The (Almost) Complete Guide to 2018's UCI XC World Cup Teams

Mar 13, 2018
by Sarah Moore  

World Cup XC 1
XCO ELITE MTB TEAM ROUND-UP
2018



With the World Cup XC season kicking off properly last weekend in Stellenbosch, South Africa, we've taken a closer look at the top 15 UCI Elite MTB World Cup teams that will be battling it out this year.



BIANCHI COUNTERVAIL
Marco Aurelio Fontana, Stephane Tempier, Nadir Colledani, Chiara Teocchi

Stephane Tempier, second overall to Nino Schurter in the 2017 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup and 2012 Olympic bronze medallist Marco Aurelio Fontana will be joined by talented newcomer Nadir Colledani, who finished his stint in the Under 23 category with two World Cup wins. Chiara Teocchi will continue to ride for Bianchi in the U23 category.
Learn more.
The native son. Marco Fontana on the move.


CANNONDALE FACTORY RACING XC
Maxime Marotte, Manuel Fumic, Henrique Avancini, Hannah & Helen Grobert

Maxime is the UCI’s third highest ranked rider and Manuel Fumic is the 7th highest ranked rider. Both will have an eye towards the podium at each of the UCI World Cup races, as will the Grobert sisters. Learn more.
Maxime Marotte is one of the fast Frenchies challenging Nino Schurter s supremacy in mountainbiking. Up untill the very last moment he was within inches of leaders Gaze and Schurter.


CLIF PRO TEAM
Catharine Pendrel, Lea Davison, Haley Batten, Hannah Finchamp, Eva Lechner, Katerina Nash, Maghalie Rochette

This all-women team has several contenders for the podium, including two-time World Champion and Olympic bronze medallist, Catharine Pendrel, will be looking to regain her form of two years ago and World Cup podium. Learn more.
Catharine Pendrel is always a force to be reckoned with as was the case today. A twisted chain and a flat saw her chances vanish.


CST SANDD AMERICAN EAGLE MTB RACING TEAM
Yana Belomoina, Anne Tauber, Didier Bats, Grant Ferguson, Margot Moschetti, David Nordemann, Martins Blums, Sebastian Fini Carstensen

Yana Belomoina was the World Cup overall winner last year, and stood on the podium at every race but World Championships where she suffered a concussion. Sebastian Fini Carstensen was top-20 last year. Learn more.
Yana just needed to ride consistently today but she did one beter than consistent.


FOCUS XC TEAM
Linda Indergand, Florian Vogel, Marcel Guerrini, Markus Schulte-Lunzum

Florian Vogel finished top-10 in the 2017 season, and Linda Indergand finished third overall in the World Cup standings last year with several podiums, but hasn't yet stood on the top. Learn more.
Florian Vogel in the lead on lap 1.


GHOST FACTORY RACING
Anne Terpstra, Barbara Benko, Malene Degn, Sina Frei, Lisa Pasteiner

This all-women's team had Sina Frei finish 9th in the overall World Cup standings last year, in addition to winning the World Champion Team title and the U23 World Champion title. Barbara Benko moves over to Ghost from Focus. Learn more.
Malene flying towards the finish.


JB BRUNEX FELT FACTORY TEAM
Ramona Forchini, Jorin Gabriel, Lars Kammlein, Thomas Litscher, Lara Krahemann, Adelheid Morath, Elisabeth Osl, Fabio Puntener, Casey South, Maximilian Foidl

The formal youth squad has developed into a UCI Elite team and look to continue upon the success of Thomas Litscher who finished third at the World Championships last year. Learn more.
Thomas Litscher rode one hell of a race and became third.


KMC-EKOI-SRSUNTOUR
Annie Last, Victor Koretzky, Jordan Sarrou, Martina Berta, Helene Clauzel, Nicolas Bazin, Leandre Bouchard

A new team for Annie Last after winning the final World Cup of the season in Lenzerheide last year. Learn more.
Annie Last looking aggressive as ever after her win in Lenzerheide. She s on the short list here in MSA especially if the rain continues.


KROSS RACING TEAM
Jolanda Neff, Maja Wloszczowska, Fabian Giger, Bartlomiej Wawak

Reigning World Champion Jolanda Neff had a terrible crash in a cyclocross World Cup earlier this year and broke her collarbone, but she and teammate Maja Wloszczowska should never be counted out in the race for the podium. Learn more.
Maja Wloszczowska saw her chances for a medal fade a crash in front caused her loose control as well. Nevertheless she took fourth and was cheering for her teammate and friend Jolanda Neff right after.


MOEBEL MAERKI MTB PRO TEAM
Nadia Grod, Irina Kalentyeva, Nicole Koller, Karl Markt, Gregor Raggl, Corina Gantenbein

Matthias Stirnemann has moved on from the team to join Nino Schurter on Scott. But the team has grown significantly in 2017 with former Junior World Champion Nicole Koller, Corina Gantenbein, Austrian champion Charly Markt, Gregor Raggl and the top German at the 2016 World Cup, Christian Pfäffle. Learn more.
Irina Kalentyeva took fifth today.


PRIMAFLOR MONDRAKER ROTOR
Daniel and Rebecca McConnell, Rocio Del Alba Garcia Martinez, Raiza Goulao Henrique, Maria Rodriguez Navarrete, Ondrej Cink, Rocio Del Alba Garcia Martinez, Carlos Coloma Nicolas

Spain-based Primaflor-Mondraker-Rotor have aded Ondrej Cink and former World Cup winner Daniel McConnell to their ranks for 2018. Rebecca Henderson also moves over to join her husband Daniel on team. Learn more.
With the dust from the lead three still hanging in the air Daniel Mcconnell chases through the rock garden. Perhaps he s wondering about the pig


SCOTT-SRAM MTB RACING
Nino Schurter, Matthias Stirnemann, Michiel Van Der Heijden, Marcel Wildhaber, Andri Frischknecht

Defending Olympic Champion and World Cup overall winner Nino Schurter will be looking for a repeat on a perfect season, but will face a new challenge in Mathieu Van Der Poel, the acclaimed cyclocross rider. Olympic Champion Jenny Rissveds is stepping away from competition this year as she focuses on her mental health. Learn more.
Nino Schurter wireless SRAM Eagle Photo by Irmo Keizer


SPECIALIZED RACING
Jaroslav Kulhavy, Annika Langvad, Christopher Blevins, Kate Courtney, Samuel Gaze, Howard Grotts, Simon Andreassen, Ida Jansson

With multiple World Championships jerseys between this crew, you know what they're looking for this year. Kate Courtney and Samuel Gaze move out of the U23 ranks this year.
Learn more.
Pipped at the line.


THÖMUS - RN RACING TEAM
Mathias and Luka Flueckiger, Alessandra Keller, Kathrin Stirnemann

The Flückiger brothers, Mathias and Lukas, will be on the same team again this year after Lukas left BMC at the end of 2017. They will now both be on the Ralf Nef-managed Thömus-RN team, along with Alessandra Keller and Kathrin Stirnemann. Learn more.
The brand new Th mus Lightrider fully which Lukas amp Matthias Fl ckiger Alessandra Keller and Kathrin Stirnemann will be riding. Not all riders will be able to ride the new bike in Stellenbosch as it just entered production.


TREK FACTORY RACING XC
Emily Batty, Anton Cooper, Sergio Mantecon Gutierrez, Ellen Noble, Evie Richards

The team retains proven performers Anton Cooper, Emily Batty, and Sergio Mantecon, while Evie Richards transitions from factory supported to full-factory status. Also joining for a summer of World Cup racing is Ellen Noble, who scored cyclocross podiums in Europe, the USA, and at Nationals. Learn more.
Emily Batty briefly lifts her head to check the damage in front of her.


Noticeable absences from our list?

Two-time Olympic champion Julien Absalon has started his own team this year, ABSOLUTE-ABSALON, and is also sponsoring Neïlo Perrin-Ganier. Cyclocross superstar Mathieu Van der Poel will be riding for UCI Continental Team CORENDON - CIRCUS. Pauline Ferrand-Prevot continues to ride for CANYON // SRAM RACING in all disciplines. Titouan Carod, Reto Indergand and Lars Forster will be riding for BMC MOUNTAINBIKE RACING TEAM. Catriel Soto, David Valero Serrano and Pablo Rodriguez Guede are on MMR FACTORY RACING TEAM.


In addition to the UCI Elite MTB teams above, here are all the registered UCI MTB teams that will have riders on the start line throughout the World Cup season:

ABAX-GIANT
ABSOLUTE-ABSALON
BIGFRIENDS.CH
BIKE WAY RACING TEAM
BIRK SPORT RACING
BMC MOUNTAINBIKE RACING TEAM
BRUJULA BIKE RACING TEAM
CANNONDALE BRASIL RACING
CANYON FACTORY RACING XC
CENTRO SPORTIVO CARABINIERI - CICLI OLYMPIA
CESKA SPORITELNA SPECIALIZED JUNIOR MTB TEAM
CONADE CODE GTO CADENCIA.MX PRO CYCLING TEAM
CORENDON-CIRCUS
CUBE PRO FERMETURES SEFIC
CUBE-CSOMOR MTB TEAM
DINAMO-BIKEXPERT RACING TEAM
DMT RACING TEAM BY MARCONI PROJECT'S
DREAM SEEKER RACING TEAM
ELIOS SR-SUNTOUR PRO TEAM
EXPRES CZ SCOTT TEAM KOLIN
FOCUS MTB RACING TEAM
GAPP SYSTEM - CABTECH MTB RACING TEAM
GERMAN TECHNOLOGY RACING
HABITAT MOUNTAIN BIKE TEAM
HEAD PRO TEAM
JBG-2 CRYOSPACE
KTM PROTEK DAMA
KURSCHAT CONSULTING RACING TEAM
MARDIN METROPOLITAN MUNICIPALITY CYCLING MTB TEAM
MASSI
MATERIEL-VELO.COM
MEGAMO FACTORY TEAM
MERIDA-WALLONIE MTB TEAM
MITAS TREK
MMR FACTORY RACING TEAM
NORCO FACTORY TEAM XC
PIVOT CYCLES - OTE
PIVOT EC ANDUZE
PLJEVLJA XC TEAM
RACING TEAM HAIMING
RACINGTEAM
RDR ITALIA FACTORY TEAM
SALCANO SAKARYA B.B. Pro TEAM
SCOTT - GOLDSTAR SPORTS RACING TEAM
SCOTT CREUSE OXYGENE GUERET
SERNEKE ALLEBIKE MTB TEAM
SILMAX RACING TEAM A.S.D.
SILVERBACK OMX PRO TEAM
SMF TEAM
STAN'S-PIVOT PRO TEAM P/B MAXXIS
STRÜBY-BIXS TEAM
SUNN - BEAUMES DE VENISE
SWIX HARD ROCX
TEAM AHLSELL CUBE
TEAM BRIDGESTONE CYCLING
TEAM BULLS
TEAM FOCUS SELLE ITALIA
TEAM MERIDA GUNN-RITA
TEAM MILSLUKERN
TEAM SØRENSEN RACING
TEAM VOSGES VTT
TEAMISGAV-GIANT
THE SUFFERFEST AFRICAN DREAM TEAM
TORPADO GABOGAS
TREK TOPRO
UNIOR/DEVINCI FACTORY RACING
VELOROC BMC
VOLKSWAGEN SAMOCHODY UZYTKOWE MTB TEAM
WHEELER PRO TEAM
WIAWIS BIKES PRO TEAM
ZZK
KONA FACTORY TEAM

For a full list of teams and riders, visit www.uci.ch/mountain-bike/teams.

MENTIONS: @Cannondale @CLIF @FocusBikes @GHOST-Bikes @KrossBikes @SCOTT-Sports @Specialized @thoemus @trek


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59 Comments
  • 73 13
 Its almost DH season! Its almost DH season! Its almost DH season! Is it DH season yet?
  • 12 4
 Aren’t we supposed to be excited for spy shots of new gear at Sea Otter first? I’ll show myself out...
  • 6 25
flag fecalmaster (Mar 13, 2018 at 5:58) (Below Threshold)
 Soo much spandex and negative 3 inches of air,,, I'm in.
  • 12 5
 @WAKIdesigns:
Sea Otter fits in perfectly with XC week here on pink bike!

I kid, the XC coverage has been great! *



*(Sea Otter is still the lamest bike event on the planet)
  • 4 0
 @dfiler: the hell?
  • 35 1
 Thanks for the great xc coverage !
  • 16 1
 Glad you're enjoying it!
  • 14 1
 Its a secret plan by pinkbike to unite the mtb community.
  • 22 2
 "SPECIALIZED RACING...
As the U23 riders move up to Elite, will they be able to hold their own?"

Did you not watch the race this past weekend?
  • 5 0
 the picture literally right next to it. lol
  • 6 0
 Meant as tongue and cheek but has now been edited for clarity. Kate Courtney finished 24th in her first Elite race and, as you know, Gaze won!
  • 2 0
 @sarahmoore: tongue in cheek... :-)
  • 7 0
 Looking forward to sse what van der poel and sam gaze will be able to do this season. At the same time i'm interested to see if Nino can get back to wins!
  • 5 7
 He would have won if his pedal didnt pop. so he will definitely get back to wins.
  • 11 0
 @mrbadwrench: I'm not so sure of that. I think it would've been closer, but Nino wasn't really gaining on Gaze as fast as he had to when that unfortunate "un-clip" happened. I think he would have ran out of space. Very unfortunate thing to happen right at the end though, for sure.
Fantastic finish and race for both of them nonetheless!
  • 2 0
 Aren't we all...
  • 3 4
 @arek: Yes, looked like Nino jammed down on his pedals in frustration, getting unclipped from anger rather than the equipment failing. I don't think he would have caught Gaze
  • 4 0
 @mrbadwrench: his pedal didn't pop, It was foot position during the sprint. His fault, not the pedals.
  • 3 2
 @arek: I thought Nino was behind but when I re-watched it I saw that he was almost in line with Gaze when un-clipped and lost... but we will never know what would have happened "if"... Smile
  • 3 0
 I said it while watching live - the little pre jump coming down off the bridge gave gaze almost a bike length over nino. That seemed to seal the win, without that I think nino would have taken it
  • 1 0
 @bosnianrider: Do you have a different angle than what was on the live feed?
  • 6 0
 @hamncheez: www.instagram.com/p/BgJn5PvDko3/?taken-by=simonwattsy
i'm going with sam still wins if nino didn't unclip himself
  • 2 0
 @eschenbruch: Yes, I think he had it either way
  • 8 0
 Why speculate? There are a lot of reasons Nino might have popped a pedal but he did. Winning races is about everything coming together, however brutal that sometimes is. You, your gear, the weather, the track, lap traffic; there are a lot of variables but if every time something goes suboptimally we say "well he would have won if..." we'd spend a lot of time talking about things that didn't happen.
  • 5 0
 @AyJayDoubleyou: I totally agree. Nino didn't lose the race because of the unclipped pedal. Gaze won it on the bridge, both on the top and also with good technique going down the ramp.
  • 1 0
 @AyJayDoubleyou: Yup, exactly my thought when I saw it.
  • 1 0
 @fullfacemike: You're Wrong. I would have won it, if I was in the race. If I had trained and been born with different genetics and they let me qualify. Any every single other racer (the junior womens too) had food poisoning the night before.

So basically I almost had it.
  • 5 0
 I haven't been a fan of Maxime marotte before but man... He really made me root for him with the amazing effort he put in. He didn't look like he had the power to keep up with Nino and Gaze but was right there in the split. It will be hard cheering for one guy next race, anyone but Nino in my books this year.
  • 7 0
 Just throwing out another thanks for your XC coverage, this sort of thing has gotten hard to find while the racing over the last few seasons has been awesome.
  • 6 0
 @pinkbike Van der Poel rides for Corendon - Circus (you wrote CORENSON - CIRCUS). Smile Nice overview.
  • 2 0
 Thanks, changed!
  • 2 0
 "With multiple World Championships jerseys between this crew, you know what they're looking for this year. As the U23 riders move up to Elite, will they be able to hold their own?"

Pic says "maybe."
  • 3 0
 It was a bit of tongue and cheek... I've edited for clarity now though Smile
  • 1 0
 It is Marco Aurélio Fontana, not Fontano.

MMR Factory Racing Team also include David Valero Serrano although he didn't make the trip to Stellenbosch.

Absolute Absalon team also include Neïlo Perrin-Ganier, current french u23 champion.
  • 1 0
 Thank you!
  • 5 1
 Can we get more xc bike checks and gear? Dont really care about the riders but their bikes are cool
  • 5 0
 We did a couple last week before Stellenbosch, and you can expect to see more as the season unfolds.
  • 1 0
 @sarahmoore: You should show like one Specialized rider's Epic and we'll just assume that they're all pretty much the same, pedals and Kulhavy's crazy-ass stem excluded.
  • 1 0
 @sarahmoore: That's awesome. Keep up the great coverage. I enjoy coverage of the bikes AND those who work so hard to ride them. I'll definitely be at the Albstadt and Lenzerheide rounds!
  • 1 0
 I'm I not paying attention? or should we have been fired up by Rotorua yet?

What gives? I enjoyed the mid-winter sampler watching those wacky Kiwi's get up to no good on der' fancy peddling bikes.
  • 3 0
 awesome coverage, thank you
  • 3 0
 Stan's Pivot?
  • 3 0
 I've added a list of all the UCI MTB teams. As you can see, it is quite extensive, so we focused this article on the Elite MTB teams. Chloe Woodruff, Keegan Swenson, Rose Grant and Sofia Gomez Villafane will be riding for STAN'S-PIVOT PRO TEAM P/B MAXXIS this year.
  • 1 0
 I guess Clif and Ghost don't have male XC athletes but sponsor them in other disciplines
  • 1 0
 It's Maxime Marotte, not Marmotte Razz
  • 1 0
 Whoops! Thank you!
  • 1 0
 No Canadian teams represented? :'(
  • 3 0
 No Canadian teams made the list of UCI Elite MTB teams for 2018, but there are several Canadian riders in there including Catharine Pendrel, Emily Batty, Maghalie Rochette & Leandre Bouchard!
  • 1 0
 @sarahmoore: Isn't Norco participating? Hayley Smith finished top 20/25 didn't she?
  • 1 0
 @m1dg3t: Yep - they're one of the UCI MTB Teams listed below the Elite teams. Super strong finish from Haley on Saturday! Smile
  • 1 0
 @sarahmoore: I guess elite team status has minimum rider requirements. Thanks. Smile
  • 1 0
 I thought Focus dropped their XC team ?
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