BMC finalises its XCO World Cup team, backing women’s cycling and gravel

In mountain biking, another of its historic teams is lost. BMC has confirmed that it will end its official cross-country structure at the end of 2026, a decision that comes just a few months after strengthening its sports project with the incorporation of gravel. The Swiss brand is not completely abandoning MTB, but will shift a good part of its efforts to women's road cycling and new off-road competition initiatives.

BMC Factory Racing disappears from the XCO World Cup in 2027

The company has explained in an official statement that this is a reorganization of its sports sponsorships for 2027 and confirms that both the riders and the team staff were aware of the decision since spring of this year. 

The closure affects BMC Factory Racing, another of the most established structures in international XCO that is leaving this year. Its 2026 roster included illustrious cyclists such as Loana Lecomte, Jordan Sarrou, Titouan Carod, and Luke Wiedmann.

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BMC started 2026 in the World Cup thanks to an invitation, as it was not among the top 20 ranked, but at the same time presented a new identity for its sports program, unifying MTB and gravel under the concept BMC Factory Racing Off-Road. That expansion included Spanish rider Marta Torà Milà and Swiss rider Roman Holzer to compete in gravel.

Now the company is changing direction and is dispensing with its XCO factory team. This does not mean it will completely disappear from the discipline, as BMC will maintain its sponsorship of the Bike Team Solothurn, a Swiss structure linked to the development of riders.

Amaël Moinard, BMC's sports marketing manager, has valued the work developed over the years:

"We have been fortunate to work alongside world-class athletes and trusted partners, whose commitment has made this success possible."

The manager also hints that the change will allow for new collaborations in 2027, the details of which will be revealed in the coming weeks.

Women's road cycling and gravel will be the new objectives

One of the main novelties will be BMC's entry into the women's professional road peloton. The brand considers its absence in this category a pending task and has already initiated the necessary moves to correct it.

For now, it has not announced which women's team will use its bicycles in 2027, although it assures that it will officially present the project soon.

In men's road cycling, it will continue its collaboration with Tudor Pro Cycling, a relationship that BMC intends to strengthen within this new strategy.

Gravel will also have more prominence. The brand is preparing an expanded support program for off-road athletes, a discipline in which it was already present this season and has developed collaborations with competitions such as the Nordic Gravel Series.

Another historic team disappears from XCO

The closure of BMC Factory Racing adds to that announced by Cannondale, which will also bid farewell to its official XCO structure at the end of 2026. These are two reference projects that are disappearing almost simultaneously, although the brands maintain different sports strategies.

The situation reinforces the debate about the current state of the MTB World Cup and the difficulties faced by some professional structures, especially after recent changes in the championship and the closure of other teams.

In the case of BMC, the manufacturer has not publicly linked its decision to any specific economic cause or the costs of participating in the World Cup. Its official explanation focuses on a redistribution of its sports investments, although the truth is that the team's sports results have been quite modest in recent seasons.

The future of Lecomte, Sarrou, Carod, and Wiedmann remains to be seen, as well as the final composition of its new gravel program. BMC has also not yet detailed the scope of its upcoming sponsorship in women's cycling.