Lapierre announce factory team return to MTB World Cup

11 years after its withdrawal from elite XC competition, Lapierre has announced it is returning to the highest level of world XC mountain biking with the Lapierre-Mavic Unity team.

With less than 2 years to go until the next Olympic Games, the Lapierre brand has chosen to return to the forefront of the UCI XCO and XCC circuit, together with French wheel manufacturer Mavic, co-partners of the new project, fielding a cosmopolitan team, composed of 3 male and 3 female riders.

XC racing fans have known for 2 weeks now that Annie Last, a serial podium finisher, and WC round winner, is amongst the team, who have the stated ambition to perform in the biggest events on the UCI XCO and XCC circuit.

Team overview

The women’s team will be made up of Last, who was runner-up in the XC Marathon in 2022, Danish rider Malene Degn, 8th at the last European and World Championships in 2022, and the young and promising French rider Isaure Medde, World Champion in the XC Eliminator in 2020 and runner-up in the French U23 Championship in 2021 and 2022.

In the men’s category, the team will be led by the experienced Danish rider Sebastian Fini Carstensen, seven-time Danish champion and two-time 2021/2022 European XCO vice-champion, the Swiss rider Thomas Litscher, 2022 XCC World Championship bronze medallist, and the Norwegian rider Erik Haegstad, 2021 Norwegian XCO and XCC champion.

Long term commitment to the cause

The mission of the Lapierre-Mavic Unity team will be to perform at the World Cups, but also to be present over the next 2 Olympic cycles. It will be led by Céline Hutsebaut and her company VaillantTT. Céline Hutsebaut has extensive experience in managing a UCI Elite International mountain bike team.

New media coverage, new team?

Interestingly, with the switch from Redbull media to Discovery, the announcement from Lapierre also mentions that, “disciplines that have become spectacular and popular once again, attracting more and more spectators and television viewers thanks to the evolution of its circuits and its television coverage.”

First signs that the broadcaster change is having an impact? Hard to tell, but certainly noteworthy when featuring in an official announcement from a bike brand returning to the racing format.

In the UK Lapierre is distributed by Raleigh UK, part of the Accell Group.