4 Key Stats from World Cup XC Racers in the Pinkbike State of the Sport Survey
Welcome to the 2023 Pinkbike State of the Sport Survey. This anonymous survey is designed to help shed light on key issues affecting the professional field and elite competition. We surveyed the best riders in the world to hear their thoughts, ideas, concerns, and criticisms on mountain biking as we go into 2023, all in an anonymous format. To read the introduction to the survey click here, and to see all the other currently published SOTS articles click here.
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Cross-country has remained one of the sport's most prestigious race disciplines, with Olympic recognition and multiple sub-disciplines that have reached World Cup status. It continues to attract huge audiences across the world with racing action that can often rival downhill.
Despite its history prestige and its perception of a more professional mountain bike discipline, XC is not without its issues. In the past, the sport has been rocked by a number of doping cases and even in 2022 there was conflict around sportsmanship and an apparent false test result.
XC has seen plenty of changes over the years and despite a shift in World Cup organisation for 2023, the sport has come out the other side mostly unchanged. With all this in mind, what’s the current state of XC heading into 2023?
XC Cohort Details
![Loana Lecomte chasing hard after Pauline Ferrand Prevot.]()
This year's survey brought in 49 responses from XC racers who were among the best-ranked overall last season. Our numbers this were were raised from the 39 riders who took part we surveyed last time despite adjusting our criteria slightly.
Of the XC racers who responded and filled out our survey, we had an almost even split between men and women. For this year's survey, we had 25 respondents identifying as male with 24 identifying as female. Among all categories including Junior and U23, there were six male top five overall finishers with four female. When it came to top 10 overall riders we had an additional five female racers and four male.
As with all disciplines in our survey and for World Cup as a whole, it remains dominated by European riders with 71% of respondents calling Europe home. North America sat in second with 16% then it was Oceania with 6% and South America with 4%. One respondent was from Asia totaling 2% of our cohort. For this year's survey, we did lose the one rider representing Africa.
The Majority of Riders Need Significant Financial Support to Compete at an International Level
![Mona Mitterwallner settling into life in elite just fine. First race first podium.]()
Despite being an Olympic sport, attracting the biggest viewing figures, pulling sponsors in from outside the sport, and holding a higher professional level than other mountain bike disciplines riders find that for someone from their home country to succeed they will need "significant financial support" to compete at an international level. Only 14% of the riders surveyed would disagree with a further 22% feeling neutral on this issue.
As we head into a new season of racing we have seen the cost of racing is set to rise for both riders and teams limiting budgets even further. From our understanding of the updated cost of racing, a privateer XC racer will now need to pay €150 per race instead of the €80 previously. As riders without support have already struggled in the past they will now need to pay almost two races' worth of fees for a single round in 2023.
From our questions, we already found that 59% feel they rely on good race or event results for their livelihoods, a result which becomes more difficult if you may not be able to have as many chances because of rising costs. It is worth adding that despite an increase in entry fees the prize money for a good result has not risen.
When it comes to race costs which can hamper the ability for people to compete at World Cup level, especially for those outside of Europe, we found that 45% of riders surveyed only have up to 80% of travel costs covered by either their team of sponsors again leaving them out of pocket. A further 37% of top riders surveyed only have up to 80% of accommodation costs covered by their team of sponsors.
One rider who completed the survey commented: "If you are coming from bigger countries it's way easier for you to find a team or sponsors. It would be fair if the team or sponsoring decisions would be made more based on the results - not the nationality or Instagram followers."
The Majority of Riders Still Prefer XCO
![Filippo Colombo makes his way past compatriot Mathias Fl ckiger.]()
Despite becoming increasingly important in recent years, even with its own World Championships, the top riders still prefer the longer format Olympic distance XCO event.
When asked what their preferred style of racing is only five riders selected the recent World Cup addition of XCC Short Track. Since it was first introduced in 2018 the discipline has grown to be a full World Cup event with its own standings, World Championships, and overall World Cup winner at the end of the season. While its ties into grid placement and overall XCO points still remain, it is slowly forming into its own separate format with its own challenges.
Currently, riders practice the XCO race on Thursday before a flat-out day of XCC practice and racing on a Friday. There is more long-distance XCO practice on the Saturday before the main event on a Sunday. We found in our survey that 29% do not like the current weekend practice and race schedule.
One rider felt so strongly that they left us a comment saying: "I think that XCC races should not have the amount for XCO races. Because they change the training plan of athletes, pushes the rider to do and take more risks! These two races must be separate races (for points as well) and not affect each other!"
A Sizeable Gender Pay Gap Still Remains in XC
![Pauline like a bat out of hell increased her gap with every passing lap.]()
Of the 24 female XC riders we surveyed 21 agreed with the statement, "There is a gender pay gap in mountain biking," an issue that is sadly backed up according to our data. Looking at the median pay the men's XC field sits at $50,000-100,000 while the women's drops all the way down to just $10,000-20,000.
Taking a closer look at the numbers and you see that will only one male rider across Juniors, U23 and Elites earnt between 0 and $5,000 USD, but there were five female riders in this pay bracket. The same story continues in the next two lower pay brackets of $5,000-$10,000 and $10,000-$20,000 with 11 Female riders earning either of these amounts compared to just four men.
It's worth adding that the men's results are slightly skewed because of a high earner of over $500,000+ and more riders sitting in the $100,000-$250,000. Whether this is an accurate reflection of actual payment at the top of Elite racers remains questionable but both State of the Sport surveys have returned results suggesting a sizeable pay gap exists between men and women.
Junior & U23 Riders Are feeling the Financial Strain
![No lle Buri with another commanding win.]()
Although they may be the future of the sport the Junior and U23 riders are considerably worse off financially. Of the 18 riders in our survey who race in the Junior or U23 categories only one agreed that there is currently appropriate financial aid for Junior or U23 riders. An overwhelming majority of 71% believe that this is not the case.
When it comes to rider pay for the next generation of Elite World Cup talent, we have an equal split with 55% of young riders earning either 0-5,000 USD or 5,000 - 10,000 USD. Outside of this, a further 28% earn between 10,000 - 20,000 USD USD, before 17% pull in more than 30,000 USD in earnings from mountain biking. U23 riders will have another source of potential income in 2023 as the UCI is adding them to the XCC Short Track racing for the first time at World Cup level. Despite this new addition, and unlike the Junior Downhill World Cup racing being filmed for replays, there has been no word on if U23 XC or XCC racing will be broadcasted or replayed in any capacity.
Looking deeper into the financial situation for the riders of the future it is sad to see that only two riders have their expenses covered in total from sponsors with around 50% receiving less than 60%.
Other Comments from XC Racers
Cross-country has remained one of the sport's most prestigious race disciplines, with Olympic recognition and multiple sub-disciplines that have reached World Cup status. It continues to attract huge audiences across the world with racing action that can often rival downhill.
Despite its history prestige and its perception of a more professional mountain bike discipline, XC is not without its issues. In the past, the sport has been rocked by a number of doping cases and even in 2022 there was conflict around sportsmanship and an apparent false test result.
XC has seen plenty of changes over the years and despite a shift in World Cup organisation for 2023, the sport has come out the other side mostly unchanged. With all this in mind, what’s the current state of XC heading into 2023?
XC Cohort Details
Number of Riders Choosing XC as their Main Discipline: 49
Men/Women: 25/24
Top 5 Finishers: 6/4
Top 10 Finishers: 4/5
Home Continent:
Asia - 1
South America - 2
Oceania - 3
North America - 8
Europe - 35
Men/Women: 25/24
Top 5 Finishers: 6/4
Top 10 Finishers: 4/5
Home Continent:
Asia - 1
South America - 2
Oceania - 3
North America - 8
Europe - 35
This year's survey brought in 49 responses from XC racers who were among the best-ranked overall last season. Our numbers this were were raised from the 39 riders who took part we surveyed last time despite adjusting our criteria slightly.
Of the XC racers who responded and filled out our survey, we had an almost even split between men and women. For this year's survey, we had 25 respondents identifying as male with 24 identifying as female. Among all categories including Junior and U23, there were six male top five overall finishers with four female. When it came to top 10 overall riders we had an additional five female racers and four male.
As with all disciplines in our survey and for World Cup as a whole, it remains dominated by European riders with 71% of respondents calling Europe home. North America sat in second with 16% then it was Oceania with 6% and South America with 4%. One respondent was from Asia totaling 2% of our cohort. For this year's survey, we did lose the one rider representing Africa.
The Majority of Riders Need Significant Financial Support to Compete at an International Level
Despite being an Olympic sport, attracting the biggest viewing figures, pulling sponsors in from outside the sport, and holding a higher professional level than other mountain bike disciplines riders find that for someone from their home country to succeed they will need "significant financial support" to compete at an international level. Only 14% of the riders surveyed would disagree with a further 22% feeling neutral on this issue.
As we head into a new season of racing we have seen the cost of racing is set to rise for both riders and teams limiting budgets even further. From our understanding of the updated cost of racing, a privateer XC racer will now need to pay €150 per race instead of the €80 previously. As riders without support have already struggled in the past they will now need to pay almost two races' worth of fees for a single round in 2023.
From our questions, we already found that 59% feel they rely on good race or event results for their livelihoods, a result which becomes more difficult if you may not be able to have as many chances because of rising costs. It is worth adding that despite an increase in entry fees the prize money for a good result has not risen.
When it comes to race costs which can hamper the ability for people to compete at World Cup level, especially for those outside of Europe, we found that 45% of riders surveyed only have up to 80% of travel costs covered by either their team of sponsors again leaving them out of pocket. A further 37% of top riders surveyed only have up to 80% of accommodation costs covered by their team of sponsors.
One rider who completed the survey commented: "If you are coming from bigger countries it's way easier for you to find a team or sponsors. It would be fair if the team or sponsoring decisions would be made more based on the results - not the nationality or Instagram followers."
For riders from my home country, it is too expensive to compete at an international level without significant financial support from brands or sponsors:
Strongly Agree: 39% (19)
Agree: 24% (12)
Neutral: 22% (11)
Disagree: 12% (6)
Strongly Disagree: 2% (1)
Strongly Agree: 39% (19)
Agree: 24% (12)
Neutral: 22% (11)
Disagree: 12% (6)
Strongly Disagree: 2% (1)
I rely on good race or event results for my livelihood:
Strongly Agree: 20% (10)
Agree: 39% (19)
Neutral: 20% (10)
Disagree: 14% (7)
Strongly Disagree: 6% (3)
Strongly Agree: 20% (10)
Agree: 39% (19)
Neutral: 20% (10)
Disagree: 14% (7)
Strongly Disagree: 6% (3)
How much of your travel costs are paid for by your team or sponsors?:
Less than 20%: 8% (4)
20% - 40%: 4% (2)
40% - 60%: 2% (1)
60% - 80%: 31% (15)
Around 100%: 55% (27)
Less than 20%: 8% (4)
20% - 40%: 4% (2)
40% - 60%: 2% (1)
60% - 80%: 31% (15)
Around 100%: 55% (27)
How much of your accommodation costs are paid for by your team or sponsors?:
Less than 20%: 6% (3)
20% - 40%: 2% (1)
40% - 60%: 0% (0)
60% - 80%: 29% (14)
Around 100%: 63% (31)
Less than 20%: 6% (3)
20% - 40%: 2% (1)
40% - 60%: 0% (0)
60% - 80%: 29% (14)
Around 100%: 63% (31)
The Majority of Riders Still Prefer XCO
Despite becoming increasingly important in recent years, even with its own World Championships, the top riders still prefer the longer format Olympic distance XCO event.
When asked what their preferred style of racing is only five riders selected the recent World Cup addition of XCC Short Track. Since it was first introduced in 2018 the discipline has grown to be a full World Cup event with its own standings, World Championships, and overall World Cup winner at the end of the season. While its ties into grid placement and overall XCO points still remain, it is slowly forming into its own separate format with its own challenges.
Currently, riders practice the XCO race on Thursday before a flat-out day of XCC practice and racing on a Friday. There is more long-distance XCO practice on the Saturday before the main event on a Sunday. We found in our survey that 29% do not like the current weekend practice and race schedule.
One rider felt so strongly that they left us a comment saying: "I think that XCC races should not have the amount for XCO races. Because they change the training plan of athletes, pushes the rider to do and take more risks! These two races must be separate races (for points as well) and not affect each other!"
What is your preferred style of racing?:
XCO: 88% (43)
XCC: 10% (5)
XCE: 2% (1)
XCO: 88% (43)
XCC: 10% (5)
XCE: 2% (1)
I like the current weekend practice & race schedule:
Strongly Agree: 10% (5)
Agree: 29% (14)
Neutral: 16% (8 )
Disagree: 31% (15)
Strongly Disagree: 2% (1)
Strongly Agree: 10% (5)
Agree: 29% (14)
Neutral: 16% (8 )
Disagree: 31% (15)
Strongly Disagree: 2% (1)
A Sizeable Gender Pay Gap Still Remains in XC
Of the 24 female XC riders we surveyed 21 agreed with the statement, "There is a gender pay gap in mountain biking," an issue that is sadly backed up according to our data. Looking at the median pay the men's XC field sits at $50,000-100,000 while the women's drops all the way down to just $10,000-20,000.
Taking a closer look at the numbers and you see that will only one male rider across Juniors, U23 and Elites earnt between 0 and $5,000 USD, but there were five female riders in this pay bracket. The same story continues in the next two lower pay brackets of $5,000-$10,000 and $10,000-$20,000 with 11 Female riders earning either of these amounts compared to just four men.
It's worth adding that the men's results are slightly skewed because of a high earner of over $500,000+ and more riders sitting in the $100,000-$250,000. Whether this is an accurate reflection of actual payment at the top of Elite racers remains questionable but both State of the Sport surveys have returned results suggesting a sizeable pay gap exists between men and women.
There is a gender pay gap in mountain biking:
Strongly Agree: 46% (11)
Agree: 42% (10)
Neutral: 4% (1)
Disagree: 4% (1)
Strongly Disagree: 4% (1)
Strongly Agree: 46% (11)
Agree: 42% (10)
Neutral: 4% (1)
Disagree: 4% (1)
Strongly Disagree: 4% (1)
Female XC Racer's Pay:
0-5,000: 5
5,000-10,000: 5
10,000-20,000: 6
20,000-30,000: 3
40,000-50,000: 1
50,000-100,000: 3
100,000-250,000: 1
0-5,000: 5
5,000-10,000: 5
10,000-20,000: 6
20,000-30,000: 3
40,000-50,000: 1
50,000-100,000: 3
100,000-250,000: 1
Male XC Racer's Pay:
Left Blank: 1
0-5,000: 1
5,000-10,000: 2
10,000-20,000: 2
30,000-40,000: 3
40,000-50,000: 2
50,000-100,000: 7
100,000-250,000: 6
500,000+: 1
Left Blank: 1
0-5,000: 1
5,000-10,000: 2
10,000-20,000: 2
30,000-40,000: 3
40,000-50,000: 2
50,000-100,000: 7
100,000-250,000: 6
500,000+: 1
Junior & U23 Riders Are feeling the Financial Strain
Although they may be the future of the sport the Junior and U23 riders are considerably worse off financially. Of the 18 riders in our survey who race in the Junior or U23 categories only one agreed that there is currently appropriate financial aid for Junior or U23 riders. An overwhelming majority of 71% believe that this is not the case.
When it comes to rider pay for the next generation of Elite World Cup talent, we have an equal split with 55% of young riders earning either 0-5,000 USD or 5,000 - 10,000 USD. Outside of this, a further 28% earn between 10,000 - 20,000 USD USD, before 17% pull in more than 30,000 USD in earnings from mountain biking. U23 riders will have another source of potential income in 2023 as the UCI is adding them to the XCC Short Track racing for the first time at World Cup level. Despite this new addition, and unlike the Junior Downhill World Cup racing being filmed for replays, there has been no word on if U23 XC or XCC racing will be broadcasted or replayed in any capacity.
Looking deeper into the financial situation for the riders of the future it is sad to see that only two riders have their expenses covered in total from sponsors with around 50% receiving less than 60%.
There’s appropriate financial aid for juniors/U21 riders/U23 riders?:
Agree: 6% (1)
Neutral: 28% (5)
Disagree: 56% (10)
Strongly Disagree: 11% (2)
Agree: 6% (1)
Neutral: 28% (5)
Disagree: 56% (10)
Strongly Disagree: 11% (2)
What proportion of your total expense comes from sponsors?:
Less than 20%: 33% (6)
20%-40%: 6% (1)
40%-60%: 11% (2)
60%-80%: 11% (2)
80-99%: 28% (5)
100%: 11% (2)
Less than 20%: 33% (6)
20%-40%: 6% (1)
40%-60%: 11% (2)
60%-80%: 11% (2)
80-99%: 28% (5)
100%: 11% (2)
What were your total earnings from mountain biking last year?:
0-5,000 USD: 33% (6)
5,000 - 10,000 USD: 22% (4)
10,000 - 20,000 USD: 28% (5)
30,000 - 40,000 USD: 11% (2)
50,000 - 100,000 USD: 6% (1)
0-5,000 USD: 33% (6)
5,000 - 10,000 USD: 22% (4)
10,000 - 20,000 USD: 28% (5)
30,000 - 40,000 USD: 11% (2)
50,000 - 100,000 USD: 6% (1)
Other Comments from XC Racers
 | I'd like to see my national body allocate support based on performance, not other factors like age. Currently, I'm being shut out, because I'm no longer considered a "developing athlete". Plus, they still need to be regularly reminded about equal gender representation for projects, although I feel this is improving. |
| Not building programs around individuals - creating an environment that is an inviting and encouraging space for more athletes. |
| More support from the government, and federations. The financial support is really low. |
| More international support and focus on the development of the next generation of cyclists. |
| More professionalism. |
| Create a structure to support elite athletes to help them perform to their abilities and for youth riders to give them the time and program to work for a professional career. |
| Support athletes from earlier stages on, not only when they already deliver the results. |
| More grass-roots support for young or new riders. |
Author Info:
Member since Mar 16, 2017
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Government support for sport should be at the grassroots level, not the elite level.
I don’t know how much Trudeau makes but he can afford to pay A LOT!
Those are tough odds to make a living.
Very short sighted from a very progressive Magazine like Outside.
Playing the numbers, with the following per wikipedia, "Transgender identity is generally found in less than 1% of the worldwide population, with figures ranging from 0.1% to 0.6%", if we translated that to elite sport (mountainbiking only) then we have on any given weekend about 140 starters in Male XC, 60 (at best) Women XC, 120 in Male DH, and 15 in Female DH, so a total of something in the vicinity of 235 elite athletes, so statistically there should be 2 transgendered athletes. Are we starting a whole new division just for them? Especially when the Elite categories are the 1% on their own anyway (in terms of athletic prowess) so the pool from which to draw from is already very small. (Of course this discounts Kate Weatherly, but we're talking the future essentially. But she does prove the point that a trans gender person is just as likely to become an elite athlete as, say, a gay man, so there is a small opportunity for another trans gendered athlete in years to come)
Perhaps you will have more turn up for an amateur event, certainly the entrant numbers can get into the thousands, so you may have a class of 10-15 people. And if they so choose to run a class like that, then all power to them.
As you note (good job, btw), the real numbers are very small. I don't get why cis-males get all bent out of shape. Cheers.
For the record I don’t care what people claim that they are, just don’t expect me to be compelled to call you what you decide to be. Or agree that biological men should be allowed to compete in women’s sports (funny how we don’t have to worry about women competing in men’s sports isn’t it?), or be imprisoned with women, or be allowed to use women’s public washrooms.
Or, you’re a horrible person and must be eliminated from the gene pool.
"I don't know man, "
That's totally racist.
But there are still a lot of question marks in how this effects sports. I don't have answers. It is definitely going to continue being a problem for a while.
For the record, I share a home with an "adult" (legal age) who is I would say "confused" (gay, straight, gender, etc), and a TON of guests are of the alphabet soup variety. I'm an otherwise normal hetero dude from a different generation who is really struggling to keep up with everything. But it is a welcoming home.
You need a name and address or something? What are we doing here? Clown
This whole world is mental.
Though I do understand if/when it happens there is a discussion to be had re: fairness.
How many lost scholarship opportunities because of that 1 ?
I'm guessing though, I have no UCI ranking and no BMX background
His response was they are paid how much they are worth as an asset to the club , he said there were some who's wages were massive but on the whole they weren't paid that much.
The issues with mtb is the fields are very big and with under 23 and 19 . I reckon it costs a lot of money for the teams to travel with maybe only limited TV / spectator revenue .
Maybe the fields need to be smaller and up and coming racers need to focus on national racing series, if they are good enough to move up to wc level
I bet teams will take more notice of a national series if this is the talent pool.
I think from a marketing perspective, there are a lot of nuances that those of us who are so into bikes that we frequent sites like this fail to consider. Ultimately, that's all these pro riders are - employees of the marketing departments.
I was very interested in watching Nino take his place in the record books. The Pidcock story was somewhat interesting to me as well, but nothing came as close to the multiple storylines in the women's field for me. Following Neff, Courtney, Batty, PFP, Richards, Keller, Pendrel, etc. has been so good.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_Days_of_New_York
Disagree with this. Unfortunately the cold truth is that it is all about selling bikes and making money.
First you write "We found in our survey that 29% do not like the current weekend practice and race schedule." then right below this statement there's this info:
I like the current weekend practice & race schedule:
Strongly Agree: 10% (5)
Agree: 29% (14)
Neutral: 16% (8 )
Disagree: 31% (15)
Strongly Disagree: 2% (1)
Tell me how 31% + 2% equals 29%
Also, WTF are you trying to say here? This makes zero sense
"Despite becoming increasingly important in recent years, even with its own World Championships, the top riders still prefer the longer format Olympic distance XCO event."
Did you mean 'Despite XCC becoming increasingly important in recent years, even with its own World Championships, the top riders still prefer the longer format Olympic distance XCO event.'
It's wild that Outside expects us to pay to read this stuff when it's such a poor quality product that's being put out.
If MvdP and Pidcock are on multi-millions, I’d say Nino for a million or less is a total bargain.
Some teams (but not all) pay a relatively low base salary then very large performance bonus.
and for multiyear contracts for race winners, the income from last year will roll over to next year.
So, if you are on 2 mil and win a grand tour in year 1, year 2 and 3 will be paid as a grand tour winner. not say 2mil base pay but more 4mil plus bonuses for that year. plus income from there own sponsors like redbull etc
None of the roadies would bother with this survey all it does is help tell people what you make.
the rich roadies live in Monaco as there is no income tax, but living cost are very high.
Very very small apartments start at euro 1k week, and you need to show you have at least Euro1mil in assets.
lots of roadies and lower ranked MotoGP riders live in Andora. with 10% tax I think and cheaper living
So Nino on less than one million is not only a bargain, but his market value, too.
And for that, all you need to be able to do is keep up with the bunch, and carry a few extra water bottles (or bidons if you are pretentious) now and again. Not a single gap jump in sight to worry about.
But then, your sock height does get measured....
We need to grow the pond.
The WNBA is so insanely different from professional XC cycling, the comparables start and end at the fact that a basketball, much like a bicycle wheel, is round and smooth. Much like our friend's brain here. I'm not educated enough to speculate why the pay gap is what it is, but considering the amount of interest women's XC MTB racing draws, it's too broad and something that some brands have taken into account (Kudos, Trek!).
www.youtube.com/watch?v=bECt3Tv314Y
For me, mens DH is where's it's at. If I were to watch XC, I'd watch Jolanda Neff all day over Nino.
Taking a step back and thinking about marketing to the entire mountain biking population, this is not a very gender-specific sport when it comes to gear. Thus, I wouldn’t be surprised to know that comparing views for each group is a pretty good way to proxy for relative market value.
Sales figures aren’t a reflection of reality sir.
Not grasping at straws, it's called science.
And there is a way to test this (albeit unrealistic).
I know 14 year olds who are much faster than her
She won worlds
There's no point in having 100 participants when only a handful can contest the win (excluding when MVDP and Picdcock participate). DH and Enduro results are really tight, most top 10 men are within seconds but in XC there's only 15 athletes which are competitive and the rest are just numbers to fill the grid.