As the World’s top cross country mountain bikers recover from jetlag and prepare for this weekend’s opening round of the 2025 Whoop UCI Mountain Bike Series in Araxa, Brazil, which will host the cross country (XCO) and short track (XCC) season openers, once again there is an air of tension and revolt in the air.

This time around, it comes in the form of an open letter/statement of protest signed by most of the top XCO racers and several teams. This letter was posted online and recirculated on various social media channels this week and is pitched directly at Warner Bros. Discovery, the series organisers, and broadcasters. They object that WBD has reduced the number of riders on the finish podiums from five to three from this race onwards.

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To casual fans (even some regular fans), this may seem like a minor issue, especially given that almost every other sport uses the three-athlete podium/medal format - bronze, silver and gold - as in the Olympics and World Championships. However, mountain biking is a bit different here (as are some other sports, too) and, since 1994, World Cup races have traditionally had a five-rider podium presentation. 

Still confused about the five-person podium or why revert to three riders on the great wooden boxes of the sport?

Here's what was posted and addressed to Warner Bros. Discovery by Rebecca Henderson, the UCI rider representative.

“For more than 30 years, the podium at the mountain bike World Cup has been five riders. A podium unique to mountain biking, it has provided countless riders and teams with more exposure and opportunities. It's been a breakthrough for many athletes and given life to smaller teams. Chasing a podium in our sport at the highest level has always meant a Top 5. It has added value and depth to the sport, given riders more chances to shine in the spotlight and added value to riders, teams and all of the sponsors and brands behind us who are the backbone of professional mountain bike racing.” 

Tom Pidcock tail whips over gap jump at Les Gets, 2022 UCI MTB World Championships, by Red Bull Content Pool

“Warner Brothers Discovery have only one reason for reducing the podium to three riders: conformity. To conform to the norm, to the other sports. A decision that has been made despite strong pushback from the athletes who are the very heart of the sport. We have been ignored and are left without a voice as the future of our sport changes.” 

“As our fans know, mountain biking has never been about conformity, we have carved our own path since the inception of World Cup racing in the 1990’s and we want to keep our unique character. The vast majority of teams and riders feel completely unheard on this topic.” 

“This is our sport and we won’t let conformity strip away its character! We demand the 5 rider podium in 2025!” 

How the famous five came to be

Mountain bike racing first got its official UCI accreditation and World Championship status in 1990 when it also gained an officially sanctioned XC World Cup series. In 1993, the first UCI Downhill World Cup arrived. In 1996, XC racing was granted a surprise early Olympic birth. 

A couple of years before that Olympic debut, in 1994, at the Cairns XC round of the World Cup, a young Aussie junior racer had been battling away in third spot in the Elite race, but suddenly dropped to finish in fifth, thus missing out on the podium. The organisers and competitors felt he was due some recognition for his youthful uprising, and so they decided to go with a five-rider podium. This went down a storm with the home fans and was also to the liking of the then series organisers. From then on, it was a five-rider deal and has become something of a tradition within the sport – sharing the love, as such, not to mention the spoils that come with a podium place. That junior racer was named Cadel Evans, who would go on to be a Tour de France winner, and although that podium appearance was not a make-or-break deal for him, it was certainly appreciated by all concerned.

Between the lines

There’s little doubt that there is a lot of credence in the above rider statement, and probably a lot more lies unwritten between the lines. Indeed, it is something of a tradition within the sport  (a five-rider podium) – and the WBD reasoning for this five becoming three is to bring things in line with other sports, conformity. There is still a strong sense of individuality, camaraderie out there, and a mutual striving for survival, in financial terms for the riders, teams and races and this does very much depend on the exposure they score.

Nino Schurter on the podium at Les Gets, 2022 UCI MTB World Championships, by Red Bull Content Pool

With the bulk of the race TV and media coverage being focused on the first few riders, those behind are often left out of the picture, and broadening that podium just a little does offer vital exposure to the underdogs and those on the up. Be it third or fifth, being able to claim a podium finish not only ensures brand exposure that funds teams and riders. It generally also brings sponsor and team bonuses to the athletes, which, depending on the arrangement, can be much higher than the prize money they earn.
 
Surely the extra few seconds it takes to present the podium, and those extra two cramped side steps, is not exactly a big deal to include – especially when it means so much to the riders, the teams, sponsors, and also to many of the fans in what is still very much a small and close-knit sport?

Why now, and what next?

Why protest now, at the 11th hour? This change was announced some time ago, and WBD planned to implement it last year, so that’s a tough one to guess. Is it a last-gasp display of dissatisfaction, or does it run deeper? Could we see a similar scenario to last year’s Rotorua Crankworx, where the elite male slopestyle riders effectively held a gun of demand at the heads of the organisers at the last moment, and subsequently pulled out from that round of the series due to those demands not being fully met? 

Unlikely, the XC riders have already said that they will not protest at the race, and WBD/UCI do wield a whole lot more power across the entire sport when compared to the FMBA (Freeride Mountain Bike Association). 

Perhaps even more intriguing is why the downhill racers have not joined the fray – riders who, by nature, we would expect to lead any protests? We guess that, should this not be resolved this weekend, as in WBD relenting, then the downhillers will also raise their objections before the first opening round of their World Series next month in Italy. 

The WBD factor

It’s impossible to deny the fact that WBD have had, and are having, a huge impact on the sport of cycling (racing) in general, and particularly with mountain biking – as they also have an agreement to organise the World Series for eight whole years, as well as broadcast and repackage it – or so it would seem with the latter part of that. It would also be fair to say that WBR and the UCI have not exactly won over many friends within the cycling community, and particularly within the off-road community, which is fully understandable. This will no doubt also be raising some concern behind the scenes with riders, teams and organisers.

The media giant that is WBD seem to have entered the relatively unknown saloon (to them) that is cycling, and, with that, came a whole lot of virtual gun slinging and gold flashing, teased promises of  “making cycling great again,” which seem to be at a multiplex of costs.

UCI MTB World Championships 2021 Alan Hatherly of South Africa and Samuel Gaze of New Zealand.png, by Suvi Loponen

In quick succession came the huge TV rights dominance and recent price to view hikes for cycling, then the major reforms and restructuring of the MTB World Series, which has been crippling for many smaller teams and sponsors, the ditching and distancing of certain disciplines with that – and just a couple of weeks ago WBD also pulled the UCI Track Champions League, which they also had an eight-year deal to organise and broadcast. As far as we understand, they will no longer be organising the revised and skinnied-down Track World Cup series, but will keep broadcasting it live.
 
Outside of the lucrative Tour de France coverage, which they’ve also largely scooped up, has the UCI granted WBD excess powers over certain areas of the sport, such as mountain biking? Cycling is not a mainstream and particularly wealthy sport, unlike football or the NBA. Did WBD expect great and fast returns from it? If those returns don’t come, could they just leave the arena early and, if they did, who would pick up the pieces for mountain biking? 

Is this potential scenario playing on the minds of those inside the tapes? We suspect this one will continue for a while.

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