It is official, these are the "first division" teams for the UCI MTB World Cup 2026

The UCI Mountain Bike World Cup 2026 will kick off on May 1 in Korea, but before that, there was an important announcement to make. The organization has just officially communicated the teams that will have access to all the championship events in their entirety in 2026. In total, there are 20 "first division XCO" teams and as many for the DH category, and finally, the doubts about what would happen with emblematic teams, such as the BH Coloma Team or BMC, which did not have a guaranteed spot until now, have been cleared up.

The UCI Mountain Bike World Cup 2026 now has official teams

As we already explained in Brujulabike in the article about how it is decided which teams will be in the World Cup, the system is now structured into World Series teams (previously known as UCI Elite) with two-year licenses for those ranked in the Top 10 of the previous year's ranking, and one-year licenses for the remaining 5 ranked up to the Top 15. Additionally, the organization grants 5 wildcards with a 1-year license to 5 teams that, while outside the Top 15, are included as World Series. This new organization was born with the aim of providing greater stability to the structures and limiting the size of the paddock.

For 2026, the organization has had the task of deciding who to give those 5 wildcards to, as according to the previous year's ranking, there were emblematic teams, such as the BMC MTB Team, that even finished behind the Top 20 and that the organization had to "rescue" with one of those wildcards. This has also benefited the Spanish teams BH Coloma Team and Mondraker Factory Racing XC. The other 2 spots have gone to Liv Factory Racing and Alpecin-Premier Tech.

World Series Endurance (XCO and XCC) teams for 2026

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2-year license

1. Specialized Factory Racing
2. Decathlon Ford Racing Team
3. Canyon XC Racing
4. Cannondale Factory Racing
5. Thömus Maxon
6. Wilier-Vittoria Factory Team
7. Orbea Fox Factory Team
8. Cube Factory Racing
9. Scott-SRAM MTB Racing Team
10. BIXS Race Team

1-year license

11. Trek - Unbroken XC
12. Origine Racing Division
13. KMC Nukeproof MTB Racing Team
14. Giant Factory Off-Road Team - XC
15. Lapierre PXR Racing

Wildcards (1-year license)

16. BH Coloma Team
17. Liv Factory Racing
18. Mondraker Factory Racing XC
19. BMC Factory Racing
20. Alpecin-Premier Tech

World Series Gravity (Downhill) teams for 2026

2-year license

1. Canyon DH Racing
2. Santa Cruz Syndicate
3. Commencal/Muc-Off by Riding Addiction
4. Orbea FMD Racing
5. Mondraker Factory Racing DH
6. Yeti / Fox Factory Race Team
7. Cube Factory Racing
8. Specialized Gravity
9. Trek - Unbroken DH
10. Commencal Schwalbe by Les Orres

1-year license

11. Norco X adidas Race Division
12. MS-Racing
13. Nukeproof Axess Racing
14. Unno Factory Racing DH
15. Giant Factory Off-Road Team – DH

Wildcards (1-year license)

16. Santa Cruz Burgtec by Goodman
17. Scott Downhill Factory
18. Frameworks Racing / TRP
19. AON Racing
20. Continental Atherton

With this list, the organization has finalized the fixed grid of teams for 2026, marking what seemed like a before and after in access to the World Cup. However, as we analyze here, everything remains quite the same. The multi-year licenses guarantee long-term continuity, while the one-year spots and wildcards introduce a limited margin for rotation.