2025 Team Rumors

Mr.Nally wrote:

Few rumor things I picked up on recently.No mention of Martin Whitely in the frameworks press release. Is he gone?No thank you or good-bye from Canyon...

Few rumor things I picked up on recently.

No mention of Martin Whitely in the frameworks press release. Is he gone?
No thank you or good-bye from Canyon to FMD, only to Tahnee. Strange. 

Most of the big teams (if not all) now have more than one women, that's cool. Norco even have three. I imagine more teams will do the same, given the new rules. Mille and Louise Ferguson on Intense? Where is Monika Hrastnik going?

Commencal will go from five WC DH teams to two?

Will Trek and Mondraker sign elite or junior females? 

Mr.Nally wrote:

Few rumor things I picked up on recently.No mention of Martin Whitely in the frameworks press release. Is he gone?No thank you or good-bye from Canyon...

Few rumor things I picked up on recently.

No mention of Martin Whitely in the frameworks press release. Is he gone?
No thank you or good-bye from Canyon to FMD, only to Tahnee. Strange. 

Most of the big teams (if not all) now have more than one women, that's cool. Norco even have three. I imagine more teams will do the same, given the new rules. Mille and Louise Ferguson on Intense? Where is Monika Hrastnik going?

Commencal will go from five WC DH teams to two?

Will Trek and Mondraker sign elite or junior females? 

JokullThor wrote:

Benoit posting a teaser to his story

Benoit posting a teaser to his story

JokullThor wrote:

Benoit posting a teaser to his story

Benoit posting a teaser to his story

ciechan wrote:

It's a Scott

JokullThor wrote:

Benoit posting a teaser to his story

Benoit posting a teaser to his story

ciechan wrote:

It's a Scott

zundawg23 wrote:

It was a Commencal actually

BGoldstone wrote:

Sacha Earnestt should still be on trek factory

 

Mr.Nally wrote:

Few rumor things I picked up on recently.No mention of Martin Whitely in the frameworks press release. Is he gone?No thank you or good-bye from Canyon...

Few rumor things I picked up on recently.

No mention of Martin Whitely in the frameworks press release. Is he gone?
No thank you or good-bye from Canyon to FMD, only to Tahnee. Strange. 

Most of the big teams (if not all) now have more than one women, that's cool. Norco even have three. I imagine more teams will do the same, given the new rules. Mille and Louise Ferguson on Intense? Where is Monika Hrastnik going?

Commencal will go from five WC DH teams to two?

Will Trek and Mondraker sign elite or junior females? 

dknapton wrote:

Jakob Jewitt teasing something for tomorow on his instagram story. Shows the rear triangle of a bike but im not sure if thats meant to be...

Jakob Jewitt teasing something for tomorow on his instagram story. Shows the rear triangle of a bike but im not sure if thats meant to be a tease or just a random pic

Alec_Ruston wrote:

More tech really (posted there too), but relevant for whoever’s on the team…

So it definitely looks like Atherton Bikes are chasing the 100k…

A200G

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DDzO-HfCrIB/?igsh=eDFyOWU0ZzIyZTFl

Alec_Ruston wrote:

More tech really (posted there too), but relevant for whoever’s on the team…

So it definitely looks like Atherton Bikes are chasing the 100k…

A200G

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DDzO-HfCrIB/?igsh=eDFyOWU0ZzIyZTFl

zundawg23 wrote:

Wow, wasn't expecting that, I thought the 100k was only for gamux? Or is it for any team running a belt drive?

sspomer wrote:

norco team is official - danny hart, erice van leuven, gracey hemstreet, lucas cruz, bodhi kuhn and lina frenerfull PR here - https://www.vitalmtb.com/news/press-release/norco-race-division-unveils-2025-team-roster

norco team is official - danny hart, erice van leuven, gracey hemstreet, lucas cruz, bodhi kuhn and lina frener

full PR here - https://www.vitalmtb.com/news/press-release/norco-race-division-unveils…

sspomer wrote:

norco team is official - danny hart, erice van leuven, gracey hemstreet, lucas cruz, bodhi kuhn and lina frenerfull PR here - https://www.vitalmtb.com/news/press-release/norco-race-division-unveils-2025-team-roster

norco team is official - danny hart, erice van leuven, gracey hemstreet, lucas cruz, bodhi kuhn and lina frener

full PR here - https://www.vitalmtb.com/news/press-release/norco-race-division-unveils…

Alec_Ruston wrote:

More tech really (posted there too), but relevant for whoever’s on the team…

So it definitely looks like Atherton Bikes are chasing the 100k…

A200G

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DDzO-HfCrIB/?igsh=eDFyOWU0ZzIyZTFl

zundawg23 wrote:

Wow, wasn't expecting that, I thought the 100k was only for gamux? Or is it for any team running a belt drive?

dantecusolito wrote:

Anyone who wins an Elite DH world cup on a bike with their belt drive. 

chriskief wrote:

With the arrival of 2025 and big changes underway, here's a quick look back at how team and rider numbers have evolved over the years.All data...

With the arrival of 2025 and big changes underway, here's a quick look back at how team and rider numbers have evolved over the years.

All data pulled from the UCI website (https://www.uci.org/riders/mountain-bike-riders-teams/1V5hGPnEvXzbIqkjU…).

The number of teams peaked in 2023 with a total of 184 (128 standard, 56 elite). 2024 saw the second highest number of teams on record with 163 (112 standard, 51 elite). The bike bubble bursting was already beginning to have an effect going into the 2024 season, even with the upcoming Olympic games.

The growth in teams from 2021 (119 teams) to 2023 (184 teams) likely drove UCI/WBD to start thinking about major changes to the series. Had that growth continued, the events would be impossible to run. Too many teams that need pit space, too many riders on track, etc. The growth in elite teams from 2022 (30 elite teams) to 2023 (56 elite teams) was a likely indicator that team fees could be pushed much higher.

The home countries listed for teams has remained roughly consistent over the last 5-6 years, hovering between 27 and 29 countries.

The data gets more interesting when you look at the registered disciplines.

2017 was the high water mark for XC (97 teams) which then saw steady declines until 2021 (73 teams) when the trend began to reverse. 2024 brought XC back to 2016 levels with 90 teams, likely driven by the Olympics. It's surprising that 2017 did not see a reduction in XC teams after the 2016 Rio games. We most certainly will not see that same trend in 2025.

DH hit a low point in 2018 (34 teams) with growth peaking in 2023 with 59 teams.

2021 brought the introduction of XCM (marathon) followed by EDR and EDR-E in 2023. The UCI does not track EDR/EDR-E teams prior to 2023.

Only XC saw team growth in 2024 (again, likely because of the Olympics), with all other disciplines declining.

The UCI rider data is a little misleading as each rider can only be associated with one discipline, even if they actually race multiple. For some riders, that discipline isn't their primary one (for instance Ed Masters is listed as a DH rider rather than EDR).

Rider numbers grew dramatically from 2005 to a peak in 2012, after which the sport saw slow but steady declines until 2019. There were likely many factors driving this, one of which likely being a stagnant broadcast package from RedBull. Hard to make an accurate analysis without viewer numbers, but it's not really surprising the UCI was ready to go in a different direction.

Growth exploded from 2019 to 2023, with total UCI team riders peaking in 2023 with 871 riders across all disciplines. 

Again, the growth from 2019 (506 riders) to 2023 (871 riders) likely forced UCI/WBD to make some dramatic changes that would reduce the number of participants.

The numbers also show that the reduced focus (both from a sponsorship and coverage perspective) on EDR was already having an impact in 2024. EDR riders dropped from 105 in 2023 to 80 in 2024.

With the announced team changes by UCI/WBD and the ongoing turmoil in the bike business, I suspect we're going to see significant further team and rider declines in 2025.

chriskief wrote:

With the arrival of 2025 and big changes underway, here's a quick look back at how team and rider numbers have evolved over the years.All data...

With the arrival of 2025 and big changes underway, here's a quick look back at how team and rider numbers have evolved over the years.

All data pulled from the UCI website (https://www.uci.org/riders/mountain-bike-riders-teams/1V5hGPnEvXzbIqkjU…).

The number of teams peaked in 2023 with a total of 184 (128 standard, 56 elite). 2024 saw the second highest number of teams on record with 163 (112 standard, 51 elite). The bike bubble bursting was already beginning to have an effect going into the 2024 season, even with the upcoming Olympic games.

The growth in teams from 2021 (119 teams) to 2023 (184 teams) likely drove UCI/WBD to start thinking about major changes to the series. Had that growth continued, the events would be impossible to run. Too many teams that need pit space, too many riders on track, etc. The growth in elite teams from 2022 (30 elite teams) to 2023 (56 elite teams) was a likely indicator that team fees could be pushed much higher.

The home countries listed for teams has remained roughly consistent over the last 5-6 years, hovering between 27 and 29 countries.

The data gets more interesting when you look at the registered disciplines.

2017 was the high water mark for XC (97 teams) which then saw steady declines until 2021 (73 teams) when the trend began to reverse. 2024 brought XC back to 2016 levels with 90 teams, likely driven by the Olympics. It's surprising that 2017 did not see a reduction in XC teams after the 2016 Rio games. We most certainly will not see that same trend in 2025.

DH hit a low point in 2018 (34 teams) with growth peaking in 2023 with 59 teams.

2021 brought the introduction of XCM (marathon) followed by EDR and EDR-E in 2023. The UCI does not track EDR/EDR-E teams prior to 2023.

Only XC saw team growth in 2024 (again, likely because of the Olympics), with all other disciplines declining.

The UCI rider data is a little misleading as each rider can only be associated with one discipline, even if they actually race multiple. For some riders, that discipline isn't their primary one (for instance Ed Masters is listed as a DH rider rather than EDR).

Rider numbers grew dramatically from 2005 to a peak in 2012, after which the sport saw slow but steady declines until 2019. There were likely many factors driving this, one of which likely being a stagnant broadcast package from RedBull. Hard to make an accurate analysis without viewer numbers, but it's not really surprising the UCI was ready to go in a different direction.

Growth exploded from 2019 to 2023, with total UCI team riders peaking in 2023 with 871 riders across all disciplines. 

Again, the growth from 2019 (506 riders) to 2023 (871 riders) likely forced UCI/WBD to make some dramatic changes that would reduce the number of participants.

The numbers also show that the reduced focus (both from a sponsorship and coverage perspective) on EDR was already having an impact in 2024. EDR riders dropped from 105 in 2023 to 80 in 2024.

With the announced team changes by UCI/WBD and the ongoing turmoil in the bike business, I suspect we're going to see significant further team and rider declines in 2025.

kuzlich wrote:

Kudos! You did a mega job!Interestingly, the statistics don't match the numbers from a recent interview by Chris Ball (WBD's gravity-MTB chief) to En Roue Libre...

Kudos! You did a mega job!
Interestingly, the statistics don't match the numbers from a recent interview by Chris Ball (WBD's gravity-MTB chief) to En Roue Libre. Chris said that due to the large number of riders in DH, WBD simply doesn't have enough resources to cover downhill properly. The figure of 400 downhill riders was mentioned twice in the interview, although the UCI website shows almost half that number (about 220, as far as I can tell from your numbers).

zundawg23 wrote:

What a team, could easily dominate, especially the women's field

kuzlich wrote:

Kudos! You did a mega job!Interestingly, the statistics don't match the numbers from a recent interview by Chris Ball (WBD's gravity-MTB chief) to En Roue Libre...

Kudos! You did a mega job!
Interestingly, the statistics don't match the numbers from a recent interview by Chris Ball (WBD's gravity-MTB chief) to En Roue Libre. Chris said that due to the large number of riders in DH, WBD simply doesn't have enough resources to cover downhill properly. The figure of 400 downhill riders was mentioned twice in the interview, although the UCI website shows almost half that number (about 220, as far as I can tell from your numbers).

Mr.Nally wrote:

Few rumor things I picked up on recently.No mention of Martin Whitely in the frameworks press release. Is he gone?No thank you or good-bye from Canyon...

Few rumor things I picked up on recently.

No mention of Martin Whitely in the frameworks press release. Is he gone?
No thank you or good-bye from Canyon to FMD, only to Tahnee. Strange. 

Most of the big teams (if not all) now have more than one women, that's cool. Norco even have three. I imagine more teams will do the same, given the new rules. Mille and Louise Ferguson on Intense? Where is Monika Hrastnik going?

Commencal will go from five WC DH teams to two?

Will Trek and Mondraker sign elite or junior females? 

Mr.Nally wrote:

Few rumor things I picked up on recently.No mention of Martin Whitely in the frameworks press release. Is he gone?No thank you or good-bye from Canyon...

Few rumor things I picked up on recently.

No mention of Martin Whitely in the frameworks press release. Is he gone?
No thank you or good-bye from Canyon to FMD, only to Tahnee. Strange. 

Most of the big teams (if not all) now have more than one women, that's cool. Norco even have three. I imagine more teams will do the same, given the new rules. Mille and Louise Ferguson on Intense? Where is Monika Hrastnik going?

Commencal will go from five WC DH teams to two?

Will Trek and Mondraker sign elite or junior females? 

RiderMikeCheck1 wrote:

I got the sense that Martin was kind of 'on loan' to help Frameworks spin up last year on the world cup circuit with the addition...

I got the sense that Martin was kind of 'on loan' to help Frameworks spin up last year on the world cup circuit with the addition of Asa and Angel. I also got the sense that Martin was working for peanuts to make it happen and was going to get back to a factory team as soon as the budget opened up somewhere. He alluded to both those things on a podcast before last season started. 

He just posted that photo of him walking into Mondraker HQ. As someone pointed out, they may be starting an in-house XC team to match what they're doing with the DH team ($$) and he may be managing that. I would think they'd also want him managing the DH team, but I know last year they had that one guy (name slipping my mind) who seemed like he was there to stay as the DH manager.  

The Cayon/FMD thing is interesting. Definitely odd not having a goodbye message. Also, will be interesting to see what bike they land on because that new Canyon was being stoked up as the hot shit, this past season. They might be getting a bike downgrade in 2025. 

RiderMikeCheck1 wrote:

Also, someone must get to the bottom of where Norco is finding all this money in 2024 and 2025 with the bike market being in the...

Also, someone must get to the bottom of where Norco is finding all this money in 2024 and 2025 with the bike market being in the dumpster. 
Greg, team manager and part-time racer has to still be commanding $200-250K+/yr. Then 6 factory-level riders. Granted the only 'big names' are Danny and Erice (Danny likely still came at a discount, maybe $175k). But still, having 6 full-time riders, Greg part-time. That's a ton of mechanics, travel expenses, etc. And their marketing budget is considerable, based on what they did last year with the videos and design. This fresh team announcement video alone could have easily topped $25k when factoring in film crew, pre-planning/printing of stuff used in video, producers, edit, flying 10 people (riders and crew) into the UK, lodging them up for a couple of nights, etc. 
 

RiderMikeCheck1 wrote:

Also, someone must get to the bottom of where Norco is finding all this money in 2024 and 2025 with the bike market being in the...

Also, someone must get to the bottom of where Norco is finding all this money in 2024 and 2025 with the bike market being in the dumpster. 
Greg, team manager and part-time racer has to still be commanding $200-250K+/yr. Then 6 factory-level riders. Granted the only 'big names' are Danny and Erice (Danny likely still came at a discount, maybe $175k). But still, having 6 full-time riders, Greg part-time. That's a ton of mechanics, travel expenses, etc. And their marketing budget is considerable, based on what they did last year with the videos and design. This fresh team announcement video alone could have easily topped $25k when factoring in film crew, pre-planning/printing of stuff used in video, producers, edit, flying 10 people (riders and crew) into the UK, lodging them up for a couple of nights, etc. 
 

drakefan705 wrote:

Sorry there’s absolutely no way danny hart is being paid more than 100k canadian per year. I would wager there’s very few riders on the downhill...

Sorry there’s absolutely no way danny hart is being paid more than 100k canadian per year. I would wager there’s very few riders on the downhill circuit getting more than that from one contract. Engineers at Norco don’t make much more than that.