The WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series experienced a shake-up at the start of the 2025 series.
For the first time in UCI Mountain Bike World Cup history, UCI World Series Team status was introduced, which guaranteed spots on the start line at every round for 40 teams – 20 in Endurance and 20 in Gravity. The new regulations were introduced to make UCI World Cups more competitive whilst providing teams and athletes with greater opportunities for growth and visibility.
While 30 of the spaces (15 across each format) were decided by UCI ranking points, five Endurance and five Gravity outfits would earn their places via yearlong wildcard spots.
Fiercely contested, they were selected based on a scoring matrix that included criteria such as UCI team ranking, UCI Continental Series participation and results, athlete profiles, sponsor profiles and media reach.
In Endurance, it saw the likes of multi-discipline stars Mathieu van der Poel and Puck Pieterse’s Alpecin-Deceuninck secure its place despite missing out via UCI rankings, while Reece Wilson’s new outfit AON Racing-Tourne Campervan was guaranteed a spot in the Downhill start hut.
The 2026 season will see the same five year-long wildcard spaces on offer across Endurance and Gravity, with 19 teams currently awaiting their fate to see if they’ve been selected for next season.
Teams likely to be in contention include Alpecin-Deceuninck, AON Racing-Tourne Campervan, and other year-long wildcard picks from last year such as Continental Atherton, Pivot Factory Racing (Gravity), Liv Factory Racing and Mondraker Factory Racing (Endurance).
ADDITIONAL SPOTS AT EACH ROUND
In addition to the wildcard UCI World Series Team spots, there will be up to eight wildcard spots available to regular UCI Mountain Bike teams in each format at each UCI World Cup round.
These follow the same selection criteria as the year-long picks, but also considers the home nation of the team as well as recent results.
These round-based picks aren’t just to make up the numbers either, and teams and riders can propel themselves from wildcard entrants to major contenders – Rogue Racing’s Thibault Daprela recording a podium (Val di Sole - Trentino, Italy) and 16th in the Downhill overall in 2025 despite only entering as a wildcard.
