The transfer market in MTB is about to explode

There are still a few very intense months left in the MTB 2024 calendar and what happens in the final races could condition a transfer market that will be more active than usual for the next year. All rumors point to an important change of cyclists and teams that would leave a new grid in a few months.

The end of the Olympic cycle anticipates big changes among MTB cyclists and teams

Unlike other sports, or road cycling itself, in mountain biking contracts between cyclists, teams, and sponsorships usually fall within the Olympic cycles, the 4-year period that occurs between one Olympics and the next. And with the closure of Paris, activity among representatives, team leaders, and brands is rising like foam.

Contracts in cycling usually end with the calendar year and after the Olympic event, an exciting end of the season awaits us in which cyclists will seek to have a great performance or a last victory that allows them to have greater negotiating power for their next contracts. Remember that we still have to celebrate the XCM European Championship on August 18, the UCI World Championship from August 28 to September 1, or two World Cup events between late September and early October. And while some parties may be interested in closing certain contracts already, others will surely decide to wait and see what happens in the final races.

In addition, all rumors point to the XCO grid could undergo major changes with the disappearance of important teams linked to XCO from their origins and the complete restructuring of others. This will cause a shuffle of stars that we will discover in the coming months or it may take us to the last weeks of 2024 and the first ones of 2025.

The only thing announced so far is that the current Olympic champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot will switch to road cycling in 2025 with Visma-Lease a Bike, something that will leave a very important gap among the XCO favorites.