Countdown to The Golden Arrows Begins : Judging Panels, Award Criteria and Mountain Bike Hall Of Fame Inductees Confirmed

Strong broadcast performances, growing digital engagement and more than 300,000 fans attending in person have defined the first two blocks of racing - in Asia and Europe - of the 2026 WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series*. With two-thirds of the 2026 calendar now complete, the series heads into its final stretch with a block of North American events still to come, including two new venues in Soldier Hollow (Midway, Utah - USA) and Whistler Mountain Bike Park (British Columbia, Canada).RECORD-BREAKING VIEWERSHIP ON HBO MAXWBD continues to air the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series to a truly global audience thanks to its owned channels (HBO Max, Eurosport, TNT Sports and discovery+) complemented by agreements with over 20 broadcast partners, including a dedicated MTBWS TV platform.After 11 weekends of racing and 38 UCI World Cup races broadcast live, WBD’s flagship streaming platform, HBO Max, has delivered record viewership in 2026, surpassing previous benchmarks since its first mountain bike broadcast in May 2024. Average HBO Max views per round are up 45% compared with 2025, while total watch hours have also increased by 46%. Total HBO Max views this season are already close to last year’s full-season total, with three rounds of live and highlights coverage still to come. This growth has been supported by stronger digital and on-site promotion, alongside HBO Max’s global subscriber growth as the platform continues to expand into new markets.ALWAYS ON CONTENTWBD’s coverage extends beyond a race weekend’s on-site action and live broadcast with a 360-degree ecosystem that documents the twists and turns at every stage of the season.The WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series social channels are posting more content to more fans than ever before, with total social reach surpassing 280 million in 2026. So far this year*, the channels have generated nearly 200 million video views, close to 10 million engagements and gained more than 130,000 new followers across TikTok, Instagram, Facebookand YouTube.YouTube has also delivered record audiences, with the channel nearing a quarter of a million subscribers. The Elite Men’s UCI Cross-country Olympic (XCO) World Cup highlights from Nové Mĕsto Na Moravĕ set a new video views record with more than 330,000 views, while highlight packages across all formats are attracting higher average audiences per race weekend than in 2025.This success has also been recognised by the industry, with the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series social media channels shortlisted for the SportsPro Awards 2026 alongside some of the biggest names in global sport.The official WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series website has also continued to play an integral role, providing news, updates and event information to users from across the world, with 3.5 million total page views since the start of the 2026 series, a significant increase compared to the same period in 2025.Alongside the official website, the brand-new WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series Fan App was also launched in May 2026, allowing fans to stay connected with the latest news and event updates wherever they are. Since launch, it has generated 13,000 downloads across iOS and Android users, creating another way for fans to access always-on content.STRONG ON-SITE ATTENDANCEAt the heart of it all are the UCI World Cup rounds themselves and the unparalleled race-day experience. From the opening round in MONA YongPyong (South Korea) to the final European stop in Les Gets, Haute-Savoie (France), over 300,000 fans have lined the courses of iconic and new venues alike, creating a vibrant and electric atmosphere that’s been felt both trackside and by viewers around the world.They are extremely engaged with what they experience on-site too, with on site survey respondents finding that 98% would attend another WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series event again, while ranking the ‘quality of racing’ at 9.1/10.THE TEAMS AND BRANDS DRIVING SUCCESSBeyond the growth in audiences and fan engagement, the 2026 WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series season has showcased outstanding performances from the sport’s leading teams and bike brands.In cross-country, Specialized Factory Racing, Canyon XC Racing and Origine Racing Division have emerged as the most successful teams so far this season in terms of Elite UCI World Cup victories. Their success has been driven by some of the sport’s biggest stars, including Sina Frei, Laura Stigger and Adrien Boichis for Specialized Factory Racing, Jenny Rissveds for Canyon XC Racing, and Martina Berta and Mathis Azzaro for Origine Racing Division, all of whom have delivered standout performances throughout the campaign.In downhill, Commencal Schwalbe by Les Orres, Specialized Gravity and Frameworks Racing / TRP have consistently produced winning performances across the opening two-thirds of the season. Five-time UCI Downhill World Cup overall winner Valentina Höll and her teammate Lisa Baumann have spearheaded the success of Commencal Schwalbe by Les Orres. Meanwhile, victories from overall Elite Men leader Jordan Williams and teammate Finn Iles have helped establish Specialized Gravity among the most successful teams in the discipline this season. Rising stars Asa Vermette and Anna Newkirk have played a key role in Frameworks Racing / TRP’s strong results throughout the campaign.These results also underline the strength of the brands powering the sport’s top athletes, with Specialized, Canyon and Commencal standing out as the most successful bike manufacturers in Elite UCI World Cup competition so far in 2026.CREATING A LEGACYAs part of its commitment to growing mountain biking, WBD Sports is also focused on creating a lasting legacy through its corporate social responsibility work. Its CSR roadmap has been in development since 2023, with several initiatives launching this year to spotlight the activities of WBD and its partners.This year has seen historic change through the Women in Mountain Bike initiative – a central pillar of WBD Sports’ CSR roadmap – and the creation of a Women in MTB Working Group. Notable achievements include the first-ever rescheduling of the downhill running order at Saalfelden Leogang-Salzburgerland (Austria) with the Women Elite stars closing the show, while there have been numerous Women in MTB Events that provide networking and social meetings to bring women at the forefront of the sport together.The first edition of the Legacy Award will also see the CSR actions of riders, teams and local organising committees rewarded and celebrated as part of the new Golden Arrow Awards ceremony on Sunday 4th of October, following the final WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series round of the year in Lake Placid Olympic Sites, New York (USA).

As an Official Supplier of the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series, Mavic has unveiled the new Crossmax Ultimate, its lightest-ever cross-country wheelset, developed in collaboration with UCI World Cup athletes and already competing on the sport’s biggest stage.Designed with one clear objective in mind, maximising speed without compromise, the new Crossmax Ultimate combines cutting-edge carbon construction, ultralight hubs and carbon spokes to deliver a wheelset weighing just 1080 grams per pair. According to Mavic, every element has been redesigned in pursuit of pure performance, resulting in significant weight savings across the rim, spokes and hub system.The French manufacturer says the wheelset was born from extensive collaboration with elite cross-country racers, drawing on athlete feedback, laboratory testing and real-world race validation. The result is a wheel designed to offer explosive acceleration, immediate engagement and exceptional handling precision on the demanding modern cross-country courses featured throughout the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series.At the heart of the Crossmax Ultimate is Mavic’s Adaptive Layup carbon rim technology, which optimises carbon fibre placement to balance low weight, stiffness and vibration absorption. Complementing the rims are carbon spokes with titanium nipples and a new ultralight hub platform equipped with ceramic bearings and a 40-tooth ratchet system designed for rapid power transfer.The performance credentials of the Crossmax Ultimate have already been demonstrated during the 2026 WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series season with a victory for Katrin Embacher in the U23 UCI Cross-country Olympic World Cup in Nové Město Na Moravĕ, alongside several top-10 results from riders competing for the KTM XC Factory Racing and Mondraker XC Factory Racing teams.Nine months of field testing with professional athletes helped refine the final product before its launch, while every wheelset is hand-built and inspected at the company's Chavanod Test Laboratory in the French Alps.The new Mavic Crossmax Ultimate is available with a recommended retail price of €2,299. For more information about Mavic and its range of performance mountain bike products, visit the official Mavic website.

Max Commencal, Tracy Moseley, Greg Minnaar and Stan Day are the latest to be recognised for their contribution to mountain biking, joining other legends of the sport including Rachel Atherton (2021), Steve Peat (2018) and Gary Fisher (1988) as members of the prestigious group.The quartet will officially be inducted at a ceremony that is being held in conjunction with the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series season finale at The Golden Arrows – a new annual awards event taking place on October 4 at the Lake Placid Olympic Center.But ahead of their enrollment, here’s why each is a worthy inductee of one of mountain biking’s biggest honours.MAX COMMENCALCommencal is well-known for his eponymous bike brand, Commencal Bicycles, which he founded in Andorra in 2000, and his role in the success of some of Downhill’s biggest names including Amaury Pierron (COMMENCAL/MUC-OFF by Riding Addiction), Vali Höll (Commencal/Schwalbe by Les Orres) and Myriam Nicole (COMMENCAL/MUC-OFF by Riding Addiction).His story in the sport precedes the turn of the millennium though, and he was also the founder and head designer of Sunn bicycles – the brand responsible for Nicolas Vouilloz’s record 10 UCI World Championship titles.Outside of designing race-winning machines, he has also been a driving force behind the professionalisation of downhill racing from the format’s formative days through to the modern era.TRACY MOSELEYBritish rider Moseley is one of the greats of Gravity, having dominated both Downhill and Enduro during her storied career. The pinnacle of the former came during the late 2000s and early 2010s when she won two UCI Downhill World Cup overall titles (2006 and 2011) and the 2010 UCI Downhill World Championships. After transitioning to Enduro, she clinched three consecutive Enduro World Series titles between 2013 and 2015.Although she stepped away from Enduro in 2016 to start a family, she returned to the format’s e-MTB iteration in 2020 and still competes despite starting her career more than three decades ago.Outside of racing, Moseley is a trailblazer and inspiration for generations of women in the sport, and has mentored some of the biggest names of the sport including Evie Richards (Trek-Unbroken XC), Ella Conolly and Harriet Harnden (AON Racing).GREG MINNAARThe G.O.A.T of Downhill, Greg Minnaar’s professional career is unlikely to be replicated in its success or longevity. The South African made his UCI World Cup debut in 1997 in Stellenbosch and didn’t hang up his helmet until the final round of the 2024 season. During that 27-year career, he won everything there was to in the sport, including three overall titles (2001, 2005 and 2008), four UCI Downhill World Championships (2003, 2012, 2013 and 2021), and 22 UCI World Cups and 86 podiums from 167 starts.The 44-year-old is still an ever-present at race weekends too in his new role as Team Director for Norco x adidas Race Division, where he has been influential in Gracey Hemstreet’s (Norco x adidas Race Division) progression from top-10 regular to three-time UCI Downhill World Cup winner and consistent podium finisher.STAN DAYThe fourth and final inductee is SRAM co-founder Stan Day. After introducing the Grip Shift to the world in the late 1980s, the Chicago-based component manufacturer has grown to become an integral groupset manufacturer across mountain bike, road cycling and triathlon, and its umbrella of brands include RockShox (suspension), Quarq (power meters) and Hammerhead (cycling technology company).Day was the company’s CEO from 1987 until 2019, and oversaw some of the biggest developments in componentry the sport has ever seen, including the universal derailleur hanger, a shift to 1x drivetrains and wireless shifting.In addition to helping drive groundbreaking innovations, Day is also a director on the board of World Bicycle Relief – an international non-profit that specialises in bicycle distribution programs to aid poverty relief in developing countries.