IN THE UNDER-23 CHAMPIONSHIP
Valentina Crows became the first UCI XCO World Cup winner of the 2026 season, triumphing in the Under 23 category at MONA Yong Pyong .
The Italian attacked from the beginning, conquering a 40-second lead in the first lap , who continued to increase throughout the race, crossing the finish line with a 3 minute and 28 second advantage over Elina Benoit (Lexware Mountainbike Team), while Bailey Cioppa completed the podium.
Returning to the category she dominated last season with a 178-point lead, Corvi immediately asserted her dominance in the race, with Benoit clearly second in order of importance, aiming to improve on her seventh-place overall finish in 2025.
" It's incredible, today was a really tough race ", Corvi said. " The mud was really difficult and we had to run a lot, it was really tough. I'm very happy to have won. .
" I tried to maintain my pace, my speed, and not make any mistakes on the descent. And I kept pushing. I saw that the gap was getting really big, and I'm very happy. I enjoyed this victory and I can't wait for the next stages. . "
PLAY FANTAMTB NOW
Nicolas Halter He didn't have as easy an afternoon as Corvi, but he still led the race from start to finish, taking a 35-second victory.
Paul Schehl (Lexware Mountainbike Team) made up ground on the final lap, reducing the gap to Halter by almost half a minute, but the Swiss rider had built up enough of a lead to cross the finish line with his arms raised, with no other riders in sight.
Like Corvi, Schehl simply dropped the rest of the field in the early stages of the race, and Thibaut François Baudry of the team Canyon XC Racing He was the only other runner to cross the finish line within a minute of him.
" I still can't believe it ", Halter said . " I already felt really good on the first climb and knew today would be a good day. I think the key today was to ride smoothly. Everyone makes mistakes, but not serious ones, so I think that was the key today. Always full throttle, but never in the red zone. .
" I just focused on myself, I knew the race was going to be long, it was quite slow so I tried to ride smoothly the whole time and then I created the gap . "
Five countries were represented on the Under 23 podium, a fraction of the 37 nations entered at the UCI World Cup stages of cross-country e downhill in South Korea.
However, neither Halter nor Corvi were able to help their teams achieve significant results in the mixed team standings, as Specialized Factory Racing rd ahead after the first round, with Trek – Unbroken XC e Cannondale Factory Racing just 56 and 62 points behind.
MALE U23 ARRIVAL ORDER
| 1 | HALTER Nicolas | SUI | THÖMUS AKROS – YOUNGSTARS | 1:26:13 |
| 2 | SCHEHL Paul | GER | LEXWARE MOUNTAIN BIKE TEAM | 1:26:48 |
| 3 | FRANCOIS BAUDRY Thibaut |  ESP | CANYON XC RACING | 1:26:54 |
| 4 | ACKERT Ian | CAN | PIVOT CYCLES – OTE | 1:27:24 |
| 5 | JAMINAntoine |  BEL | BH-WALLONIE MTB TEAM | 1:27:41 |
| 6 | ITALIAN Daniel | USA | TRINITY RACING | 1:28:28 |
| 7 | EKROLL Sivert |  NOR | UNNO FACTORY RACING | 1:29:11 |
| 8 | SPRANGER Jack | USA | 1:29:38 | |
| 9 | TEUNISSEN VAN MANEN Rens |  NED | KMC NUKEPROOF MTB RACING TEAM | 1:29:44 |
| 10 | Roman PÜNTENER |  LIE | THÖMUS AKROS – YOUNGSTARS | 1:30:04 |
U23 FEMALE ARRIVAL ORDER
| 1 | CROWS Valentina | ITA | CANYON XC RACING | 1:07:33 |
| 2 | BENOIT Elina | SUI | LEXWARE MOUNTAIN BIKE TEAM | 1:11:01 |
| 3 | CIOPPA Bailey | USA | 1:13:45 | |
| 4 | LOWE Marin | CAN | LIV FACTORY RACING | 1:13:53 |
| 5 | MACLEAN-HOWELL She | GBR | CUBE FACTORY RACING | 1:13:53 |
| 6 | SCHIBLER Fiona | SUI | BIKE TEAM SOLOTHURN | 1:13:53 |
| 7 | ŠERKEZI Maruša Tereza |  SLO | CUBE FACTORY RACING | 1:14:07 |
| 8 | KELLERMAN Makena | USA | 1:15:52 | |
| 9 | MACPHEE She | CAN | WILIER-VITTORIA FACTORY TEAM | 1:16:21 |
| 10 | CARRIER Rafaelle | CAN | TRINITY RACING |
The victories of Frei, Lillo, Halter and Corvi concluded the first stage of the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series season, but the athletes of cross-country They won't be idle for long, as the UCI World Cup returns to Nové Město na Moravě, Czech Republic, from May 22 to 25.
ANNOUNCE THE LINEUP FOR NOVE MESTO
