I can’t imagine letting JG go back to this thing with the upcoming WC points / team structure…
If he'd hurt himself on one of the signature features I'd agree that maybe big freeride-esque features weren't a good career plan... but it was a fairly innocuous corner (for a WC racer, I'm sure I couldn't do it) that he messed up on.
Telling someone they should only ride 100% for the 8 WC rounds as its too much of an injury risk can't be a good phsycological message for anyone, let alone a relative youngster in one of the biggest spotlights.
If he'd hurt himself on one of the signature features I'd agree that maybe big freeride-esque features weren't a good career plan... but it was a...
If he'd hurt himself on one of the signature features I'd agree that maybe big freeride-esque features weren't a good career plan... but it was a fairly innocuous corner (for a WC racer, I'm sure I couldn't do it) that he messed up on.
Telling someone they should only ride 100% for the 8 WC rounds as its too much of an injury risk can't be a good phsycological message for anyone, let alone a relative youngster in one of the biggest spotlights.
Also the whole point of this stuff - from the brands' perspectives anyway - is not to have a race winner. It's to sell bikes. ALL this stuff is done so companies can sell bikes.
If Specialized could push ONE rider off a cliff to their deaths but would then sell every bike they could make for the next 10 years, they'd start with Loic because he's the most expensive rider...and probably throw Finn off, too, just in case they found a loophole and sacrificing a second rider gives them an extra 10 years of sales.
Jackson doing well at Hardline probably sells as many V10s, Nomads, and Valas as him doing well in Val di Sole.
an email update to world cup qualifying and team rules
------------------------------------------
UCI TEAMS UPDATE
2025 TEAMS & QUALIFICATION INFORMATION
Following the recent update & publication of the 2025 UCI MTB Regulations, below are the details of what they mean for UCI Teams & qualification for the 2025 UCI World Cup.
FOR THE ENTIRE SEASON
UCI MTB Team Registration:
All teams must first register as a UCI Team – registration fee €5,000. A team must consist of a minimum of 3 & a maximum of 10 athletes. This UCI registration is for all teams worldwide, regardless of size or ambition, and will cover all races on the UCI Mountain Bike annual calendar, including UCI World Championships if you wish to book paddock space to support your selected athletes.
Following the closing date for team registration (January 15th 2025) the UCI will prepare two UCI Team Rankings – Endurance (XCO) & Gravity (DHI) - using the UCI points of the highest scoring 4 riders across all UCI World Cup age categories from both genders, registered for the team for the 2025 season.
Any UCI Team can apply for one of five wildcard World Series team places for the full Whoop UCI Mountain Bike World Series season, or one of eight wildcard UCI MTB Team places per event, per category (Endurance & Gravity). The wildcard World Series teams will be chosen using a scored matrix of the following:
2024 UCI team ranking & 2024 UCI World Cup team standing, profile of individual athletes, profile of team sponsors, social media profile of team & individual athletes, any athletes who requested injury status during 2024, history of younger category athlete development or a development team linked under the same main sponsor(s) or paying agent, any history of anti-doping violations or the breaking of any UCI or WBD regulations or codes of conduct.
Standard UCI MTB Teams can support any of their athletes who qualify for any rounds of the UCI World Cup
‘C’ paddock space will be available to a maximum of 100m2 & should be booked directly with each event LOC. The cost per m2 & the cost of power & water will be available from the LOC
National Federations:
‘C’ paddock space will be available to national federations supporting athletes selected under their quota, to a maximum of 30m2 which will be free of charge & should be booked directly with each event LOC. The cost of power & water will be available from the LOC
World Series Teams:
The top-15 teams from each ranking will be invited to register (+ 5 Wild Cards) as World Series Teams for the 2025 season
Annual World Series team fee €40,000.
There will be a maximum of 20 Gravity and 20 Endurance World Series teams per year.
The World Series Team fee includes all associated operational on-site costs for the season, including ‘A’ paddock space up to a maximum of 200m2, 32amp power, water, media package, entry fees
Paddock space will be booked directly with Warner Bros – Discovery (WBD)
At the start of the season, each World Series team will receive: 12 annual staff accreditations, accreditations for all riders, two Team bibs, two Team Media bibs, 3 parking passes per event, timing transponders for the season
A World Series Team will be allowed to sell Official World Series Team Merchandise & host hospitality with guests/sponsors from their paddock space
Team branding will feature in all TV Graphics (colours/logo TBC)
WBD will have a medical coordinator on the staff team at each event as a consistent point of contact for all WS Teams. Concussion baseline testing & monitoring will be carried out by this coordinator.
If the sponsor(s) or paying agent of a World Series Team also has a development team, this must be notified to both the UCI (caroline.constantin@uci.ch) & WBD (simon.burney@wbd.com) . The development team must be registered as a UCI MTB Team & will be known as the ‘linked development team’
A World Series Team can include any athletes from their linked Development team for any round of the UCI World Cup, within the maximum of 4 athletes per race/category
Any World Cup standing points gained by the Development team athlete will be attributed to the World Series Team, any UCI points gained will remain with the athlete & therefor to the UCI MTB Team to which they are registered
Development team athletes must race in the uniform of the WS Team
FOR EACH INDIVIDUAL ROUND OF A UCI MOUNTAIN BIKE WORLD CUP
UCI World Cup Entry Qualification: UCI World Cup entry closing dates, dates of UCI Ranking used, & wildcard team application deadlines can be found on the attached document.
World Series Teams:
Any athlete registered as a member of a World Series Team is eligible to be entered for a UCI World Cup. A team can enter a maximum of 4 athletes in any one race/category
A World Series Team can enter one guest rider twice during a season. The guest rider is in addition to the 4-athlete per race/category. The guest rider must wear the uniform of the WS Team
World Series Teams will enter the UCI World Cup directly with WBD using the entry portal
UCI MTB Teams:
Any UCI MTB Team can apply for one of 8 wildcard UCI MTB Team places per event. These 8 teams will be chosen per round of the UCI World Cup using the same scoring matrix as detailed above, with the additional categories of - home country of the team, & team standing in any Continental Series
A Team must apply to WBD for a wildcard team place at least 7 days before the entry closing date of the round concerned – apply to simon.burney@wbd.com
A UCI MTB Team selected as a wildcard for a round will enter directly with WBD using the entry portal. The UCI regulation related to a maximum of 4 riders from a team in any single race/category will apply.
An invited UCI MTB team will be allocated space in the ‘B’ Paddock
Individuals:
For XCO, any Elite athlete ranked in the top-100 of the UCI ranking or any U23 athlete ranked in the top-200 of the UCI ranking, using the last ranking dated before the closing date of the round, is eligible to enter
For DHI, any Elite athlete ranked in the top-50 of the UCI ranking or any Junior athlete ranked in the top-100 of the UCI ranking, using the last ranking dated before the closing date of the round, is eligible to enter
Any current National, Continental, World or Olympic Champion is eligible to enter a UCI World Cup
At any round of a Continental Series, the top-5 riders in any Elite or U23 race (XCO) or Elite or Junior race (DHI) who are not registered in a World Series Team are offered a ‘Golden Ticket’ to enter one round of the UCI World Cup during the same season
An individual who qualifies for a round will enter via their national federation
Continental Series:
A Continental Series is coordinated by the appropriate Confederation
The UCI will work with each participating Confederation to finalise the details of their Series, which will be communicated by the UCI as soon as available
There is no involvement of Warner Bros – Discovery (WBD) in the Continental Series, other than in an advisory role if requested
WBD will use round results & series standings published by the UCI or Confederation to offer ‘Golden Ticket’ entries per round as described above, and 2026 UCI World Cup full season entries for the top-5 riders per category in the final overall standings
Rounds of each Continental Series are standard UCI calendar events, therefor open to any license holder in the normal way
Enduro:
All Enduro Teams are registered as UCI MTB Teams – there are no Enduro World Series Teams
A Gravity/DHI World Series Team can include athletes who specialise in Enduro within their maximum 10 rider roster & support them at Enduro-only rounds of the UCI World Cup as per the terms of WS Teams, detailed above
Any athlete registered to a Enduro UCI MTB Team or on a World Series Gravity Team can enter a UCI EDR World Cup
Any athlete that meets the minimum number of required points outlined in the Enduro Rulebook can enter a UCI EDR World Cup
National Federations will have a quota for riders who do not meet any other qualification pathway (in the same way as XCO & DHI). Federation quota selection is solely at the discretion of the NF.
Individual riders qualified to enter a World Cup event but who are not registered to a UCI MTB Team, World Series Team or supported by a National Federation will be able to book space in the ‘C’ Paddock at each event, managed directly by each LOC.
Paddock Overview: A Paddock: World Series teams B Paddock: Per event, 8 invited UCI MTB Teams per format. Bookings managed by each LOC C Paddock: UCI MTB Teams, National Federations and open to any bookings, managed by each LOC
Sounds like we’re all pitching in 5,000 euros apiece? These guys are crooks for that cover charge alone…
€40,000 for 10 riders at 10 events is €400 per rider per event to cover entry fees, paddock space (including power and water), plus whatever comes in the media package. Sounds reasonable to me, and maybe a good incentive to have sign 10 riders. Consider what entry fees are for your local race, and then consider how much bigger a production a world cup is. This is a way for the team sponsors to indirectly pay for putting on the race.
And nobody participates in any professional sport for free. Either the individual or their team pays into the league somehow.
I would imagine the logo all over his helmet is big factor 😂
For sure they want him there, but Bruni was invited last year and opted not to go. I'd think it's more likely up to him and his team (although possibly not in that order).
Sam Hill and Josh Bryceland returning to racing is probably the biggest highlight of the year-end to me. Sweeeeeet!
I know ignoring the numbers is out of fashion this week but um please show your work on this 🧐
Source: I made it up.
Sorry for the bad math
It’s actually called Making up the numbers and all the cool kids are listening. Give it a go!
ahahahaha nice!
I can’t imagine letting JG go back to this thing with the upcoming WC points / team structure…
If he'd hurt himself on one of the signature features I'd agree that maybe big freeride-esque features weren't a good career plan... but it was a fairly innocuous corner (for a WC racer, I'm sure I couldn't do it) that he messed up on.
Telling someone they should only ride 100% for the 8 WC rounds as its too much of an injury risk can't be a good phsycological message for anyone, let alone a relative youngster in one of the biggest spotlights.
Also the whole point of this stuff - from the brands' perspectives anyway - is not to have a race winner. It's to sell bikes. ALL this stuff is done so companies can sell bikes.
If Specialized could push ONE rider off a cliff to their deaths but would then sell every bike they could make for the next 10 years, they'd start with Loic because he's the most expensive rider...and probably throw Finn off, too, just in case they found a loophole and sacrificing a second rider gives them an extra 10 years of sales.
Jackson doing well at Hardline probably sells as many V10s, Nomads, and Valas as him doing well in Val di Sole.
You couldn’t be more incorrect if you tried.
There are 4 top 50 male elite riders from the 2024 World Cup overall.
Dunne, Kerr, Hatton, Iniguez, Brosnan and Greenland were all top 50 last year so math really is hard(line) after all
an email update to world cup qualifying and team rules
------------------------------------------
Following the recent update & publication of the 2025 UCI MTB Regulations, below are the details of what they mean for UCI Teams & qualification for the 2025 UCI World Cup.
FOR THE ENTIRE SEASON
UCI MTB Team Registration:
All teams must first register as a UCI Team – registration fee €5,000. A team must consist of a minimum of 3 & a maximum of 10 athletes. This UCI registration is for all teams worldwide, regardless of size or ambition, and will cover all races on the UCI Mountain Bike annual calendar, including UCI World Championships if you wish to book paddock space to support your selected athletes.
Following the closing date for team registration (January 15th 2025) the UCI will prepare two UCI Team Rankings – Endurance (XCO) & Gravity (DHI) - using the UCI points of the highest scoring 4 riders across all UCI World Cup age categories from both genders, registered for the team for the 2025 season.
Any UCI Team can apply for one of five wildcard World Series team places for the full Whoop UCI Mountain Bike World Series season, or one of eight wildcard UCI MTB Team places per event, per category (Endurance & Gravity). The wildcard World Series teams will be chosen using a scored matrix of the following:
2024 UCI team ranking & 2024 UCI World Cup team standing, profile of individual athletes, profile of team sponsors, social media profile of team & individual athletes, any athletes who requested injury status during 2024, history of younger category athlete development or a development team linked under the same main sponsor(s) or paying agent, any history of anti-doping violations or the breaking of any UCI or WBD regulations or codes of conduct.
Standard UCI MTB Teams can support any of their athletes who qualify for any rounds of the UCI World Cup
‘C’ paddock space will be available to a maximum of 100m2 & should be booked directly with each event LOC. The cost per m2 & the cost of power & water will be available from the LOC
National Federations:
‘C’ paddock space will be available to national federations supporting athletes selected under their quota, to a maximum of 30m2 which will be free of charge & should be booked directly with each event LOC. The cost of power & water will be available from the LOC
World Series Teams:
The top-15 teams from each ranking will be invited to register (+ 5 Wild Cards) as World Series Teams for the 2025 season
Annual World Series team fee €40,000.
There will be a maximum of 20 Gravity and 20 Endurance World Series teams per year.
The World Series Team fee includes all associated operational on-site costs for the season, including ‘A’ paddock space up to a maximum of 200m2, 32amp power, water, media package, entry fees
Paddock space will be booked directly with Warner Bros – Discovery (WBD)
At the start of the season, each World Series team will receive: 12 annual staff accreditations, accreditations for all riders, two Team bibs, two Team Media bibs, 3 parking passes per event, timing transponders for the season
A World Series Team will be allowed to sell Official World Series Team Merchandise & host hospitality with guests/sponsors from their paddock space
Team branding will feature in all TV Graphics (colours/logo TBC)
WBD will have a medical coordinator on the staff team at each event as a consistent point of contact for all WS Teams. Concussion baseline testing & monitoring will be carried out by this coordinator.
If the sponsor(s) or paying agent of a World Series Team also has a development team, this must be notified to both the UCI (caroline.constantin@uci.ch) & WBD (simon.burney@wbd.com) . The development team must be registered as a UCI MTB Team & will be known as the ‘linked development team’
A World Series Team can include any athletes from their linked Development team for any round of the UCI World Cup, within the maximum of 4 athletes per race/category
Any World Cup standing points gained by the Development team athlete will be attributed to the World Series Team, any UCI points gained will remain with the athlete & therefor to the UCI MTB Team to which they are registered
Development team athletes must race in the uniform of the WS Team
FOR EACH INDIVIDUAL ROUND OF A UCI MOUNTAIN BIKE WORLD CUP
UCI World Cup Entry Qualification:
UCI World Cup entry closing dates, dates of UCI Ranking used, & wildcard team application deadlines can be found on the attached document.
World Series Teams:
Any athlete registered as a member of a World Series Team is eligible to be entered for a UCI World Cup. A team can enter a maximum of 4 athletes in any one race/category
A World Series Team can enter one guest rider twice during a season. The guest rider is in addition to the 4-athlete per race/category. The guest rider must wear the uniform of the WS Team
World Series Teams will enter the UCI World Cup directly with WBD using the entry portal
UCI MTB Teams:
Any UCI MTB Team can apply for one of 8 wildcard UCI MTB Team places per event. These 8 teams will be chosen per round of the UCI World Cup using the same scoring matrix as detailed above, with the additional categories of - home country of the team, & team standing in any Continental Series
A Team must apply to WBD for a wildcard team place at least 7 days before the entry closing date of the round concerned – apply to simon.burney@wbd.com
A UCI MTB Team selected as a wildcard for a round will enter directly with WBD using the entry portal. The UCI regulation related to a maximum of 4 riders from a team in any single race/category will apply.
An invited UCI MTB team will be allocated space in the ‘B’ Paddock
Individuals:
For XCO, any Elite athlete ranked in the top-100 of the UCI ranking or any U23 athlete ranked in the top-200 of the UCI ranking, using the last ranking dated before the closing date of the round, is eligible to enter
For DHI, any Elite athlete ranked in the top-50 of the UCI ranking or any Junior athlete ranked in the top-100 of the UCI ranking, using the last ranking dated before the closing date of the round, is eligible to enter
Any current National, Continental, World or Olympic Champion is eligible to enter a UCI World Cup
At any round of a Continental Series, the top-5 riders in any Elite or U23 race (XCO) or Elite or Junior race (DHI) who are not registered in a World Series Team are offered a ‘Golden Ticket’ to enter one round of the UCI World Cup during the same season
An individual who qualifies for a round will enter via their national federation
Continental Series:
A Continental Series is coordinated by the appropriate Confederation
The UCI will work with each participating Confederation to finalise the details of their Series, which will be communicated by the UCI as soon as available
There is no involvement of Warner Bros – Discovery (WBD) in the Continental Series, other than in an advisory role if requested
WBD will use round results & series standings published by the UCI or Confederation to offer ‘Golden Ticket’ entries per round as described above, and 2026 UCI World Cup full season entries for the top-5 riders per category in the final overall standings
Rounds of each Continental Series are standard UCI calendar events, therefor open to any license holder in the normal way
Enduro:
All Enduro Teams are registered as UCI MTB Teams – there are no Enduro World Series Teams
A Gravity/DHI World Series Team can include athletes who specialise in Enduro within their maximum 10 rider roster & support them at Enduro-only rounds of the UCI World Cup as per the terms of WS Teams, detailed above
Any athlete registered to a Enduro UCI MTB Team or on a World Series Gravity Team can enter a UCI EDR World Cup
Any athlete that meets the minimum number of required points outlined in the Enduro Rulebook can enter a UCI EDR World Cup
National Federations will have a quota for riders who do not meet any other qualification pathway (in the same way as XCO & DHI). Federation quota selection is solely at the discretion of the NF.
Individual riders qualified to enter a World Cup event but who are not registered to a UCI MTB Team, World Series Team or supported by a National Federation will be able to book space in the ‘C’ Paddock at each event, managed directly by each LOC.
Paddock Overview:
A Paddock: World Series teams
B Paddock: Per event, 8 invited UCI MTB Teams per format. Bookings managed by each LOC
C Paddock: UCI MTB Teams, National Federations and open to any bookings, managed by each LOC
If you have any further queries about the 2025 UCI Regulations or the above information please contact either the UCI (caroline.constantin@uci.ch) or WBD (simon.burney@wbd.com).
Hard MTB League's official video and annoucement future. Stoked!
https://www.vitalmtb.com/features/mountain-bikings-new-competition-evolution-hard-mtb-league
Checking the maths here:
World Series = 15x Endurance + 15x Gravity = 1.2 mil
UCI MTB = 8x Endurance + 8x Gravity = 80k
Minimum revenue = 1.28 million
What is prize money for teams?
Sounds like we’re all pitching in 5,000 euros apiece? These guys are crooks for that cover charge alone…
€40,000 for 10 riders at 10 events is €400 per rider per event to cover entry fees, paddock space (including power and water), plus whatever comes in the media package. Sounds reasonable to me, and maybe a good incentive to have sign 10 riders. Consider what entry fees are for your local race, and then consider how much bigger a production a world cup is. This is a way for the team sponsors to indirectly pay for putting on the race.
And nobody participates in any professional sport for free. Either the individual or their team pays into the league somehow.
I would imagine the logo all over his helmet is big factor 😂
For sure they want him there, but Bruni was invited last year and opted not to go. I'd think it's more likely up to him and his team (although possibly not in that order).
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