South Africa’s Paris Olympic bronze medallist, Alan Hatherly, has successfully defended his title in the elite men’s cross-country race at the 2025 UCI Mountain Bike World Championship in Switzerland.

Hatherly took advantage of a mistake from early leader Victor Koretzky of France to go clear on the second of nine laps of the Crans Montana circuit, and he disappeared over the mounds and hills and was never seen again.

‘The stars aligned’

“I just had one of those days. It’ll be hard for me to repeat a performance like that. All the stars aligned,” Hatherly said.

Italy’s Simone Avondetto was nearly a minute behind in second in a supreme display or dominance.

“Before the race I said it was going to be a time trial and a less tactical race and I guess I did that from the beginning, taking it straight on and just TT-ing it all way through.

“With two or three laps to go I started to feel the effort of going so early but the gap was so big I could just consolidate and see it through,” Hatherly said.

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