What a weekend in Mont-Sainte-Anne! The last race of the season delivered all the drama, fantastic racing and most importantly – great success for the team AON Racing – Tourne Campervans! Monika dropped the mic with solid P10, just shortly after Henry took his best result of the season.
The race was not special just because it was the last one of the 2025 Whoop UCI MTB World Series season, but also because this was the last World Cup for Monika. It was also 30th World Cup race on this legendary Canadian venue where so many mountain bike racing history was written. Thousands and thousands of fans only made it better!
We had the whole team in Canada, with Hattie working on the line scouting and media duties and the rest of the riders in full race mode for one last time this season. Monika and Henry qualified for the finals, Reece and Stan had some bad luck and had to watch the main race from the sidelines. However, with just a little bit of good fortune we could have all four in the finals! It will happen, even in this competitive world!
Let’s take a look how the MSA weekend went for our riders!
Monika – The Last Dance
Monika announced earlier this week that she would be retiring from downhill mountain bike World Cup racing. Just a few days later, she wrapped up her decade-long racing career with a more than honourable top-ten finish. For the last time she demonstrated her skills, improving her riding each day. She qualified for the finals through the second round of qualifications, and then secured 10th place with a confident ride. She finished the season 13th overall in the World Cup standings. A great result to cap off a successful career that included many achievements—she was also a three-time European Champion.
After the race, Monika said: “The whole weekend here in Canada was very emotional. I felt great on the bike and enjoyed every single run. I was really happy to make it to the finals—especially because, after my crash in Switzerland, I wasn’t sure how well I’d be able to ride. Just qualifying for the finals felt like a win. After that, I simply enjoyed it. I gave it my best and couldn’t be more satisfied with 10th place.
The season was intense—in my opinion, we even had too many races. I’m happy with my results, though things could have been a little better. I proved that I’m good and that I can fight with the other girls, even though the competition is really strong these days.
It was emotional—I’ve never cried as much in these ten years as I did this weekend. What I’ll miss most are all the people we became friends with. The racers, the team members. It was really heartwarming to see how many people congratulated me and wished me all the best for the future.”
Henry – Finally Happened
After a season full of setbacks and injuries, Henry finally had the chance to show his speed. In Q2, he put down a run he was genuinely happy with and qualified for finals! If you can believe it — and yes, we have photos to prove it — in Q1, he hit a pigeon mid-run, which caused a crash! Luckily, he bounced back strong, regrouped, and delivered when it mattered.
Saturday morning was not calm as well. Henry had a big crash in the morning practice, but pushed through the pain, gritted his teeth, and delivered a strong run in the finals, good enough for the solid 18th place. A true display of determination and heart to close out the season on a high note.
Henry had this to say after: “I’m relieved to finally get some final experience this year and break the course of this qualifying format for me. It’s also frustrating because it happened on the last race of the year, just as I started to get into my groove, and we have months of off-season ahead of us. Overall it wasn’t a lack of pace of trying, there were just lots of unlucky and unforeseen events. And many setbacks with injuries. But overall I’m very happy with this week and the progress I’ve made with this new bike and this gives me a lot of motivation going into this off-season.
I had a lot more confidence after Lake Placid, just from looking at my splits and looking at how good they were. I knew I was not far off, I just needed to put it together in the qualies. I blew my hand off on my last practice run before finals that shook me up, I wasn’t sure if I was actually going to race. It was pretty disastrous morning, but then I regather myself. I went with more conservative approach, I just needed a clean run and treat it as an experience for next year. I also know that new format goes agains my usual race craft as I’m building speed towards finals. If I make it through qualies I can always do better in the finals. “
Stan – Just Outside the Cut
Stan rode a clean but slightly conservative qualifying run and unfortunately narrowly missed the finals. Still, it’s been a fantastic development season for him as a first-year junior — consistent, fast, and full of learning.
Reece – Fast but Unlucky
Reece was on great form and well on his way to qualifying when a hidden rock in the shadows caught him out, sending him down. Fortunately, he walked away without injury — and despite missing the finals, the speed and confidence are definitely there.