Elias Ishoel

Brought up in the mountainous Trøndelag region of central Norway, Elias Ishoel rode dirtbikes in the summer, but SnowCross was his passion and this year the twenty-seven-year-old staged an incredible comeback from injury to cement his reputation as the sport’s number one athlete.

Already a five-time champion in America, Ishoel lost the FIM SnowCross World Championship on a tie-break in 2023, but returned this year to take the title, despite a major crash last autumn that left him with twenty-six broken bones.

Defying the odds to get fit ready for the 2025 season, Ishoel then broke his thumb just one month before the opening round at Joensuu in Finland at the end of February, however even that could not stop him taking maximum points with two race wins.

With Ishoel’s main opposition coming from Finland’s Aki Pihlaja, who won that 2023 tie-break for the championship, the action switched to Kayseri-Erciyes in central Türkiye in mid-March where the pair renewed their battle and Pihlaja won on a tie-break.

Leading by just four points heading into the final round at Fällfors in Sweden one month later, Ishoel backed up victory in race one with fourth in race two to clinch the crown.

PALMARES 

FIM Snowcross World Champion: 2025