Evie Richards and Isabella Holmgren crush season finale

Evie Richards was flying by the end of the World Cup season. She closed down racing with a second place finish in short track and third place in XCO in Mont-Sainte-Anne, securing her second straight double-podium weekend and securing the overall women’s short track title.

As if her greatness was ever in question, Richards just keeps finding new ways to blow our minds.

On Friday, she took second in short track racing to handily sew up the red jersey as the overall XCC winner. She needed to take Top 8 and did so easily, but that doesn’t mean the title run was easy. Evie battled back-to-back illness around European Championships earlier this year, which forced her to miss Val di Sole. She gradually got back up to speed, and by Lenzerheide was firing on all cylinders, taking podiums in five of her last six World Cup starts.

On Sunday, she gave us one last inspiring performance, battling tooth-and-nail with Sina Frei down the stretch. She wasn’t feeling her best on race day, but she had enough gas for a wicked finishing kick that secured third place on a wickedly technical track.

“I couldn’t lose Sina, she was so strong,” Richards said after the race. “I was really struggling. I’m on my period so my back was just killing. I spent yesterday in bed. And I knew today was going to be a hard race.

“And then that last bit I was still on her wheel and I was like, right, this is the last chance to go, so I went on the last kicker because I knew that I’m quite strong on the straights. Not a bad way to finish the season is it?”

Not a bad way at all. Richards finished the season fourth on the overall XCO standings, another marker of a strong season. She had 10 World Cup podiums on the season — seven in short track, three in XCO — including back-to-back short track wins to open the season in Brazil. Her Sunday performance in Mont-Sainte-Anne was the cherry on top.

“It’s amazing. It makes me so proud. And especially when it’s a hard race,” Richards said. “It was one of those sort of races where you’re like, ‘Maybe I just want to stay in the top 10.’ But to finish on the podium, I’m so happy. And I think we have to be really mentally strong on these sorts of days.”

Richards wasn’t the only Trek athlete to crush the weekend. Lidl-Trek’s Isabella Holmgren swept women’s U23 racing, taking her fifth and sixth World Cup wins of the season in dominant fashion. We’re used to watching the back-to-back XCC and XCO U23 world champion put on a show, but this weekend was particularly special for her. It’s not every day that you get to win on home soil. And the Canadian crowd was out in full force for her. 

“I’m feeling very good. I’m happy I didn’t crash on the last lap,” Holmgren said after the race. “It’s nice to race in front of a home crowd. There’s so many little kids who want my autograph. It’s like, I don’t know why they want my autograph [laughs]. It’s nice.”

The weekend featured strong performances across the board for Trek Factory Racing athletes. Gwendalyn Gibson took 15th in short track and 19th in XCO to finish the season strong after mid-year struggles. Madigan Munro was 21st in short track racing to continue her ascent as a first year elite. Riley Amos was 13th in short track racing on Friday, matching his best finish in the discipline this season. (He was an unfortunate DNF on Sunday). And Gunnar Holmgren was 34th in XCO, finishing out the season with three straight finishes in the Top 35.

This season was a blast for the Trek Factory Racing-Pirelli XC crew. Time for a well-deserved offseason, before turning our eyes to a killer 2026.