"I just had one of those days” – Alan Hatherly reacts to statement mountain bike world championship victory

Alan Hatherly produced the ride of his life to claim the 2025 Mountain Bike World Championships in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, defending the rainbow jersey he won last year. The South African stamped his authority on the race from the opening laps and never looked back, riding alone at the front for nearly the entire distance. His dominance came as Mathieu van der Poel endured a rare off day, fading badly to finish outside the top 25.

Afterwards, Hatherly summed up the scale of his achievement. "I just had one of those days. It'll be hard for me to repeat a performance like that. All the starts aligned," he said. From the very beginning, it was clear this was his race to win.

The opening lap saw Victor Koretzky test the field with early pressure, while van der Poel worked his way forward in the thin air of the high-altitude circuit. The Dutchman reached the front of the race, but by lap three his challenge was unravelling. He lost contact with the leading groups and never recovered. What was billed as another clash between van der Poel and the world’s best mountain bikers quickly turned into a one-man show.

Hatherly’s decisive move came at the start of lap two. He launched a powerful attack and built a gap of 1:30 minutes, a margin that no rival could touch. From there, it was a race against the clock, with the South African riding in his own world at the head of the field.

“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."

While Hatherly celebrated, van der Poel faced the disappointment of a missed opportunity. "I wasn't having a good day. I haven't been feeling well for a while," he admitted after finishing far from the front. Even in defeat, he tried to put things in perspective. "My legs were really bad, but I still tried to enjoy it a bit. I still have a few years to go, we'll keep trying."

The Dutchman’s reflections captured both his frustration and his enduring passion for the discipline. "The start was a dream scenario, but after that, it was a long race mentally. But mountain biking is the only discipline where it's still fun to ride around."