The first MTB World Series events of the year fall into the ‘Endurance’ category and will take place in Brazil on April 3-6 (Round 1) and April 10-12 (Round 2). Under the new arrangements, the ‘World Series Teams’ all get guaranteed entries, while some Wildcard teams wait to hear if they’re lucky enough to be pulled from the hat.
It’s not quite a hat, however – there’s a set of criteria against which the Wildcards are assessed. Three of the teams that have been selected are already in Brazil, but there are three from Europe that will have to get their skates on and make arrangements to get over to the other side of the world. As the first even to follow this format, it’ll be interesting to see how this plays out in competition.
Trinity Racing, a British development team is one of the Wildcards, for those looking for some fresh UK talent to cheer for:
Here’s the official press release below:
The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) Sports confirm that seven wildcard teams have been selected for the first two Endurance rounds of the 2025 WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series, that will take place in Araxá – Minas Gerais (Brazil) on April 3-6 (Round 1) and April 10-12 (Round 2).
Three of the spots go to Brazilian teams Caloi Henrique Avancini Racing, Specialized Racing BR and Soul Extreme Racing Team, while the other four are taken by promising, development-focused European UCI MTB Teams that have a wealth of up-and-coming talent at their disposal.
With just one week separating the two opening rounds of the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series in Araxá – Minas Gerais, the seven teams have received a wildcard entry for both rounds and will join the 20 Endurance WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series Teams on the start line in Brazil.
Of the three local teams selected, the most well-known outside of Brazil is Caloi Henrique Avancini Racing. The three-rider squad is managed by the Brazilian legend and two-time UCI Cross-country Marathon World Champion Henrique Avancini, who recently announced that he is coming out of retirement to try his hand on the road.
Specialized Racing BR will have athletes represented across all racing categories (Elite, Under 23), while new team Soul Extreme Racing includes multi-time Brazilian Cross-country Olympic (XCO) National Champion, Karen Fernandes Olimpio.
Elsewhere, the Under-23-focused Lexware Mountain Bike Team has a squad that includes Elina Benoit – a Swiss rider who recorded a number of top 10 finishes in U23 races last season; Trinity Racing – the British development squad responsible for Haley Batten and Christopher Blevins – features new addition Line Burquier (Junior XCO UCI World Champion in 2021, then crowned U23 UCI World Champion the following year); while UCI World Cup regulars Maximilian Foidl (KTM Factory MTB Team) and Yana Belomoina (Massi) will be looking to use their years of experience to seize their wildcard opportunity in Brazil when the racing gets underway on 3-6 April.
The seven wildcard teams for rounds 1 and 2 of the 2025 WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series in Araxá Minas -Gerais are:
- Caloi Henrique Avancini Racing
- Specialized Racing BR
- Soul Extreme Racing Team
- Lexware Mountainbike Team
- Trinity Racing
- KTM Factory MTB Team
- Massi
