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There is going to be some unexpected news around Nukeproof racing very soon...
Greg Minaar and Casey Brown were both "Clif Athletes" for quite a while
Clif bar had the women’s Luna xc team for over a decade
I know is already common knowledge that joe breeden is the rider but guess who is tagged on charlie hatton's insta post, same place, same time
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DSIlw7hDJ-L/?igsh=Y29xeGoyaDN1NGxo
Wasn’t Minnaar with Cliff Bar, and also Mouse phone covers, and a ZA brewing company….
Sam Hill back on Nukeproof! 😁☢️
Just to cleat things up, that was when Gary still owned the company. Clif is owned by Mondelez now… All Clif sponsorship is dead, they might have kept an influencer or two.
Gary’s still sponsoring a domestic crit team via the family winery though, because he’s a true hero of cycling.
It seems people are quite fast to forget about "outside" sponsors, AON is sponsored by campervan company, Dorval AM is an investment fund, never actually heard how they even got into DH? And its even funnier on the road side, Jumbo Visma was a partnership between a grocery store chain and an IT company and Red Bull - Bora - Hansgrohe is probably the best, we all know RB, but the second one is making kitchen appliances and the last one plumbing equipment.
Lotus and Volvo are both owned by Geely a Chinese car company so the Volvo thing is sort of on brand.
Neko/Frameworks have Loctite, by all accounts a pretty significant "non bike" sponsor.
Speaking of Frameworks, any hints for next year @stormracing ?
Will they need to invest in hair product, perhaps bring a wrestling mat to the races, bring Marlboro on board to keep Rick focused and calm?
vital fantasy brought to you by draft kings.
I was wondering how a fish based drink company was possibly worth 6 billion USD - turns out 800M ISK is 6 million USD.
Isn't Casey Brown still on CLIF?
Wasn’t Casey Brown sponsored by clif for years?
GuessI should have read next page first 😂
Only Volvo cars is Chinese owned, we have Trucks, Buses, Construction, and Volvo Penta too, and that’s all Swedish.
Sam Hill on the Nukeproof Ebike/Hardline program like Bryceland?? Team support like $haun Palmer to Intense back in the day??
Intense Cycles and AXESS Racing Team are parting ways going into 2026. AXESS Racing hasn’t (officially) announced what bikes they’ll be riding next year (and who will ride them), while Intense will focus more on U.S. domestic racing. Press release from Intense below, as well as a video from AXESS:
INTENSE Wishes AXES Racing Team Continued Success
At Intense Cycles, we're excited to extend our warmest wishes and heartfelt goodbye to Joe Breeden and the entire AXESS Racing Team as they embark on new adventures for 2026 and beyond. Our journey together has been truly special, with Joe joining the factory program as an athlete, and culminating in his leadership that shaped the incredible developments of Intense Factory Racing over the past two years.
We are immensely proud of what AXESS Racing has achieved. Their contributions were vital in the development of the M1, both in its standard version and the prototype gearbox variant. Moreover, AXESS Racing represented Intense in a way that felt truly collaborative and beneficial for everyone involved, including our other brand and team partners. Beyond that, the achievements of all the individual athletes were something we all at Intense enjoyed watching and took pride in. We want to wish them continued success in their careers and know that they all have long careers ahead of them.
As we say goodbye to the AXESS Racing family, we’ll be watching and cheering them on from the sidelines and can’t wait to see all that they can accomplish and hope to see all of them again at the races.
INTENSE’s 2026 Racing Focus
INTENSE will dedicate its racing support to US Domestic Race series, including the Monster Energy Pro Downhill Series, as well as US racers competing in select World Cups and Crankworx events. The company emphasizes the value of nurturing the next generation of talent and will announce initiatives supporting youth racing across the United States in the coming months.
“At Intense, we believe in the power of grassroots racing and the importance of fostering upcoming as well as top tier North American talent. By focusing our support on the US domestic series and emerging racers, we are committing not just to the present, but to the future of the sport. Our upcoming initiatives will reflect this dedication as we strive to cultivate the next generation of champions.” - John Hall, Technical Director
Stay Tuned
INTENSE looks forward to sharing more announcements about its youth-racing initiatives and continued support for riders across the U.S. and in select international events.
AXESS Racing video:
2026 world series team and points changes - https://www.vitalmtb.com/forums/hub/2026-world-cup-team-selection-and-licensing-changes
I made the prediction earlier, but I wouldn't doubt that Ryder Lawrence ends up back on Intense after his time with HSC.
"INTENSE will dedicate its racing support to US Domestic Race series, including the Monster Energy Pro Downhill Series, as well as US racers competing in select World Cups and Crankworx events." sounds pretty much exactly his program.
Will be curious if Intense steps in as the frame sponsor for all of HSC racing, since they were all on YT previously and were a solid presence at the Monster Pro Series.
To be fair, Intense seemed it was going to pull out of the WC racing circuit after Gwin to focus on US racing, and it seems Breeden created the opportunity to continue. Given the pull out of the European market, it seems this is the right approach and strategy for them. I hope they make it through and with nice releases like the new Spider and coming updated Tazer, perhaps they will make it back to the WC circuit in the future.
Guess this confirms the Intense rumours (no pun intended)
Axess and Nukeproof seem pretty obvious by now.
“fished-based drink company”
!!!
There’s a big difference between outside sponsorship at a brand level like we see on the road side and local dealership sponsorship like Mini, Volvo and Lotus in dh. Whilst they may be allowed to use the brand’s logo their deal is effectively with a local shop, not the actual manufacturer.
The Tourne Campervan deal does seem to be with the brand itself but they do aftermarket mods, orders of magnitude smaller than an actual automotive manufacturer.
Sian A'hern has a deal with Boost (Australian mobile operator).
WD40 is a pretty big company that have a history in MTB. I believe Frameworks and TFR were sponsored last season as teams and individual riders such as Danny Hart and Rebecca Rusch have been sponsored in the not too distant past.
WD40’s sport marketing efforts are managed by former World Cup 4x pro Robin Baloochi. It’s kinda an endemic non-endemic sponsorship- WD does have that whole line of bikeshop oriented product…
Pinky has just signed another three years with Mondraker!
Does that mean we will hear from Dak soon?
https://www.instagram.com/p/DSaJLaZFN6D/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
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