Big changes to how you qualify to enter a UCI World Cup, plus qualifying in a World Cup, plus a pathway from national to international racing have been announced.
The UCI have announced changes to the World Cup format for the 2025 season, with limits on total team numbers, wildcard teams, Continental Series, F1-style qualifying, career numbers and more.
Team numbers is a big one. UCI Elite Trade Teams now become UCI Mountain Bike World Series Teams, with a total of 40 split across downhill and enduro. Normal UCI MTB Teams will be managed by the UCI and will not have their numbers capped.
Eight wildcard teams per round will also be given the opportunity to compete. Whilst it’s not the end of privateers, there’s criteria to meet ranking wise or if they are a national, continental, Olympic or World Champion in their format. National federations see their quota for riders unchanged.
Which teams make the cut for the 15 of the 20 team spots is based on UCI team ranking, the other five are wildcards. We know Dorval AM Commencal aren’t racing next year, which bumps Canyon Collective FMD into 15th. Pivot Factory Racing currently sit 17th in the standings.
All this is with a view to keep the cream of the crop at World Cups, increase exposure, produce more competitive racing and increase fan engagement. Trimming down the amount of people riding World Cups goes nowhere without a feeder series, and there is a Continental Series in the offing in conjunction with five Continental Confederations.

Semi finals goes and is replaced with Q2… In another shake up, 2025 will see Q1, Q2 and Finals for downhill World Cups. All riders will compete in Q1, with 10 Elite Women and 20 Elite Men going through to finals. Those that don’t make the Q1 cut get another go in Q2, where half the number of riders go through, that being 5 Elite Women and 10 Elite Men. Elite Women’s finals grows by five riders.
Riders will no longer be able to make use of protected status as the rule is scrapped, with riders being rewarded on how well they go at each venue. We assume that Juniors still just qualify then go to finals as there’s no mention of it in the official press release.
Other than the #1 plate which supersedes the career number, which is the reserve of the then series leader, riders will pick career numbers. The new rule sees “all previous Elite winners of a UCI World Cup round (in Cross-country Olympic or Downhill) who are still competing, will be required to select personal colours and a unique career number.” Podiums for 2025 will drop to three riders only, down from five.
Prior to the establishment of a Continental Series, we would have been pretty uncertain about a massive trimming of those attending World Cups. The ability for a rider to shine on their given day was one of the most exciting ways to see new talent come through. Will we see the Ronan Dunnes and the Dylan Mapleses rise through the ranks without a huge field? Yes, tracks get demolished with 300 riders practicing and starting in the dark at Lourdes can’t be fun…
If the feeder series works then we’ve no issue with it. We just hope it gets as good an airing as the World Cups or it’s just not going to get the attention it needs. From what we’ve seen though, the biggest hurdle WBD currently have is regaining the lost audience. Few people we know that watched the Red Bull streams are paying to watch on WBD. For the love of gravity-fed mountain bicycling, we hope they do.