Whoop Becomes Title Sponsor of the UCI Mountain Bike World Series

Feb 20, 2024 at 6:43
by Ed Spratt  

This year's World Cup series has been rebranded as the Whoop UCI Mountain Bike World Series as the fitness tracker brand becomes a title sponsor.

Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) has announced that Whoop has signed on to become the title sponsor of mountain bike World Cup racing for the next three seasons. Whoop originally partnered with the series last year to provide live biometric data.

In its press release, WBD says the partnership in 2023 added "extra value to live content from the series," allowing "audiences to better connect with the sport and its riders by gaining a deeper understanding of what it takes to perform at Elite level."

For 2024, it states that the data from Whoop will be more in-depth to "enhance the narrative of the sport, from both the athletes’ and the broadcasters’ perspective." In addition to the live rider data seen last year, the expanded partnership will mean prominent on-site branding at all 15 race weekends this year and the data is said to be "key to Warner Bros. Discovery’s coverage of the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series."

bigquotesGame-changing insights from WHOOP into rider performance have already helped to elevate mountain bike to a whole new level by bringing fans closer to the sport and its athletes than ever before.

We are excited to welcome back WHOOP in a new, larger role as the title sponsor of the now called WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series to aid our ongoing mission to support the continued growth of the discipline amongst new fans and to propel mountain biking into a new era.— Chris Ball, Vice President of Cycling Events at Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe

bigquotesWe’re very excited to continue our work with the UCI, Warner Bros. Discovery Sports and the Mountain Bike World Series. Mountain bike is an incredible discipline of cycling that is accessible and fun for everyone. WHOOP is a unique tool, that can be worn by anyone, including the best athletes in the world, to help them learn more about themselves so they can be their best on and off their bikes.

By supporting the UCI Mountain Bike World Series, we’ll be part of creating lasting memories for fans. WHOOP will help push mountain bike to the next level through an innovative broadcast experience, showcasing in-depth biometric data through our all-new WHOOP Live integration. This technology showcases the feat of performance displayed by these athletes.

We cannot wait to kick off this season in Brazil and showcase mountain biking to the world through this truly unique partnership.— Jeremy Powers, Director of Sports Marketing at WHOOP

Our first chance to check out the new partnership will be when the XC World Cup series kicks off in Brazil in April.

Author Info:
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Member since Mar 16, 2017
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129 Comments
  • 131 0
 a watch with no face... that you rent not buy.... Go Garmin
  • 25 0
 Ah, but at least it's very uncomfortable. I tried to wear a Whoop on my wrist for a few weeks, and no matter what I did, it felt horrible. I've worn a variety of watches and bands in my time, and I've never had something feel so bad as the Whoop.
  • 9 0
 Garmin, Xaomi Redmi, Honor Watch, Galaxy Watch, literally anything else.
  • 10 0
 WHOO?
  • 12 1
 Livestrong bracelets have gotten wild.
  • 2 0
 @suspended-flesh: Ew.
  • 5 0
 Bring back Swatch! Or Tissot!
  • 5 0
 @sngltrkmnd: I believe sir really means Grundig
  • 3 7
flag salespunk (Feb 20, 2024 at 12:03) (Below Threshold)
 Worn Whoop for 5+ years and none of this has been an issue. You can't wear the others (Garmin can eat my a$* BTW) 24 hours a day 7 days per week and they also don't give the same insights. Not for everyone, but it is not intended for everyone either.

Side note, don't try to use Whoop in place of a chest strap. Simply doesn't work well enough in real time. It is purely for recovery and daily strain.
  • 4 0
 Wore one for 18 months.
It’s great and nerdy for a few months but then you realise it’s basically just an expensive heart rate monitor
  • 1 2
 Well you may be right but they are supporting the sport so maybe gibe that some thought.
I remember many people on here complaining about redbull and virtue signalling that its unhealty and then the usual pile on. They supported our sport then they left, maybe redbull thought f**k this virtue signaling bunch bad mouthing our drink.
Its not a drink you are supposed to drink everyday. I try and support them whenever I am reaching for that type of drink.
Support the people that support your sport there is not many of them.
  • 1 0
 I like a bit of Biometric data once in a while.
  • 2 0
 Tell Garmin to sponsor the World Cup instead
  • 83 5
 Chris Ball is continuing to sacrifice mountain biking to help propel him up the corporate ladder, I see.
  • 14 6
 Harsh, but not unfair - based on recent developments.
  • 20 8
 How is having a different title sponsor going to "sacrifice mountain biking"?
  • 19 3
 @finnspin: dunno fits the narrative tho innit
  • 2 0
 Mr AMA! Our hero!
  • 10 0
 "Game-changing", "a whole new level", "than ever before" ...surprised he doesn't ask to have that quote attributed to "Chris Ball, MBA". It's kinda funny if you imagine him saying it like Billy Mays though.
  • 16 1
 @finnspin: Because we'll have to listen to Ric shoehorn as many tedious references to riders heart rate into the commentary as he possibly can. Between that and regular reminders of the full Sunday name of the venue, he'll be hard pushed to fit in any actual commentary. HIT would have been a better sponsor as the constant repetition would really hammer home the concussion avoidance message.
  • 11 1
 @Malky79: This.

Tell me again, Ric, is their hr high? Are they red lining? Does this mean they must really want it?
  • 8 2
 Yeah all my buddies and I are selling our bikes now that there’s a new World Cup sponsor. Mercedes Benz was the last thread holding our sport together, and now that’s ruined. Thanks Chris Ball.
  • 3 0
 @Malky79: could have stopped at "because we have to listen to Ric"
  • 55 0
 Big Whoop
  • 10 1
 Whoop there it is…
  • 1 0
 Whoop de whoop
  • 55 10
 To see Loic Bruni throwing down a full sprint at 121 bpm really shows the fitness these athletes have. So amazing. Thanks Whoop!
  • 65 5
 Or it shows how inaccurate HR measurements can be sometimes.. I don't know what equipment they used, but wrist based sensors are often very inaccurate for me, especially when they get shaken around in rougher terrain.
  • 10 0
 I doubt anyone can sprint at 121 HR. If that's the case then they look like they're sprinting but putting down low wattage
  • 17 1
 @finnspin: they are almost useless on a mtb.
  • 5 0
 “…game-changing insight…”
  • 10 3
 Depends on how long he's been sprinting. Heart rate is slow to pick up. He may sprint anaerobically and then only after the finish line the heart rate picks up as the body works to pay off the oxygen debt.

If it is an optical heart rate sensor, be glad most of the field has light skin. From what I understand, it doesn't really work well on dark skin. I've got dark skin myself and as an experiment I used an optical device from Garmin whilst simultaneously wearing a Suunto monitor (Ambit 2) that receives the signal from my chest strap. They didn't match one bit. In particular, the optical device kept showing low HR when I had already been riding hard for a while (which the Suunto did show). And then suddenly it shoots up extremely high, which didn't make sense either (and luckily wasn't reflected on the Suunto).

Polar has an optical sensor that's supposed to be worn around the upper arm, which may do a better job.
  • 12 2
 @finnspin: Woosh
  • 2 1
 @finnspin: 100% true, when I go uphill I can easily hit 180, but when going down even on very physical trail my Garmin almost never shows HR above 120, even when I am completely dead and depleted 2x more than on the uphill, honestly I cannot believe this is accurate.
  • 1 0
 @blueninja: whoops*
  • 3 1
 Either Bruni is an outlier or the product is crap, there's too much disparity between his and Finn's HR.
  • 3 0
 @commental: SuperBruni’s resting heart rate is 9.
  • 1 0
 @blueninja: WHOOPs, I guess my irony detector may have been a bit off earlier today..
  • 2 0
 Most of the athletes used the wristband last year, which is actually quite inaccurate while riding DH. Fine otherwise but in a sport like that with a very high heartrate and a lot of movement on the wrist it's not good enough. 121bpm is not true, I would imagine closer to at least 180, also for pro athletes.
  • 41 0
 Whoop is silicone valley tech bro garbage. It's a faceless watch you pay monthly for, and the data is wildly inaccurate compared to cheaper alternatives.
  • 15 0
 I'm thinking of ryan from the Office's Wuphf
  • 7 0
 Not only is wildly inaccurate (I used one for six months), but it's designed that way to become addictive by using what's called a "scarcity loop". This makes you check it constantly to see if you are rested enough to do the amount or intensity of exercise you planned on doing that day. Just listen to your body. It's not that hard.
  • 2 0
 The Bike industry will love the pay monthly idea
  • 34 2
 I like Mercedes-Benz better
  • 12 0
 I never thought I would agree with that statement but its totally true.
  • 1 0
 @BitterrootRider: Even Qashqai is preferable.
  • 24 0
 Once we can roll back some of Redbull’s ad restrictions, we estimate we can sell up to 80% of an individual's visual field before inducing seizures.
  • 12 0
 I feel like I only see 2 types with Whoops - tech bros and people paid to wear them. I do not understand the hype. Garmin and other WATCHES track all the same data and aren't a subscription service. Seems like a fad
  • 10 0
 Whoop locks you in for a year and can't be canceled. It's basically a sleep tracker to tell you how bad you're doing. Not worth it
  • 5 0
 And an ineffective sleep tracker at that
  • 11 0
 Whoopci daisy
  • 10 0
 Game-changing insights = wildly inaccurate HR data
  • 5 0
 "Game-changing insights from WHOOP into rider performance have already helped to elevate mountain bike to a whole new level by bringing fans closer to the sport and its athletes than ever before."


you mean a heart rate monitor? and some pretty meaningless information that fans have no interest in?
  • 10 1
 ...there it is
  • 4 0
 Very exciting indeed, for a product I still don't know how / if / or for how much I'll be able to watch in Canada. What a flipping joke UCI is. They're not even trying to hide that they don't care about the actual sport and how or if they reach an audience. As long as broadcasting rights and sponsor deals go to the highest bidders. Who gives a rat's arse about the rest.
  • 1 0
 Yep I’m still waiting to find out how to watch up here in Canada as well. It’s kinda embarrassing for a company like Warner brothers/discovery to not have this nailed down for everyone worldwide to watch in the same place.
  • 6 0
 Couldn't we as a sport just all get together and pay for Chris Ball to f*ck off to some island somewhere?
  • 3 0
 Like John Oliver's offer to Clarence Thomas?
  • 3 0
 So here we got a company equivalent of a one hit wonder that replaces a MBENZ, lol. How long will they last?

The live biometric data is also useless, as every person has different max HR so when Bart says wow he/she is working very hard at 170 bpm is useless if their max HR is 195 compared to another athlete who's max HR is 175.
  • 1 5
flag pmhobson (Feb 20, 2024 at 9:08) (Below Threshold)
 Useless? Ok. But it's still fun. Hard to not be impressed when e.g., Puck sustains a HR in the 190's for most of a 90 minute race.

Power data (normalized by body mass) would be more interesting for sure. But if a rider is out in front cruising at HR of X bpm, then they get a flat, do a wheel swap, and the work their ass off at X + 25 bpm, that's worth hearing about while I sit on my couch and watch other people exercise.
  • 3 0
 I mean....I have several $20 chest straps from Amazon. They work flawlessly and they are so cheap that I bough multiple just to leave them near whatever equipment I use them with. They all use Bluetooth so you can connect them to your watch, your phone, the Peloton, whatever. I enjoy seeing the data but if Whoop doesn't use a chest strap I'm treating the data as suspect. I've used other methods for tracking the HR and nothing works like the chest strap.
  • 6 0
 Yay more money for the uci to not give to the riders.
  • 3 0
 Drinking game!!! Every time they say Whoop. Do a shot!!!!

Don’t worry about the image of Mtn biking guys I got you…… - Chris ball.
  • 6 0
 Who(op)?
  • 3 2
 Whatever, but just so everyone knows Whoop is massively overpriced. I have a Xiaomi Redmi Watch 4 coming from AliExpress for $100 that is an incredibly accurate fitness tracker with 100x more features for a fraction of the price.
  • 13 0
 Just curious, how does one know that their fitness tracker is incredibly accurate?
  • 1 0
 @sino428: This is a good question.
  • 2 0
 @sino428: I don't know about the accuracy of the whoop specifically (and doubt it's too much worse than competitors), but optical heart rate sensors can be unreliable. The way to test it is comparing to more accurate methods, such as chest straps or good old manual counting.
  • 3 0
 @sino428: www.dcrainmaker.com/2021/11/whoop-4-band-platform-in-depth-review.html

By comparing it with numerous competitors / devices side by side and searching for anomalies.

"The exceptions being it continues to struggle at high-intensity short-duration activities, where it constantly undercuts reality."
  • 2 0
 @sino428: By having hella purchasing bias.
  • 4 0
 well they could have gone with Philip Morris UCI Mountain Bike World Series and it wouldn't have been much worse
  • 3 0
 Did you miss the Marlboro leaders jerseys last year? Full strength in XC and Methanol in DH...
  • 1 0
 Why, does Whoop kill you?
  • 5 0
 You know the product is bad when even the athletes mock it.
  • 3 0
 This is so f*cking hilarious to me. Good luck getting a whoop bracelet to work while riding your mtb.
  • 4 0
 Nothing was learned from Rocky Roads.
  • 3 0
 Hopefully they give the athletes chest straps this year, some of those stats were so embarrassingly inaccurate.
  • 1 0
 I tried whoop for a year. I found it to be pretty accurate, but it constantly told me to sleep much more than I need. Sometimes it recommended that I sleep upwards of 12 hours

I’ve got a life to live, whoop
  • 3 1
 If you smoke weed it usually tells you to take a nap, so it's confusing cause that's my pre-ride routine.
  • 2 0
 And here I was hoping it was going to be sponsored by Goop. Where will I find a candle that smells like a sweaty cycling crotch.
  • 1 0
 Have I got a deal for you, and I accept EFT.
  • 3 0
 Big Whoop? Not sure why they are asking for sponsorship it’s nearly impossible to watch the broadcast.
  • 1 1
 Much hate in the comments but I don't really understand why. I've never used a Whoop and don't have a perspective on the product but it certainly makes sense to pair with MTB activities in principle so I don't see why it's such an issue. The better a business that they can make with world cup, the better it will be for the riders and audience.
  • 3 0
 Lets hope the race accuracy is better than Whoop.
  • 3 0
 WHOOPS!! The UCI let Discovery have broadcast rights!
  • 1 0
 Further proof that the only Warner (Werner) that should be involved with Mtb racing is Dave.
How out of touch with their audience is Warner broadcasting group?
  • 1 0
 The advertising worked. I now know who Whoop is, but the comment section has answered all I need to know about the product. I'll keep my Garmin.
  • 3 0
 WHOOPS!
  • 2 0
 Whoop whoop, assassins de la police..
  • 4 2
 mercedez benz is the only acceptable title sponsor
  • 1 0
 Did they find a title sponsor that actually wants to broadcast the races yet?
  • 3 0
 Bring Grundig back!!!!
  • 1 0
 Hopefully they can greatly increase the accuracy for the in-race data haha.
  • 3 1
 Good to see a company step up and support the series.
  • 1 1
 I'm not too sure what Whoop is or if it is a useless overpriced scam (as some of the comments seem to suggest), but shouldn't we be happy that a company is sponsoring DH?
  • 1 0
 Ah, thanks for this announcement! its reminded me to cancel my Whoop membership...
  • 1 0
 I wanna watch the racers race. I don’t give a shit about their heart rate
  • 1 0
 In the Immortal words of Derrick Coleman...“Whoop-de-damn-do”
  • 2 0
 Whoppy Doo!
  • 1 0
 ‘If you didn’t already know..
  • 1 0
 Well, I now know who Whoop are so their advertising worked

Cry
  • 2 0
 Well.... There it is
  • 1 0
 WBDSE coverage was complete tosh
  • 1 1
 Sure the product is dumb, but it’s a big brand that will bring awareness and hopefully money to the sport. Good news.
  • 1 0
 Is that the Jeremy Powers from cyclocross fame?
  • 1 0
 Quick LinkedIn search says yes it is. Professional leg shaver marketing guy
  • 2 0
 WHOOP! There it isn't!
  • 1 0
 Poopity poop woopity woop
  • 1 0
 Insane Clown Possie should have trademarked their 'whoop whoop'.....
  • 1 0
 What is WHOOP? No link to the brand?
  • 1 0
 When dead weight meets snake oil.

Or is it the other way around?
  • 1 0
 At this point the UCI is just taunting us.
  • 1 0
 Dont watch the world cup anymore but i wonder how much they pay for that
  • 1 0
 Can we now expect whoops on downhill courses?
  • 1 0
 Whopp doesn't kill you, makes you stronger.
  • 1 0
 Yawn
  • 1 0
 Whooptyfreakinding!
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