It does look like the same logo though, not sure why they'd have the down tube logo covering something. Maybe back from the dead? Unless Vampire is going alloy/carbon?
I wonder what happened with Foes, I was excited to see what could happen there.
UNIOR Sinter press release. from the email accompanying the press release - "You all know what is happening in the world cup, so it was only...
UNIOR Sinter press release. from the email accompanying the press release - "You all know what is happening in the world cup, so it was only natural that we had to make a big change to stay in the game. The team as it was until the end of the 2024 season will stop, but new chapter is already open, hint about that is in the last part of the press release."
-----------------------
Unior Sinter Factory Racing: Inside the tape for more than 15 years
Founded in 2010, Unior Sinter Factory Racing has grown from its Slovenian grassroots origins into one of the most respected and longest standing racing teams on the global mountain biking scene. With its headquarters in Ljubljana, Slovenia the team played a pivotal role in advancing national mountain biking to new heights and taking number of riders to the very top of the game.
This is also a story that goes beyond racing as it shows that the team can act as a connecting point, support the local community and get backing of the forward thinking city, promote the sport and nurture new talent.
The team was created and is ever since managed by Cycling club Rajd from Ljubljana. Club started like every other, with a group of enthusiasts, but this group wanted to do more than grow and boost the local scene, it wanted to play the game on the global stage. As the team grew, so did Rajd and it is now one of the country's biggest clubs with its own MTB & BMX school, trail park, events, race teams, and more.
The origins of the team go even further back, to pre-Unior Bike Tools partnership era, however always with a strong focus on downhill racing. The team has nurtured numerous world-class athletes, not limited to gravity racing, driven by technical expertise and unwavering support from key sponsors like Unior, a renowned tool manufacturer, and Sinter, known for their high-performance brake pads.
Since its creation in 2010, the team has competed at about 160 UCI MTB World Cup events across cross-country, downhill, enduro, four-cross, short track & BMX disciplines. Over the years, with riders like Tanja Žakelj, Jure Žabjek, Reece Wilson, Dakotah Norton, Taylor Vernon, Rudy Cabirou, Ben Zwar, Oli Clark, Vid Peršak and others, the team has consistently attended top-tier races, leaving a mark on the international mountain biking scene. The team riders have also raced at more than 15 UCI MTB World Championships (we had different venues in certain seasons), showcasing the team’s commitment to competing at the highest levels of the sport across multiple disciplines.
The Early Years (2010-2014) The team was originally launched as Unior Tools Team and had a clear goal of supporting talented Slovenian riders in downhill racing, but quickly moved to the international squad with the joining of Greek champion Maria Michalogiannaki. In 2013 Tanja Žakelj joined, starting the team’s decade-long affair on the endurance side of mountain bike racing. The partnership was more than fruitful as Tanja became one of the dominant names on the scene and won the overall UCI XCO World Cup title, next to two individual World Cup victories, two European titles, and several top-10 results on both World Cups and World Championships. Tanja also competed at all Olympic Games since 2012! On the gravity side, Ruaridh Cunningham and his protegee Reece Wilson, an emerging talent at the time, represented the team with strong performances in the UCI Downhill World Cup, consistently finishing in the top-30. Reece later won World Championships and thus demonstrated the perfect path from being recognized as a talent, getting a seat on the very solid World Cup team, and then making it to the top with a factory team. Among the team’s standout performers, Slovenian Žiga Pandur has established himself as a model of consistency in downhill racing. With a big talent, dedication to the training process, and focus on refining every aspect of racing, he set a high bar for the Slovenian race scene and gained international recognition. His story continues in his work with the young shredders and is another perfect example of the connection between top-level racing and the local community.
Breakthrough performances (2015-2017) Unior Tools Team has continued to grow its downhill program and kept a strong presence on the XCO scene, but it also has diversity in its focus and entered Enduro World Series (EWS) races. During this time Slovenian downhill rider Zarja Černilogar was a key figure on the women’s downhill scene, securing multiple top-20 finishes in UCI DH World Cup events. Jure Žabjek, the team’s rising star, delivered breakthrough performances, including a 12th-place finish at the Leogang World Cup in 2017, solidifying his reputation as one of the most talented Slovenian downhill riders. However, the leader of the team was Ruaridh Cunningham, who secured several top-20 World Cup results, including his first top-10 finish (Lenzerheide ’16). Also noticeable was his victory at one of the first iterations of Red Bull Hardline. Ruaridh later worked for EWS and is now of course one of the key persons at the MTB World Series organization.
Unior Devinci Factory Racing Era (2018-2020) Partnership with Canadian bike manufacturer Devinci Cycles started a new era for the team, now under the name Unior Devinci Factory Racing. This collaboration pushed the team to new heights in both downhill and enduro. The new era started with a bang as Dakotah Norton, at the time still a rookie in the world cup, started the season with a podium at Lošinj World Cup! Jure Žabjek added to the success of the talented American and was consistently in the top 20, Kirk McDowall wasn’t far behind. Damien Oton led the enduro team and took five top-5 results in 2018 EWS season, while Keegan Wright shone on the Crankworx events. Team success continued in 2019, while the pandemic 2020 season put everything upside down, but finished with Dakotah’s superb podium in Lousā.
Unior Sinter Factory Racing starts a new path (2021-2024) The team started 2021 season with a new look and a new co-title sponsor. Unior was joined by another Slovenian manufacturer, the brake pad specialists Sinter. The team continued to race downhill and later also in enduro, always on the highest level with a presence on full World Cup seasons and all Worlds. Jure Žabjek stepped in the shoes of the team leader and got several top-30 results, but his racing was also heavily influenced by injuries. With the start of 2023 season and throughout 2024 season, and a renewed partnership with Trek Bicycles, the team had again positioned itself as a fully international team and welcomed riders from around the globe. Ben Zwar, Leona Pierrini, Stan Nisbet, Oli Clark, Aimi Kenyon, and Vid Peršak brought fresh energy and great results. These signings also reflect the team’s commitment to developing the next generation of top riders.
Jaka Remec also jumped on board in this time, literally and figuratively, adding BMX Park to the mix and took the team name to brand new places!
Cooperation with Vid Peršak is worth talking about as it is another great example of for the beyond racing books. Vid is not only well respected and by far the most successful Slovenian enduro rider, but also developed coaching skills and plays a key role in the local community and now works as a coach for Cycling Club Rajd and is managing his own mountain bike camps.
Did all of the names make it to this story? Absolutely not, more than 35 riders from 10 countries from four continents have been racing in the team’s jersey and all of them left their mark. There is also an incredible group of people that worked behind the scenes, as mechanics, trainers, managers, content creators and should get a story of their own! Was it always fun? Ask any team and you will quickly learn that there are always an infinite number of challenges, big and small, in the background. But there are also lots of good times, a lot of them!
And the most important - is it over after 15 years? Not even close as the people behind the name are still very much involved in both racing and developing local communities and are even going to do mountain bike racing things on a bigger scale (for a hint take a look at the rumors sites and look for the UK-Switzerland connection…). The legacy of the team continues to live, especially strong with riders that used Unior’s factory team to either jump to the very top or quite simply conquer it!
”And the most important - is it over after 15 years? Not even close as the people behind the name are still very much involved in both racing and developing local communities and are even going to do mountain bike racing things on a bigger scale (for a hint take a look at the rumors sites and look for the UK-Switzerland connection…). The legacy of the team continues to live, especially strong with riders that used Unior’s factory team to either jump to the very top or quite simply conquer it!”
Translation: The Gamux team will merge with Unior-Sinter, in order to stay in the game. At least some good news between all those articles about teams folding and riders left without sponsors!
It does look like the same logo though, not sure why they'd have the down tube logo covering something. Maybe back from the dead? Unless Vampire...
It does look like the same logo though, not sure why they'd have the down tube logo covering something. Maybe back from the dead? Unless Vampire is going alloy/carbon?
I wonder what happened with Foes, I was excited to see what could happen there.
Very likely chance that the money just wasn't there.
Saw this last night on Martin Whiteley's Instastory. This may be hinting to something. Martin's agency has the HQ in Granada, Spain since forever and he's...
Saw this last night on Martin Whiteley's Instastory. This may be hinting to something. Martin's agency has the HQ in Granada, Spain since forever and he's probably the most connected guy out there, but I am curious what that means, given his current position as Frameworks' team manager last year. Is he visiting in this role or as an athlete manager, trying to hook up one of his guys with a ride?
Athletes that 23 Degrees is currently representing are Dakotah Norton, Anton Cooper, Brook MacDonald, Jess Blewitt, Gaëtan Vigé, Jack Menzies, Oli Clark, Ross Kew and Ažbe Kalinšek. Who needs a ride, except for Jack? Brook? Hmmm...
Regarding Mondraker:
Rebecca Henderson has announced she is off Primaflor Mondraker, as the team shuts down. But the thing is Mondraker is starting its own factory XC team, just like they did in DH. Who are the noteworthy XC free agents out there who are looking for rides and could be fronting a factory team?
Could Martin be stepping into a role of team management with the new Mondraker XC factory team, a position he's held before, with Trek Factory Racing, although that was a team he owned?
Well, this is pretty much it from what I have noticed this couple of hours.
Cheers, Mx
Martin could be sorting out something for Anton Cooper as he’s off trek now…
Well it's 8.25am January 1 in Sydney, I have a belting hangover. Expecting to see 300 post with new signings, rumours confirmed, ratboy to ride a 3 shocked cannondale.
Instead we get Sam Hill riding for his local shop.
Well it's 8.25am January 1 in Sydney, I have a belting hangover. Expecting to see 300 post with new signings, rumours confirmed, ratboy to ride a...
Well it's 8.25am January 1 in Sydney, I have a belting hangover. Expecting to see 300 post with new signings, rumours confirmed, ratboy to ride a 3 shocked cannondale.
Instead we get Sam Hill riding for his local shop.
Remi Gauvin off Rocky Mountain, not too surprising given their recent financial woes.
Remy Metailler no longer with Camelbak and ethirteen. He’s technically not on a team but brands must get more value out of (pro) influencers then most racers?
I thought the same thing. Wonder if Milway is based around there or something? Re Whitely at Mondraker - could he be there to try and steady...
I thought the same thing. Wonder if Milway is based around there or something?
Re Whitely at Mondraker - could he be there to try and steady the ship after Dakotah’s injury? Wouldn’t be surprised to see an Ollie Davis style super sub added to the team.
Milway Performance Products is about 20 mins from there, this shot is in Digbeth, so presumably shot while headed into the area for beers
The number of teams peaked in 2023 with a total of 184 (128 standard, 56 elite). 2024 saw the second highest number of teams on record with 163 (112 standard, 51 elite). The bike bubble bursting was already beginning to have an effect going into the 2024 season, even with the upcoming Olympic games.
The growth in teams from 2021 (119 teams) to 2023 (184 teams) likely drove UCI/WBD to start thinking about major changes to the series. Had that growth continued, the events would be impossible to run. Too many teams that need pit space, too many riders on track, etc. The growth in elite teams from 2022 (30 elite teams) to 2023 (56 elite teams) was a likely indicator that team fees could be pushed much higher.
The home countries listed for teams has remained roughly consistent over the last 5-6 years, hovering between 27 and 29 countries.
The data gets more interesting when you look at the registered disciplines.
2017 was the high water mark for XC (97 teams) which then saw steady declines until 2021 (73 teams) when the trend began to reverse. 2024 brought XC back to 2016 levels with 90 teams, likely driven by the Olympics. It's surprising that 2017 did not see a reduction in XC teams after the 2016 Rio games. We most certainly will not see that same trend in 2025.
DH hit a low point in 2018 (34 teams) with growth peaking in 2023 with 59 teams.
2021 brought the introduction of XCM (marathon) followed by EDR and EDR-E in 2023. The UCI does not track EDR/EDR-E teams prior to 2023.
Only XC saw team growth in 2024 (again, likely because of the Olympics), with all other disciplines declining.
The UCI rider data is a little misleading as each rider can only be associated with one discipline, even if they actually race multiple. For some riders, that discipline isn't their primary one (for instance Ed Masters is listed as a DH rider rather than EDR).
Rider numbers grew dramatically from 2005 to a peak in 2012, after which the sport saw slow but steady declines until 2019. There were likely many factors driving this, one of which likely being a stagnant broadcast package from RedBull. Hard to make an accurate analysis without viewer numbers, but it's not really surprising the UCI was ready to go in a different direction.
Growth exploded from 2019 to 2023, with total UCI team riders peaking in 2023 with 871 riders across all disciplines.
Again, the growth from 2019 (506 riders) to 2023 (871 riders) likely forced UCI/WBD to make some dramatic changes that would reduce the number of participants.
The numbers also show that the reduced focus (both from a sponsorship and coverage perspective) on EDR was already having an impact in 2024. EDR riders dropped from 105 in 2023 to 80 in 2024.
With the announced team changes by UCI/WBD and the ongoing turmoil in the bike business, I suspect we're going to see significant further team and rider declines in 2025.
Well it's 8.25am January 1 in Sydney, I have a belting hangover. Expecting to see 300 post with new signings, rumours confirmed, ratboy to ride a...
Well it's 8.25am January 1 in Sydney, I have a belting hangover. Expecting to see 300 post with new signings, rumours confirmed, ratboy to ride a 3 shocked cannondale.
Instead we get Sam Hill riding for his local shop.
back to bed
Well, the buzz was that he was going to lead the return of Foes to racing. That would have been pretty cool.
Well it's 8.25am January 1 in Sydney, I have a belting hangover. Expecting to see 300 post with new signings, rumours confirmed, ratboy to ride a...
Well it's 8.25am January 1 in Sydney, I have a belting hangover. Expecting to see 300 post with new signings, rumours confirmed, ratboy to ride a 3 shocked cannondale.
Instead we get Sam Hill riding for his local shop.
Well, the buzz was that he was going to lead the return of Foes to racing. That would have been pretty cool.
The Stay On Your Bike podcast mentioned how the Foes team headed up by Nigel Page almost became a thing and then crumbled. Seemed like a long shot to begin with but it would have been so cool.
It does look like the same logo though, not sure why they'd have the down tube logo covering something. Maybe back from the dead? Unless Vampire is going alloy/carbon?
I wonder what happened with Foes, I was excited to see what could happen there.
Looks like the mother of headset tourisms
”And the most important - is it over after 15 years? Not even close as the people behind the name are still very much involved in both racing and developing local communities and are even going to do mountain bike racing things on a bigger scale (for a hint take a look at the rumors sites and look for the UK-Switzerland connection…). The legacy of the team continues to live, especially strong with riders that used Unior’s factory team to either jump to the very top or quite simply conquer it!”
Translation: The Gamux team will merge with Unior-Sinter, in order to stay in the game.
At least some good news between all those articles about teams folding and riders left without sponsors!
Mx
Very likely chance that the money just wasn't there.
Martin could be sorting out something for Anton Cooper as he’s off trek now…
So what is the list of exits and returns as far as individuals go:
Goldstone is back
Williams is back - though we have not heard much
Rude...Most time DH now?
Wooley full time DH?
WIll Jessie do what Richie did last season and mix in some DH and go full DH next season?
Hill is back? maybe on an empire and fulltime?
Ratboy back a little?
GM is gone
Dak likely gone all season.
any other major ones missing?
so scott confirmed
estaque off commencal 100%
@Stunnanumma1's DH draft forum topic...interesting - https://www.vitalmtb.com/forums/hub/what-if-there-were-no-rumors-only-d…;
Looks like he will be riding renthal bars and stem, Shimano brakes and he will have a bike with headset tourism. Also looks like the frame is blue
https://www.instagram.com/p/DEQM077PVkB/?igsh=MTF4OXM3MWVyNHJ0Yw==
Rocky is off Rocky.
Or Orbea, they love to inflict that on people too!
And the Wild that the DH bike is based on is cable tourism hell.
Heard today that Martin Maes is super nervous about his future as he doesnt really know how fmd team works and he doesnt really have a choice
Norco announcement coming Jan2 according to their socials if I read it right lol
Pivot?
Well it's 8.25am January 1 in Sydney, I have a belting hangover. Expecting to see 300 post with new signings, rumours confirmed, ratboy to ride a 3 shocked cannondale.
Instead we get Sam Hill riding for his local shop.
back to bed
That headtube belongs to Commencal Meta/Tempo
Happy new year!
Edit: I should really refresh before posting
Remi Gauvin off Rocky Mountain, not too surprising given their recent financial woes.
Remy Metailler no longer with Camelbak and ethirteen. He’s technically not on a team but brands must get more value out of (pro) influencers then most racers?
Milway Performance Products is about 20 mins from there, this shot is in Digbeth, so presumably shot while headed into the area for beers
Benoît trolling us..![]()
With the arrival of 2025 and big changes underway, here's a quick look back at how team and rider numbers have evolved over the years.
All data pulled from the UCI website (https://www.uci.org/riders/mountain-bike-riders-teams/1V5hGPnEvXzbIqkjU…).
The number of teams peaked in 2023 with a total of 184 (128 standard, 56 elite). 2024 saw the second highest number of teams on record with 163 (112 standard, 51 elite). The bike bubble bursting was already beginning to have an effect going into the 2024 season, even with the upcoming Olympic games.
The growth in teams from 2021 (119 teams) to 2023 (184 teams) likely drove UCI/WBD to start thinking about major changes to the series. Had that growth continued, the events would be impossible to run. Too many teams that need pit space, too many riders on track, etc. The growth in elite teams from 2022 (30 elite teams) to 2023 (56 elite teams) was a likely indicator that team fees could be pushed much higher.
The home countries listed for teams has remained roughly consistent over the last 5-6 years, hovering between 27 and 29 countries.
The data gets more interesting when you look at the registered disciplines.
2017 was the high water mark for XC (97 teams) which then saw steady declines until 2021 (73 teams) when the trend began to reverse. 2024 brought XC back to 2016 levels with 90 teams, likely driven by the Olympics. It's surprising that 2017 did not see a reduction in XC teams after the 2016 Rio games. We most certainly will not see that same trend in 2025.
DH hit a low point in 2018 (34 teams) with growth peaking in 2023 with 59 teams.
2021 brought the introduction of XCM (marathon) followed by EDR and EDR-E in 2023. The UCI does not track EDR/EDR-E teams prior to 2023.
Only XC saw team growth in 2024 (again, likely because of the Olympics), with all other disciplines declining.
The UCI rider data is a little misleading as each rider can only be associated with one discipline, even if they actually race multiple. For some riders, that discipline isn't their primary one (for instance Ed Masters is listed as a DH rider rather than EDR).
Rider numbers grew dramatically from 2005 to a peak in 2012, after which the sport saw slow but steady declines until 2019. There were likely many factors driving this, one of which likely being a stagnant broadcast package from RedBull. Hard to make an accurate analysis without viewer numbers, but it's not really surprising the UCI was ready to go in a different direction.
Growth exploded from 2019 to 2023, with total UCI team riders peaking in 2023 with 871 riders across all disciplines.
Again, the growth from 2019 (506 riders) to 2023 (871 riders) likely forced UCI/WBD to make some dramatic changes that would reduce the number of participants.
The numbers also show that the reduced focus (both from a sponsorship and coverage perspective) on EDR was already having an impact in 2024. EDR riders dropped from 105 in 2023 to 80 in 2024.
With the announced team changes by UCI/WBD and the ongoing turmoil in the bike business, I suspect we're going to see significant further team and rider declines in 2025.
Well, the buzz was that he was going to lead the return of Foes to racing. That would have been pretty cool.
Have a look at the chain and the rear link, looks like a demo with the shop name on it
Ollie Davis to TFR
Who?
The Stay On Your Bike podcast mentioned how the Foes team headed up by Nigel Page almost became a thing and then crumbled. Seemed like a long shot to begin with but it would have been so cool.
I see no more Foes in Sam's List, That seemed short lived... They got something cooking with specialized?
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