Martin Vidaurre talks about not signing with SCOTT SRAM and a contract that marked his first participation in the World Cup

Chilean rider Martín Vidaurre (Specialized Factory Racing) is establishing himself as one of the best cyclists in the XCO World Cup in 2025. A consecration that many had already anticipated and that confirms the trajectory he began in the U23 category. The rider himself talks about this leap to the elite and his first professional contracts in a recent video published on his YouTube channel, which is especially revealing for mountain bike fans.

Martín Vidaurre talks about the contract that marked his path from U23 champion to elite figure

Vidaurre was the U23 world champion in 2021 and made the leap to the elite category in 2023. Since then, he has only grown as one of the big names in international XCO. This year, at the World Cup in Brazil, he managed to get on the XCO podium in the first two rounds: he was third in the opening round and second in the next. Results that certify his sports maturity and his ability to compete with the best.

In 2022, his signing by Specialized Factory Racing was one of the most outstanding moves in the market. For months, there had been speculation about the possibility of him joining SCOTT-SRAM, alongside Nino Schurter, but he ultimately chose a different direction. Now, thanks to a series of personal interviews, we know better how that path was forged.

RECOMENDADO

Are you being deceived by gels? A study shows that some do not contain what they claim

We tested the Trek Rail+: power and agility without weak points

The cyclist's curse of watt/kilo

What are the most affordable XCO with Flight Attendant?

Shimmy Effect: why some bikes become uncontrollable when going downhill

Karolina Migoń and Cameron Jones win the Unbound Gravel 2025

As he himself recounts, it all started in 2018 during his first participation in a U23 World Cup. He competed as a guest of the German team Lexware Mountainbike Team, a satellite formation of SCOTT. That day he signed an outstanding eighth position that caught the attention of several sports directors.

At that time, he did not yet have a professional contract. It was Bart Brentjens, director of KMC Ridley, who made him the first formal offer at the end of that race. However, the Lexware team, aware of the talent they had on their hands, offered him a four-year contract with better conditions than the rest. Vidaurre signed it, not knowing then that that agreement could limit his options in the near future.

Over time and with the improvement of his results, new offers from other teams began to arrive. The rider himself acknowledges that, becoming aware of the value of his performance and his image, he tried to renegotiate to move to other teams. It was then that Lexware reminded him that he had a valid contract for four seasons with them. As he reveals for the first time, SCOTT-SRAM made him an offer as early as 2020 to join their ranks, but he could not accept it.

Finally, he managed to reach a friendly agreement with Lexware to complete his last year in U23, already dressed in the rainbow jersey of world champion. That last year was key, as it attracted the interest of several top-level professional structures. Among all of them, it was Specialized who ended up securing his signature to make the definitive leap to the elite.

On his YouTube channel, you can watch this and other conversations with Vidaurre about mountain biking and the races he is competing in this year.