Giant Factory Off-Road Team riders Alan Hatherly, Dario Lillo and Carter Woods won their respective national XCO titles over the July 18-19 weekend, with both Hatherly and Woods doubling up with national XCC titles as well.
Lillo finished second in the Swiss XCC championship, while Jen Schuermans stood on the podium of the Belgian XCO championship, in third, as well as the Belgian XCC championship, where he finished second.
Every one of these wins and podium finishes were achieved aboard the new Anthem Advanced SL, which has received rave reviews since its launch in November 2025. Lillo and Hatherly also rode with new prototype CADEX XC WheelSystems along with the new Giant Rev Pro helmet.
Lillo takes his first elite Swiss title
Enjoying the best season of his career—a season that began by winning his first Elite UCI World Cup XCO race, in South Korea—Lillo took his first Elite XCO title after a tight finish in Leysin, Switzerland.
Lillo and Fabio Püntener led the race together from the second lap to the finish. Püntener led on the final lap and into the final corner, but Lillo found a gap and surged past in the closing meters to claim the title. The win came as redemption after Lillo finished a close second in the XCC championship two days earlier.
“Püntener and I worked quite nicely together,” said Lillo. “I think neither of us was strong enough to get a gap until the last lap. I tried to attack on the last lap, but there wasn't enough to get a gap. I knew that I was going to have a chance in the last few minutes and it was quite tight into the last corner, so I opened brakes and went for the dive, and I was able to overtake him into the last corner.
“To be able to win my first Swiss championships as an elite is special, so I’m really happy with that. I was for sure disappointed after second place in the short track on Friday, so I’m really happy that it worked out [in the XCO race], and now I'm going to have a chance to race with the Swiss National colors for a year.”
Hatherly doubles up in South Africa
The current XCO world champion, Hatherly returned to South Africa from his training base in Andorra to claim critical UCI points needed for start positions. Hatherly spent the spring months racing on the road with Team Jayco AlUla, finishing on the overall podium at Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali in March before completing his first Grand Tour, the Giro d’Italia, in May. He also became a father for the first time.
With the double-up victories at the Happy Valley Conservancy in Bloemfontein, South Africa, Hatherly will now wear his national colors in XCC races for the next 12 months and will remain in the rainbow jersey through the XCO world championship in Val di Sole, Italy, on August 30.
“It was a good weekend,” Hatherly said. “I’m super happy with how I raced. I haven't raced the national championships the last couple years due to schedule timing, but this year, focusing on the road in the early part of the season, it was crucial to come back for national championships to gain the points for a better start position at the world championships next month.
“Overall, I’m really happy and thankful that everything went to plan and I had good legs to win both the XCC and the XCO. I’m really happy as well on how my body is responding and adapting back to the mountain bike and I’m looking forward to wearing the South Africa national colors at the XCC World Cup in Les Gets next month.”
Woods does the double on Vancouver Island
Woods, who also maintains a training base in Andorra, and who also recently became a father for the first time, traveled home to Vancouver Island, British Columbia, for the Canadian national championships.
For a second consecutive year, the national championships were held at the Jordie Lunn Bike Park in Langford, on the outskirts of Victoria. The 14-acre venue, which was opened in June 2021, features a dense and extensive network of purpose-built singletrack.
The elite men’s XCC championship was held in the rain, with the dusty track absorbing the wet conditions. Woods attacked the field on the course’s main climb on the final lap, saw he had a gap, and soloed to the finish to take his second elite national XCC title. Two days later, track conditions had returned to dry and dusty for the XCO race. Woods again attacked and went clear, though this time a late crash on the final descent gave him a scare.
“The XCO was a much different track than we normally race on, with a six-minute climb and then a three-minute climb, both of which are both longer than anything we do on the World Cup,” said Woods, who also wore the new Rev Pro helmet. “I rode in a group of four for the first hour and ten minutes, and then with two laps to go I attacked on the top of the first climb. My attack stuck instantly, and I attacked again and grew it from five bike lengths to 20 seconds. After that I just kept the hammer down as if it were a World Cup—full gas, no pacing.
“It was so dusty,” he continued. “The light was interesting at that hour with the sun and dust so I just was trying to ride safely on the final downhill, but I still washed out the front wheel on one of the corners. But by that point think I had over a one-minute gap, so I was able to get back on and get to the finish for the win. Overall, it was a great weekend for me and it's going to be nice to be racing in the Maple Leaf jersey.”
The winning margin for Woods was 19 seconds ahead of defending champion Cole Punchard. It was a first elite-level XCO victory for Woods, adding to national titles won in the junior and U23 categories. His best World Cup results of the 2026 season thus far came at the Pal Arinsal venue in Andorra in early July, where he finished 10th in the XCC race and 13th in the XCO event.
