Savilia Blunk Finishes 5th in Elite Women at the 2025 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships

Saturday brought the Under-23 Men and Elite Women Cross-Country Olympic races to the 2025 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships. The sun was out and the track had totally dried out making it a fast and dusty race.

Six American women lined up in Crans-Montana for seven grueling laps on one of the toughest tracks of the World Championships: Savilia Blunk (Inverness, Calif.; Decathlon Ford Racing Team), Haley Batten (Park City, Utah; Specialized Factory Racing), Gwendalyn Gibson (Ramona, Calif.; Trek Factory Racing), Kate Courtney (Kentfield, Calif.; She Send Racing), Kelsey Urban (Kentfield, Calif.; KMC Ridley MTB Racing Team), and Madigan Munro (Boulder, Colo.; Trek Factory Racing).

A bottleneck in the opening woods set the U.S. riders back, but they battled through. Blunk, caught in the chaos and sitting 22^nd at the first split, steadily clawed her way forward. By the fifth lap she was locked in a battle for fifth with reigning World Champion Puck Pieterse (NED). On the final lap, Blunk dug deep, putting 15 seconds into the Dutch rider to claim an impressive fifth place.

Just behind, Batten settled into a chase group of four and powered to the front on the finishing straight, crossing the line in 12^th. Gibson, Courtney, and Urban stayed composed inside the top 20, riding strong and finishing in succession.

Munro rode one of her best races yet until a flat derailed her momentum in the same section where a U.S. junior had suffered earlier in the week. She handled it calmly, made a quick wheel change in the tech zone, and fought her way back through the field to finish 27^th in her first Elite World Championships.

After the race, Blunk said, "I worked my way back up to fifth after kind of a nightmare start. There’s a bridge right after the start/finish where I had to dab, and I lost a ton of places. From there, I just focused on fighting my way back to the front, slowly picking people off. I think I went from 15th, to 12th, to 8th, and then finished 5th. It feels a little bittersweet because I felt so good today, and I think if I hadn’t had to burn so many matches early on, it might have been a different kind of day. But I’m proud of my fight!"

1. Jenny Rissveds (SWE ) – 1:21:35

2. Samara Maxwell (NZL) – +0:18

3. Alessandra Keller (SUI) – +0:56

5. Savilia Blunk (USA) – +1:46

12. Haley Batten (USA) – +3:21

17. Gwendalyn Gibson (USA) – +4:32

18. Kate Courtney (USA) – +4:42

19. Kelsey Urban (USA) – +4:50

27. Madigan Munro (USA) – +6:38

The American U23 men left it all on the course today. Ivan Sippy (Boulder, Colo.; Team Segment 28) had the strongest start of the group. With the field strung out inside the top 20, Sippy dug deep to hold position, battling in a group fighting for 13^th. Although he faded slightly in the final laps, he still sprinted the whole way to the line, finishing 20^th.

Dan English (San Ramon, Calif.; Trinity Racing) overcame a slow start but methodically picked off riders one by one. After coming through the first split in 52^nd out of 81 riders, he powered his way up the field to an impressive 22^nd place finish.

Jack Spranger (Sammamish, Wash.; Bear National Team) delivered a steady and composed ride, looking strong on the climbs and confident on the technical descents, ultimately crossing the line in 34^th.

1. Finn Treudler (SUI) – 1:20:25

2. Cole Punchard – +0:54

3. Gustav Pederson – +2:14

20. Ivan Sippy (USA) – +5:05

22. Dan English (USA) – +5:14

34. Jack Spranger (USA) – +6:35

USA Cycling’s participation in the World Championships is made possible through the support of dedicated donors and partners. To support the USA Cycling National Team, members can donate to the USA Cycling Foundation here. Our supporting partners who have a shared mission to elevate the sport of cycling include, HOVERAir, Visit Bentonville, and Visit Arkansas.