UCI MTB World Cup (All forms!)

[glassmoon]

In GOAT news, Nino will carry on.

Nino Schurter anuncia que seguirá compitiendo en 2025: "aún tengo lo que hace falta"

Nino Schurter seguirá en los circuitos en 2025. El suizo sigue motivado y con ganas para seguir compitiendo un año más.

esmtb.com

Nino Schurter is not retiring:

The 10-time World Champion has just dispelled all rumors with this video.

en.brujulabike.com

Of course he will continue - next year is the WCH in Lenzerheide... I'd wager he'd like to end his career right there. Lets see

 

[Axel Hangleck]

End of season XC rankings:

1		HATHERLY Alan		CANNONDALE FACTORY RACING	28	2439
2		KORETZKY Victor		SPECIALIZED FACTORY RACING	30	2066
3		COLOMBO Filippo		SCOTT-SRAM MTB RACING TEAM	27	1711	-20
4	+1	BRAIDOT Luca		SANTA CRUZ ROCKSHOX PRO TEAM	33	1571
5	+1	ANDREASSEN Simon		CANNONDALE FACTORY RACING	27	1562
6	+1	SARROU Jordan		TEAM BMC	32	1538
7	+1	FLÜCKIGER Mathias		THÖMUS MAXON	36	1514
8	-4	BLEVINS Christopher		SPECIALIZED FACTORY RACING	26	1461	-120
9		AMOS Riley		TREK FACTORY RACING - PIRELLI	22	1460
10		AVONDETTO Simone		WILIER-VITTORIA FACTORY TEAM XCO	24	1412

1		KELLER Alessandra		THÖMUS MAXON	28	2016
2		LILL Candice			32	1998
3		STIGGER Laura		SPECIALIZED FACTORY RACING	24	1732
4		FERRAND PREVOT Pauline		INEOS GRENADIERS	32	1691
5		PIETERSE Puck		ALPECIN-DECEUNINCK	22	1665
6		RISSVEDS Jenny		TEAM 31 IBIS CYCLES CONTINENTAL	30	1627
7		BLUNK Savilia		DECATHLON FORD RACING TEAM	25	1602
8		LECOMTE Loana		CANYON CLLCTV XCO	25	1518
9		COURTNEY Kate		SCOTT-SRAM MTB RACING TEAM	29	1474
10		BATTEN Haley		SPECIALIZED FACTORY RACING	26	1426

 

[Axel Hangleck]

La Copa del Mundo de XCM 2024 ha sido un desastre, ¿hacia dónde debe dirigirse?

La Copa del Mundo de XCM parece estar en una encrucijada que solo tiene dos salidas: desaparecer o reinventarse

esmtb.com

What to do with the XCMarathon World Cup.......

 

[Axel Hangleck]

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/the-uci-and-wbd-confirm-changes-to-world-cup-teams-qualification-and-more-in-2025.html

 

[Axel Hangleck]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUG7yoeDZzg


Red Bull Cerro Abajo Genova; final round, live at 14:15.

 

[glassmoon]

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/the-uci-and-wbd-confirm-changes-to-world-cup-teams-qualification-and-more-in-2025.html

hmm... rumors were true it seems... Puck, Pidders, MVP, Ghost, Giant, Mondraker not in top 15... but looks like there will be a lot of "wild cards and federation spots" available each round - it seems rather messy

 

[Axel Hangleck]

Yes, those 'multi discipline' riders will be relying on wild card spots. And at the moment, Pidcock may ride in Team GB colours if the 'stand off' isn't sorted out.

 

[glassmoon]

possibly, but I wonder if Ineos will be OK to let him ride if he's not wearing their kit... after all, they invested in him a lot

 

[Axel Hangleck]

possibly, but I wonder if Ineos will be OK to let him ride if he's not wearing their kit... after all, they invested in him a lot

I've no idea really. But I was reminded of Sam Gaze, who was going to ride the first Brazil World Cup in NZ national kit, as nobody had sent his Alpecin kit down there.....and he actually did course training in NZ kit.

 

[Axel Hangleck]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Wuw_ezs7Z0


Tomas Slavik's winning run onboard cam.........

 

[pastronef]

rumors are:
Courtney (and Frischy's son) off Scott
Brentjens's team with big changes, riders off and new ones on
Bjorn Riley to Scott
Hatherly to ride a Giant on the road
Mona off Cannondale
Andreassen to Orbea
Boichis to Rebdull
Ibis31 folds, Kelsey Urban and Rissveds sign elsewhere (Rissveds maybe Canyon)

 

[Axel Hangleck]

rumors are:
Courtney (and Frischy's son) off Scott
Brentjens's team with big changes, riders off and new ones on
Bjorn Riley to Scott
Hatherly to ride a Giant on the road
Mona off Cannondale
Andreassen to Orbea
Boichis to Red Bull
Ibis31 folds, Kelsey Urban and Rissveds sign elsewhere (Rissveds maybe Canyon)

Courtney probably needs a fresh start, after changing her coach last year - apart from 2019, it's never really happened for her. Frischi's son is now mid 20s, and isn't going to be a top racer.

Bart's team might be interesting; Belamoina has been there a while, and hasn't had any decent results for years. Blums has a few good races, and Holmgren only joined this year.

If Hatherly is joining a road team, I would have expected the road journalists to have picked this up by now.

 

[glassmoon]

hmm... wonder how Kate will fare. She had a significant decline after 2019 but this season she actually showed some progress and promise for 2025 - hope she'll continue to improve.
Props to Bart to supporting Yana for years after her struggles and decline and no significant results since few years ago... not sure if she's leaving but if yes i'd assume it would be quite hard for her...
Alan... had a fantastic season... hope that RR is just a gimmick and he keeps focusing on MTB

 

[LongtimeLurker]

Courtney probably needs a fresh start, after changing her coach last year - apart from 2019, it's never really happened for her. Frischi's son is now mid 20s, and isn't going to be a top racer.

Bart's team might be interesting; Belamoina has been there a while, and hasn't had any decent results for years. Blums has a few good races, and Holmgren only joined this year.

If Hatherly is joining a road team, I would have expected the road journalists to have picked this up by now.

Alan races giant - XCO and then on Jayco for road.
Salary paid by giant
Was put on Jayco for the connection
He offered himself to any team in XCO with a road connection.

What is odd is why would EF not take him on the road if already with cannondale?

 

[Axel Hangleck]

He was on the EF Dev team - so there is even a connection. Maybe, they couldn't find space for him on their team - aka they weren't interested.

But it sounds similar to when Koretzky joined Bora, when he signed for Specialized.

Though it seems that Road teams are less inclined to sign XCO stars compared to Cyclocross racers....

 

[jmdirt]

rumors are:
Courtney (and Frischy's son) off Scott
Brentjens's team with big changes, riders off and new ones on
Bjorn Riley to Scott
Hatherly to ride a Giant on the road
Mona off Cannondale
Andreassen to Orbea
Boichis to Rebdull
Ibis31 folds, Kelsey Urban and Rissveds sign elsewhere (Rissveds maybe Canyon)

I had read that Riss and Ibis had just done a special bike so it seems strange that they would end things two weeks later, but...

 

[Axel Hangleck]

Cube Factory Racing have made a few signings, including British U23 rider, Ella Maclean-Howell.

 

[glassmoon]

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/explainer-what-are-the-entry-pathways-for-the-2025-xc-world-cups.html

 

[Axel Hangleck]

Somebody should organise a sweep on the date the first big name transfer is announced...... I'm guessing it may well be a while.

 

[Wyndbrook]

Somebody should organise a sweep on the date the first big name transfer is announced...... I'm guessing it may well be a while.

I'm sure you are right, I seem to recall when ploughing through that long novel of rule changes something about next years rider changes must be registered by end November. So in thirteen months time perhaps we will know the 2026 lineups.

 

[Axel Hangleck]

Alpecin made some signings to their U23/Dev - but no MTB riders amongst them. They have a small MTB team - Gaze, Pieterse & Eibl, who have all been there a while - and no new riders for MTB for a while.
It's possible they're not interested in any new MTB talents, or none of the current U23 MTB racers interest them.

 

[glassmoon]

well MVdP is potentially eyeing 2025 XCO WCH (cause he has 0 chance in RR next year) so they might just keep a spot for him - he will need to do some World Series racing if he really wants to have a chance to win the WCH.

 

[Axel Hangleck]

It's going to be another 'will he, won't he' regarding his XC racing? Here are the XC rounds:

Round 1 / April 3-6: Araxá - Minas Gerais, Brazil (UCI Cross-country World Cup)
Round 2 / April 10-12: Araxá - Minas Gerais, Brazil (UCI Cross-country World Cup)

Round 5 / May 23-25: Nové Město Na Moravě, Czechia (UCI Cross-country World Cup)

Round 7 / June 5-8: Saalfelden Leogang - Salzburgerland, Austria (UCI Cross-country, Downhill and Enduro World Cup)
Round 8 / June 20-22: Val di Sole – Trentino, Italy (UCI Cross-country and Downhill World Cup)

Round 11 / July 9-13: Pal Arinsal - Andorra (UCI Cross-country and Downhill World Cup)
Round 12 / August 21-31: Haute-Savoie, France (UCI Cross-country, Downhill and Enduro World Cup)
Round 13 / September 18-21: Bike Kingdom - Lenzerheide, Switzerland (UCI Cross-country and Downhill World Cup)
Round 14 / October 3-5: Lake Placid Olympic Region, New York, USA (UCI Cross-country and Downhill World Cup)
Round 15 / October 9-12: Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada (UCI Cross-country and Downhill World Cup)

The spring classics rule out the Brasil rounds; so Nove Mesto is possible, it then depends on whether he does the Tour, and the prep needed for that. MTB Worlds are between Les Gets and Lenzerheide.....

 

[glassmoon]

Can't see Alpecin not bring him for the Tour... he's their top lead-out and might also snatch a stage or two for himself.

 

[Axel Hangleck]

Cierra el equipo Santa Cruz RockShox Pro Team

El Santa Cruz RockShox cierra sus puertas tras este ciclo olímpico pero su estructura no muere y busca crear un equipo de formación de talentos

esmtb.com

End of the Santa Cruz RockShox Pro Team

The Santa Cruz RockShox Pro team, one of the most relevant in the XCO World Cup in recent seasons, will not continue in 2025.

en.brujulabike.com

Santa-Cruz Rock Shox pull the plug on the programme. Ranked #6 in the UCI rankings - and have won World Cups, and World championships podiums. Will become a training team......
Worrying for the sport.....