Between the tape: No Vacancy

Transfer season is over and the dynamic of professional XCO racing is changing. Delve deep into this wonderful world with our regular columnist Sebastian Jayne.

AMB Magazine 23.04.2017

Words: Sebastian Jayne
Photo: @robertconroycreative

The new year has started and that means it’s time for full gas summer racing and adventures with mates. It’s also a great time to sit down with some popcorn and see what teams the professional riders will be racing for in 2017. While the transfer season in mountain biking isn’t quite as dynamic as it is in road cycling, there were still some big changes. The future of the riders from the Multivan Merida team was of particular interest after the announcement that they would be closing the doors at the end of 2016. As one of the biggest teams on the cross-country mountain biking circuit, their departure saw some stellar names without a team for the upcoming campaign. 

Arguably the biggest star on the team was Czech rider Ondrej Cink. When news broke that he would be moving to the newly formed Bahrain Merida world tour road cycling team, it came as a bit of a surprise. Most people probably chalked it off as just another mountain biker going to road and thought nothing of it. But it was later revealed that Cink, who had just raced to second place behind Julian Absalon at the final round of the World Cup in Vallnord, actually wanted to stay in mountain biking but couldn’t find a team! 

Cink later explained some of the background, claiming that lack of interest from sponsors meant there was a lack of funding for teams who might have wanted to sign him. With fans only getting six World Cup races per year plus the World Championship to watch live on Red Bull and some select TV channels, it seems to be a valid point. 

Cink’s case could be easy to sweep aside as a single occurrence – but then came the news that Australia’s favourite XC couple, Dan McConnell and Bec Henderson, would no longer be racing for Trek Factory racing in 2017. This unfortunate news, whatever the reason behind it, brings the total number of Australian professional XCO riders at the time of writing to … zero. While this isn’t an exceptionally surprising statistic, given that there are not many professional XCO riders in the world, it’s still tough news to hear for future generations.

So, that’s it then, XCO is dead, time to go to road. But wait, what about the World Cup at Nove Mesto? Where the 4.5km track is lined, sometimes five rows deep, with screaming crazy people yelling for each and every rider. Or Albstadt, where you can barely get to the start line because of all the people in town. Then you look at the massive 45 per cent increase in viewership on Red Bull’s World Cup coverage in 2015 compared to 2014 and suddenly it is not all doom and gloom. Although mountain biking isn’t towing around the massive bandwagon that road cycling has and things can get a little rocky at times, it is improving. 

As mentioned, the increase in viewers is, in large part, due to the great work done by Red Bull. It was great to see during last year’s World Cup coverage that Red Bull decided not just to concentrate on the races, but also focused on profiling the riders that make the events so exciting. Producing those kind of programmes is a big part of increasing the viewers’ experience because knowing more about the person under the helmet gets people more involved and subsequently interested in how the rider fares during the race. 

Hopefully, Red Bull continues to do this in 2017 and expands the coverage as well by focusing on the top 20 as opposed to just the top two. For example, the Monster Energy Supercross (motor bikes) coverage does this well by highlighting the battles for lower positions and not just the leader riding around by himself. Having said that, the battles between Nino Schurter and Julien Absalon are pretty epic!

For Australians, the lack of ‘professional’ riders hasn’t diminished the racing scene with healthy numbers at the opening round of the National Series, which will hopefully grow as it continues. Speaking of racing in Australia, now is the perfect time to start planning your trip to the Cairns World Championships in September and getting the deals on flights and accommodation. It promises to be an amazing race – just as the Stromlo World Champs of 2009 was!

So do not fret, XCO racing is far from dead and if you are interested in giving it a go, head onto the MTBA website and have a look at the calendar for where the remaining national rounds and national championships are being held. Anybody can race them and you can live out your fantasy of being Schurter attacking Absalon up a climb or simply putting the pressure on your mates down the descent! Happy riding!