PARIS 2024 OLYMPICS: XCO MOUNTAIN BIKING COURSE PREVIEW

A record‑setting year both on and off the trails, Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) Sports used the global platform of the 2025 WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series to drive meaningful impact across the sport and its communities through its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program and beyond.COMMITMENT TO CLIMATE ACTIONMountain bike and nature go hand-in-hand, and the importance of protecting the natural environment is critical for the future of the sport. To signify this and its continued commitment to sustainability, WBD Sports signed the UCI Climate Action Charter at the start of the 2025 season.Aligning with the Charter reinforces WBD Sports’ dedication to reducing its environmental footprint while championing the bicycle as a powerful symbol and instrument of climate action and ensures that initiatives such as science-based reduction targets and the biodiversity protection remain top priorities.As the global promoter of the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series, WBD Sports plays a key role in encouraging and supporting its partners at each event to develop and implement initiatives aligned with this policy, ensuring that events and their stakeholders are working toward the same goals. This collaboration effort is essential for the successful implementation of most initiatives under the program.This was seen first-hand on the ground in Araxá, Minas Gerais (Brazil), where professional riders and WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series representatives joined a local tree-planting initiative at the venue. It follows a similar program from 2024 where 1,000 trees were planted at the Brazilian location – the number determined through a technical assessment of the event’s emissions, from air travel to local event logistics.These actions, along with its continued focus on sustainable event management, saw WBD Sports renew its ISO 20121 certificate – a prestigious validation of the structured framework that is applied to integrate sustainability into event management practices. In addition to promoting social inclusion and ensuring economic viability for all stakeholders, the framework involves setting long-term goals, implementing sustainable measures, evaluating performance, and continually improving internal and external processes and policies — all with the aim of reducing the environmental and social impact of the large-scale international events that WBD Sports promote.SHAPING THE PRESENT AND THE FUTURE OF THE SPORTWBD Sports’ CSR roadmap also places a strong focus on fostering inclusivity and equality within the sport, while inspiring the next generation of riders.Building on the networking breakfast held in Les Gets in 2024, which brought together women from across the mountain bike community, the brand-new Women in Mountain Bike program marked its first milestone in 2025 with the appointment of a WBD Ambassador.The Ambassador’s role is to connect athletes, staff, industry members and media voices to share ideas, identify challenges and collaborate on solutions to ensure the sport is equally accessible for women.The initiative aims to help build an inclusive and equitable environment and increase female representation across all areas of the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series, which will hopefully have a trickle-down effect to the wider mountain bike community.The 2025 season also provided once-in-a-lifetime opportunities for young people, hosting special kids press conferences in partnership with Local Organising Committees at Saalfelden Leogang – Salzburgerland (Austria), Lenzerheide (Switzerland) and Pal Arinsal (Andorra) where children from local schools and bike clubs had the opportunity to interview their heroes.Riders involved in the unique experience included WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series stars Valentina Höll (Commencal Schwalbe By Les Orres), Andreas Kolb (Santa Cruz Syndicate), Mona Mitterwallner (Mondraker Factory Racing XC), Loïc Bruni (Specialized Gravity), Loris Vergier (Commencal Muc-Off By Riding Addiction), Loana Lecomte (BMC Factory Racing), Camille Balanche, Finn Treudler (Cube Factory Racing), Thomas Litscher and Fiona Schibler (Bike Team Solothurn).This enriching experience connected the present and the future of the sport, inspiring enthusiasm among the next generation and encouraging their active participation in sporting events.Chris Ball, VP Cycling Events at Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe, said: “Our impact on the territories we visit around the world is aimed to continue long after the races are won. From individual actions in one location to wide-reaching strategies that guide how we operate globally, these initiatives are an integral part of our operations and hold significant importance for all stakeholders involved in delivering our events. This is not just words on paper; every decision we make takes into account how it aligns with our CSR roadmap”.Looking ahead to the 2026 season, WBD Sports remains committed to delivering events that are as thrilling on the trails as they are responsible, innovative and pioneering off them. The initiatives and actions launched this season will continue to grow and evolve, ensuring that the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series not only raises the bar in sporting performance but also leads the way in social and environmental impact.

Michelin has a long and storied history in mountain biking, so it made perfect sense when the iconic French manufacturer became a major, long-term partner of the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series in 2024.But the world’s premier mountain biking racing contest is much more than an activation and marketing opportunity for the world’s leading tyre manufacturer. In fact, each of the race rounds acts as a test bed, where it ideates, creates, and refines its products over the cut-and-thrust nature of a race weekend.Its partnership with Origine Racing Division is a prime example of this relationship. The newly launched team worked closely with Michelin throughout the season, developing a range of cross-country tyres that were put through their paces by up-and-coming talent, such as Mathis Azzaro.The results speak for themselves too – Azzaro finishing fourth and seventh in the XCO and XCC standings overall in 2025, recording six podium places along the way and a bronze medal at the 2025 UCI Cross-country Short Track World Championships.Here, Michelin’s racing program manager Vincent Ledieu explains how the partnership with a UCI Mountain Bike World Series Team led to the development of new race-focused cross-country prototypes.THE ORIGIN OF THE PARTNERSHIPMichelin has been an ever-present at the pinnacle of mountain biking since the sport’s early days, so it was an obvious choice when Origine Racing Division founder Maxime Marotte was looking for a tyre partner to help elevate his new outfit to the top level.“In 2024, Maxime Marotte decided to create his own team after many successful years competing at the highest level in Olympic Cross-Country,” says Vincent Ledieu. “At Les Gets, we were shown the first outline of this ambitious project, and Maxime confirmed to us at Mont-Sainte-Anne, in the Michelin truck, that the team would be launched.“Maxime told us about an exciting roster of riders full of potential. The Origine team also announced that their goal is to develop top-level equipment (bike, drivetrain) as well as young talent (such as Mathis Azzaro).”A PERFECT FITMarotte’s ambitious project struck a chord with Vincent Ledieu, and it matched Michelin’s own development-focused goals.“Our mission at the highest level of competition is to meet the needs of our teams through continuous development of our tyres,” he says. “Competition is a laboratory for Michelin, and our teams are our partners for developing, thinking outside the box, and testing technologies all year long, across several continents.“Maxime came to know Michelin well when he was racing for the BH team. It was during those years that he experienced this ‘development program’, and that is certainly why he thought of us.”A STRONG STARTMichelin wasted no time and delivered prototypes featuring new designs and casings to the team and its riders during the 2024-25 off-season. There has been constant dialogue ever since, with feedback helping to refine the tyres at every stage of their development.“Three tread patterns have been tested, validated, and used in UCI World Cup races. The team has also tried different casing variants and tread compounds,” says Vincent Ledieu.“After a year of intense riding, we have jointly validated a strong-yet-lightweight casing for the most demanding XCO races. A compound has also been approved that offers a good balance between pedaling efficiency and grip in wet and muddy conditions. In addition, we now have a new portfolio of tread designs to give the team the best possible tools to adapt to the terrain and weather conditions they may encounter throughout the season.”But the process isn’t limited to the current range of cross-country tyres, and it’s a continuous development cycle that will influence designs and trends for years to come.“A year of work and technical feedback not only allows us to validate technologies, it also lets us plan ahead,” he explains. “We have already identified improvement areas in our design to give the team better chances in certain conditions. For example, performing well in Short Track is increasingly important for starting the XCO race on the front row, naturally increasing the chances of fighting for a podium. This is why, in 2026, we will work on tyre solutions that allow even better performance in XCC events and in XCO races with less technical terrain.”FUTURE GOALSOrigine Racing Division is clearly just getting started, with riders like Mathis Azzaro and Martina Berta targeting even greater things in 2026. And Michelin will be with the team every pedal stroke of the way, helping them achieve their ambitious targets.“Michelin wants to continue developing and collaborating with the Origine team to give them an even greater chance of reaching their podium goals in 2026,” says Vincent Ledieu. “The Origine team is one of the pillars of our ambition to provide our customers with top-level cross-country tyres. Follow the team, follow us at the UCI World Cups, and you’ll discover for yourself what we’re working on.“But above all, we are looking forward to seeing our team shine in the races and reach podiums throughout the season. The consistent performance of the Origine team and its steady rise throughout the 2025 season give us hope for great results in 2026 – our shared goal is to win.”

In its third season as broadcaster, promoter and organiser, Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) Sports drove the 2025 WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series to new records across broadcast, digital and social platforms, and on-site fan attendance*.2025 reached a true turning point with significant updates to UCI Regulations, including major changes to the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup qualification system and the introduction of WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series Teams. These reforms build on a groundbreaking long-term partnership between WBD Sports and the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) launched in 2023, unifying most major mountain bike formats under a single brand for the first time.During 16 race weekends in 10 countries across three continents, 64 UCI World Cup winners were crowned, with new overall champions emerging in all-but-one Elite category, highlighting the heightened competitiveness and excitement driven by the latest reforms. On the industry side, 30 mountain bike manufacturers secured UCI World Cup victories through their trade teams during the season with Canyon leading the table, closely followed by Cube and Specialized.The 2025 season also welcomed an exciting new long-term partner venue in La Thuile – Valle D’Aosta  (Italy), which hosted the first-ever UCI Enduro World Cup night race, alongside the introduction of a thrilling Downhill course at a 2024 newcomer venue Lake Placid Olympic Region (USA) and the return of several iconic venues across South America, North America and Europe.NEW BENCHMARKS SET FOR VIEWERSHIPFor the third consecutive year, the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series saw record-breaking worldwide TV viewership. WBD’s channels and platforms (HBO Max, Eurosport, discovery+ and TNT Sports) accounted for the majority of the audience, generating over 87 million cumulative views across the season. This growth was fuelled bythousands of hours of racing broadcast on over 25 partner TV and streaming channels, extending the series’ reach to fans in over 150 countries and territories worldwide.As part of the reform, the UCI and WBD Sports also worked closely with the teams to deliver greater exposure and enhanced marketing opportunities. Broadcast graphics were upgraded to maximise on-screen visibility and increase the media value for teams, athletes and brands, incorporating elements such as headshots, race bike images, team logos, colours, career numbers and national flags. These enhancements helped raise awareness among millions of fans watching worldwide, while creating a more cohesive and recognisable visual identity across events and media platforms.In parallel, WBD continued to enhance its broadcasts to help viewers better understand the racing and provide deeper context for fans at home, with accessible, data-driven insights such as heart-rate zones and athlete strain metrics during races — all powered by WHOOP.In 2025, WBD also invested in a portfolio of non-live cycling content, with the launch of two new, original documentaries – Grit and Glory: Enduro Mountain Bike Racing, an inside look at the 2025 UCI Enduro World Cup season, and Race Bikes, a deep dive into the sport’s fastest machines.FAN-LED GROWTHWBD takes storytelling beyond live broadcasts, capturing every moment on and off the track through comprehensive digital and social coverage.During the 2025 season, more than 250,000 new users followed the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series official accounts (TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube), bringing the total follower count to 1.25 million. This season, social channels have continued to bring fans closer to the action whilst attracting new audiences to the sport, surpassing one billion impressions since the start of the WBD Sports era in 2023.This interest carried over into the expanded media coverage of the series on owned and earned platforms. The new official WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series website (an essential hub for all news, previews, reports and athlete profiles) saw record-breaking volumes of traffic in 2025, generating 5 million total page views (+233% vs 2024) taking the total to more than 10 million since the series’ inception in 2023.Along with the millions of viewers watching at home and online, a record 440,000 fans attended on-site, with 97% of those surveyed saying they would return to another WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series event in the future. More than 100,000 descended on Haute-Savoie alone over two weekends of racing in Les Gets and Morillon.Chris Ball, VP Cycling Events at Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe, said: “The third year of the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series has exceeded all expectations. What began as an ambitious vision a few years ago has now become one of the most thrilling spectacles on the international sporting calendar. With the continued support of the UCI, which has embraced our ambition for change, we have introduced reforms that are genuinely transforming the sport and elevating the experience for both athletes and fans.We are proud to see these results reflect the positive response to the changes we believed in from the outset, and we remain confident that we will continue to drive growth and innovation with every new season.”UCI President David Lappartientsaid: "From the opening rounds in Brazil in April, to four months of racing in European destinations, before returning to the American continent for the final two rounds - in the USA and Canada – the 2025 WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series was an enormous success. Thanks to our collaboration with Warner Bros. Discovery Sports we have taken this leading mountain bike series to new heights, both in terms of sporting interest and international popularity. We will continue to work together to build on this success and ensure that both mountain bike athletes and fans can continue to look forward to innovative and exciting season-long competitions.”EYES ON 2026The 2025 season marked the most significant overhaul in mountain bike since the inception of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in 1991, reshaping the sport’s landscape, raising professional standards across the series, and elevating elite teams to new levels and new audiences worldwide. Building on these strong foundations, the 2026 WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series aims to deliver another record-breaking season across all four formats.The 2026 season kicks off in May with the Race of South Korea – marking the return of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup to the Asian continent for the first time in 25 years. The series will also make first-time stops at Soldier Hollow, Midway, Utah (USA) and Downhill’s spiritual home of Whistler Mountain Bike Park, British Columbia (Canada), delivering on decades of anticipation from fans, teams and athletes alike. And this is just a taste of things to come, with 14 race weekend across three continents, nine countries, including two quadruple headers and a series finale in the US at the iconic Lake Placid Olympic Region.*Figures from January 1st – November 1st 2025