The 32-inch Van Rysel RCR-XC is now a reality: it will be Decathlon Ford’s new bike, with Luca Martin riding it in 2027

Van Rysel has just taken one of the most important steps since its inception. The high-performance brand from Decathlon officially enters the MTB, a discipline that until now the French giant had mainly developed under the Rockrider umbrella. And it does so with the Van Rysel RCR-XC, a competition dual suspension developed directly around 32-inch wheels.

Van Rysel enters MTB in style with a spectacular 32"

The arrival of Van Rysel in mountain biking means much more than the launch of a new frame. For years, Rockrider has been Decathlon's reference brand in MTB, also in competition, but the group has now decided to extend the Van Rysel identity, which has grown rapidly in road, gravel, and triathlon, to XC.

The RCR-XC is the result of several months of work on a new structure specifically for mountain biking, including an R&D division located in the French Alps. The goal set from the beginning has been to develop a bike aimed at winning XC races at the highest level.

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And Van Rysel has transferred much of the methodology used in its road bikes to the project. The brand claims to have worked based on competition data analysis, field tests, wind tunnel testing, and joint development with riders, in addition to having partners like Zipp, RockShox, and Vittoria.

Van Rysel has not yet published a complete technical sheet for the RCR-XC, but the first images reveal many details of a bike that clearly departs from the current Rockrider 940.

At first glance, the frame uses larger diameter tubes and a monopivot rear suspension scheme, while the front area showcases one of the most interesting solutions of the entire set.

The increased height of a fork for 32" wheels necessitates finding new formulas to maintain a low competition position, and in this case, the integrated handlebar adopts a pronounced seagull wing shape and double inverted height that allows for the lowest hand position possible.

The Zipp 32" wheels are also completely new, with a particularly wide profile, about which no information has yet been provided, and we will likely learn more details soon. Additionally, the suspensions feature a RockShox Flight Attendant fork and shock still in the development phase, components that we have already seen rolling in the World Cup on bikes from the SCOTT and Trek teams.

The first Van Rysel MTB is already 32 inches

Probably the most striking aspect of the RCR-XC is that Van Rysel has decided to skip the intermediate phase and bet on 32-inch wheels from its first MTB.

The brand explains that it began analyzing data from the international circuit using the Paris 2024 Olympic Games race as a starting point, paying special attention to three variables: speed, power, and time. This study ultimately led the project towards the new wheel diameter, which Van Rysel believes can provide real advantages in competition.

The RCR-XC thus joins a trend that during 2026 has shifted from being practically experimental to becoming one of the major technical topics of the World Cup. The significant point is that Van Rysel does not present a 29" bike prepared to accommodate larger wheels, but rather a competition platform designed directly around the 32" standard.

Despite the increase in diameter, Van Rysel claims that the carbon frame is 230 grams lighter, in size M, than the 29-inch platform currently used by the team. The rigidity of the set has also been adjusted after several days of testing with the DECATHLON FORD riders.

They have also taken the RCR-XC to the wind tunnel

Another unusual detail for an XC bike is the prominence that Van Rysel has given to aerodynamics.

The RCR-XC has gone through the wind tunnel following a methodology similar to that used by the brand in road cycling. According to their own tests, the new bike allows saving 15.5 watts at 35 km/h compared to the MTB used by the team during the 2026 season.

A speed of 35 km/h may seem high for discussing MTB, but it fits with a modern World Cup where there are increasingly more fast sections, high-speed starts, and circuits where differences are decided by seconds.

Luis Moro, MTB product manager at Van Rysel, summarizes the philosophy followed during development:

“We did not want to make just another mountain bike, but one of the fastest in the world”.

For Van Rysel, the sought combination is to take advantage of the dynamics of 32-inch wheels without incurring a weight penalty compared to a 29".

Luca Martin, Samara Maxwell, and Savilia Blunk will debut the new stage

Van Rysel's entry into MTB will be accompanied by a significant change within the DECATHLON FORD team. Starting in 2027, Van Rysel will be their official supplier of both bikes and equipment, and the RCR-XC will be used in the World Cup by riders like Luca Martin (it has just been confirmed that the Frenchman has signed with Decathlon after the Cannondale team disappeared), Samara Maxwell, and Savilia Blunk.

Blunk had actually dropped a hint a few days ago by acknowledging that the team planned to compete with 32-inch bikes in 2027. The presentation of the RCR-XC now confirms that behind those words was a completely new project and, above all, that Decathlon has decided to place Van Rysel at the forefront of its MTB program.

The RCR-XC will initially be used exclusively by the professional riders of the team. Van Rysel will take advantage of that first season to continue gathering information and evolving the platform in the real conditions of the World Cup before making it available to the public.

For now, there is no announced date for its commercialization or final prices or setups. The first range of Van Rysel clothing specific to MTB will arrive in Europe during 2027, while the bike will be put on sale later.

With this RCR-XC, Van Rysel not only expands its catalog to a new discipline. The brand directly enters one of the biggest technological changes currently happening in XC, and it does so by putting 32-inch wheels in the hands of some of the best World Cup riders from its first season.