2025 Team Rumors

Fearon riding a v10 in his last ig post. 
Looks like he might be off forbidden after all…

No, it's simply that Simplon trail riders went through the process of registering their team. That is all. Registering your team doesn't seem to be a required to have a team at Enduro WCs, but if your riders have enough UCI points then you can register as a "gravity" team and get whatever limited perks that may provide (Wildcard status per event?) That is all. I was only trying to list the total number of registered teams, as the MTB-news.de article got it wrong. 

Atherton team announcement from IG:

Some more words from Atherton Racing:

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Continental Atherton Racing
Continental Atherton extends contract with 2023 World Champion Charlie Hatton and commits to the next generation of World Cup stars.

Since Dan Atherton was around 12 years old and bullied Gee into investing £10 to buy his first bike the Atherton family have been passionate about progression. Gee and Rachel are unarguably two of the fastest Downhill riders the world has ever seen and they credit much of their success to Dan’s constant nurture and commitment. In 2013 with Gee and Rach already dominating the World Cup scene the Athertons and Team Director Dan Brown wanted to put something back into the sport that had given them so much. Their mission to spot and work with potentially world-beating racers, providing expert guidance and a framework within which those young riders could progress their careers led to the launch of the Atherton Academy.

Academy riders including founder members Martin Maes and Taylor Vernon, Kade Edwards and Mille Johnset quickly achieved their own World Cup wins and became household names under the guidance of the team.

“Helping our riders to build the necessary race skills to turn raw speed into podiums has always been a key part of our team ethos; we’re committed to offering a meaningful development programme for nurturing young talent. Since 2019 having our own Atherton A.200 has meant that we’ve been able to contribute even more, the additional confidence that it brings is almost magical in the way that it can unlock potential …you only have to look at Charlie’s World Champs win or Andi’s meteoric rise up the rankings for the proof of that.” - Dan Brown

2025 Signings

Charlie Hatton has ridden with the team since 2018 and will extend his contract for 2025. New signings for this season focus on emerging talent who the team believe have demonstrated the potential, raw speed and thirst for progression that they are looking for in a Continental Atherton rider.

“This year’s team is truly global with signings from New Zealand and Australia as well as the UK. Bringing on this kind of talent is a huge driver for us, we’re delighted to be able to give these young riders the equipment, guidance and structure that will enable them to focus 100% on their riding and to fulfil their huge potential as Continental Atherton racers. We invested a lot of time over these last months getting to know young riders and selecting our future stars, I can’t remember the last time I was so excited to start a season” - Dan Brown, CEO

In the Elite Men’s races, Charlie will be joined by 18-year-old New Zealander, Luke Wayman. Luke was 2nd in the 2024 Junior Men’s UCI series overall and shone in the Junior Men’s Final at Fort William with his best result of the year, a 2nd place podium with a time that ranked in the top 20 riders of the weekend across all categories.

“Super excited to be joining Continental Atherton for the upcoming season! With a great crew, incredible support and top-notch gear, that A.200.G is out of this world. My goals for this year are to break that top 30 mark in the Elite Men’s and stay there. I can’t wait to get on track and give it my all!” - Luke Wayman

20-year-old Elise Empey from Mansfield, Australia will lead the charge for the Elite Women. Elise developed her racing throughout 24 to post top ten finishes; 9th World Champs and 7th Loudenvielle (World Cup Round 6). She managed her ‘24 season from a van with a serious lack of resource and still consistently managed top ten sector times …it’s this kind of raw potential that Continental Atherton have sought out for 2025.

Elise said “Holy shit!! Sounds cliche but it's a dream come true. I’m looking forward to upgrading from the (seemingly reluctant) dad wrench and setting up in a café or the back of a van! I want to learn and understand the bike and continue to refine my race process to consistently be up there as a World Cups qualifier."

Last but not least, 17 year old Brit George Madely joins as a second year Junior. George is a three-times National Champ and clocked some seriously fast sectors in 2024, he qualified 2nd at Loudenvielle World Cup but he struggled to pull together a full race run. His best result to date is a 6th place Juniors at the Fort William World Cup – two seconds behind Luke. The team will support him through 2025 to turn that raw talent and rapid pace into podium rides.

George said “Super stoked to join Continental Atherton, a team with great heritage and experience of going fast! The Continental Atherton pits always seemed to have a relaxed and cheerful vibe, which I can’t wait to be part of. My Goals for 2025 are to win a World Cup and consistently be in the Top 5.”

Dan, Gee and Rachel will support as mentors to the newcomers while Charlie and the famous Continental Atherton support team headed up by Tom Lloyd and Ben Lovell will be in the pits to pass on their vast experience and get all riders in top form ready for the World Cup season kick-off at Round 1 in Bielska-Biela, Poland. 

Vero Widmann also confirmed on Mondraker

Hurts my heart 

how Forbidden became Dunbar racing

https://cyclingmagazine.ca/mtb/dunbar-racing-a-new-era-for-canadian-dh/

Austrian Tamara Wiedmann picked up by Mondraker Factory on the XC side. I think 2024 was her first elite season? She ended it with a 9th at MSA and had good interviews on WynTV XC haha. 

And an european u17 champion / ixs cup winner on mondraker team as well! Probably not that well known but this kid is seriously fast!

Sounds like he's quite pleased with his setup:

What chance is there that WBD will drop some serious cash to lure Gwin into the commentary booth full time. Surely it would pay off for them. Gwin has proved himself on guest appearances and the audience responds well to him. Also, it would be a strong reason for punters to pay the money for a subscription and tune in for the year, weak commentary would not. Might fit Gwin's agenda, getting paid for attending World Cups, whilst perhaps running a development team for the US series, amongst his other business ventures. 

If Connor is off forbidden align with Bulldog, is that the end of fhe forbidden team? In enduro and dh?

https://cyclingmagazine.ca/mtb/dunbar-racing-a-new-era-for-canadian-dh/

Yeah this kid's the real deal, one name to keep in your head this season

Camden Rutherford to intense factory racing.

Pivot dropped the ball so hard losing this kid, jackson goldstone jr. 

Did you say Dan Atherton 👀

The Dan Atherton chasing the belt purse rumor takes another step closer to coming true.

Will he take the starting line Poland?

Doesn't load? Someone oopsie on publishing?

Must have been, I read it a few hours before posting it too , BGoldstone posted originally 6 hours ago on the previous page

for anyone that didn't get to read it in time, it basically says this Candian bike shop, Dunbar, is providing financial support to get the Forbidden team to the World Cups, after the Forbidden CEO reached out to them and said they were struggling. So the team is basically the same as Forbidden Synthesis, same sponsors and everything, but Dunbar is helping them to afford their spot at the World Cups, like travel and race entries; funding their season.

No Supernought for Fearon though. 

Dunbar do sell Santa Cruz though

Weird the article got taken down. But big props to Dunbar and Rob Venables for their long time support for Canadian DH racing. Great shop and group of guys, worth stopping by to see some legendary DH bikes/memorabilia if you find yourself in Vancouver.

Or their shop Corsa, in Squamish!

Brage to Skog Sykkel?

I know, fat chance. I’ll keep daydreaming  

That would bé cool, kind of steel frameworks, up to jump from rooftops... 

Mondraker lad's sick of waiting for Proper brakes from shimano, Gone to Sram Maven.
New proto or production version with no Headtube junction hole.

Is there a link to EDR rider rankings? Or does EDR not exist?

This? https://ucimtbworldseries.com/rankings/series/uci-edr-world-cup/edr-men-elite/2024

Edit: Here's the rest of 'em https://ucimtbworldseries.com/rankings/series/uci-edr-world-cup/2024