At long last, following on from a muddy and gloomy winter, the Whoop UCI Downhill World Series kicks off this weekend in Poland. The going looks set to be fast and furious from the off, and quite possibly more polished and honed than ever before following a re-formatting of the series, the team structures, the qualification process, and more by the organisers, Warner Bros. Discovery Sports (WBD). Here's the lowdown on everything you need to know.

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The  downhill rounds

16th-18th May – Enduro Trails, Bielsko Biala, Poland.

30th May-1st June – Loudonville, France.

5th-8th June – Saalfelden, Leogang, Austria.

20th-22nd June – Val di Sole, Italy.

3rd-6th July – La Thuile, Italy.

9th-13th July – Pal, Arinsal, Andorra.

21st-31st August – Haute Savoie, France.

19th-21st September – Bike Kingdom, Lenzerheide, Switzerland.

3rd-5th October – Lake Placid, USA,

9th-12th October – Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada.

The teams and the stars

There’s been quite a shakeup, and a 'stakes upping' in terms of the eligibility and qualification process for the entire World Series this year. This is a move which has very much favoured the bigger budget teams, and also limited/shifted the long chances for privateers and outliers to make it to World Cup level. 

The cost increase of this has been considerable for teams and sponsors, squeezing budgets, and easing some out of the game, with the estimated team registration cost rising from €11,000 to €40,000, in both the Gravity and Endurance (XC) disciplines.

The move is one that Warner Bros. Discovery Sports (the series organiser and broadcaster) envisage as a move towards increasing the value and presence of the sport, and effectively making the elite level even more elite, a decision that has been much debated in the media and within teams, and we guess that only time will tell on this – there will no doubt be winners, and very likely losers in this shift.

2024 harnden riding.jpg, by Liam Mercer

There will be 20 teams contesting the gravity series (which includes Enduro), and there have been some surprisingly big shifts for 2025. Amongst these will be the all-new AON Racing - Tourne Campervans team, which was founded by Scotland’s former World Champion Reece Wilson, and also features the UK’s Harriet Harnden, who won the recent iXS Cup round at Fort William, beating German star Nina Hoffman in that.

Also undergoing a surprising shift of bike sponsor will be the FMD team of Britain’s Tahnee Seagrave, who, after many seasons on Canyon, has switched to become Orbea/FMD Racing. The lineup also includes rising Brit star Phoebe Gale, and we expect big results for these two this year.

2024 tahnee seagrave 6.jpg, by Liam Mercer

Meanwhile, Canyon has also gone in heavy and refined this year with a major boost to their Canyon CLLCTV Factory Team, which will be headed by Troy Brosnan, Luca Shaw, and Marine Cabirou, all of whom are prime podium contenders aboard the new Canyon Sender. 

In the wake of his World Series retirement, Greg Minnaar is now leading the way with the Norco Race Division squad, and its 2025 roster features Britain’s former double World Champ Danny Hart.

Danny Hart Downhill race, by Red Bull Content Pool

This year Britain’s Continental Atherton team will be led to the charge by former World Champ Charlie Hatton, who showed a great return to form a couple of weeks ago by beating Hart to win the iXS Cup in Fort William. As to whether either Gee or Rachel Atherton will take the start in a World Series round this year remains unknown, though we expect it’s a slim chance.

In 2025 Santa Cruz Syndicate team will also be a major force again this season, with the anticipated return to racing of Jackson Goldstone, while the omnipresent Nina Hoffman will also be looking to make her presence felt, as will Britain’s Laurie Greenland. 

2022 Red Bull Hardline Jackson Goldstone celebrating, by Red Bull Content Pool

The long-standing Trek Factory Racing team went through something of a surprising shakeup for 2025, with many of the old established guard finding themselves out of contract. This year, the team has focussed its reserves on a primarily young and hopeful squad, with 25-year-old British ace Matt Walker being the comparative veteran on the roster. The team could spring a few surprises this year, although we would guess theirs is a slightly longer-term development plan.

Needless to say, the Commencal/Muc-Off By Addiction team featuring the fast Frenchies Myriam Nicole, Amuary Pierron, and Loris Vergier will also be one of the biggest forces on the circuit this year too. 

Of the other star-studded teams, naturally, the Specialized Gravity trio of Loic Bruni, Finn Iles and Jordon Williams can always be counted on to perform. The YT Mob has also stepped things up for 2025 and will feature the long-since dominant Vali Holl, Andreas Kolb (from Atherton), and the fast-rising Irishman Oisin O’Callaghan, also making them one of the strongest teams around.

The tech arms race

Downhill has always been very much at the head of the tech race in mountain biking, for obvious reasons; the sheer demands put on bikes and equipment here is huge, and as the sport has evolved, gaps that were once multiple seconds between racers are often now fractions of this.

Tech developed and honed in elite downhill racing is often secretive, right until the start gate opens, and does tend to evolve on the fly in some cases. In many instances, a year or three down the line, refined versions of this weird stuff trickle down to the bikes we all get to ride.

2024 belt drive.png, by Liam Mercer

The biggest evolution for 2025 will most likely be the increase in teams running belt drive gearboxes, something long overdue and ever-refining. Although some teams had run these in 2024, this year will see Continental Atherton, Aon Racing, Intense Factory Racing & MS Racing running gearboxes/belt systems in partnership with Gates (who make the Gates Carbon Drive System). In 2024, Gates put up a still unclaimed $100,000 'Belted Purse' prize for the first Elite World Series victory to be claimed on a Gates belt-driven bike, which the brand will quite probably have to pay out on this season.

UCI Continental MTB Series and more

In with the revamping of the World Series (and the WBD TV viewing fees increase etc), the UCI announced a new MTB Continental Series for 2025, which features a number of rounds XCO and DH rounds (28 races all in), which is designed as a stepping stone or pathways for riders to qualify for the World Series. 

Many of the rounds take place in the Americas, and a fair few in Oceania too, though, sadly, and disappointingly, there are no rounds announced in either Asia or Africa, regions that would arguably benefit the most from these opportunities.

Also, somewhat bemusing is the fact that there are only six rounds in Europe, and that just two of them feature a downhill race. Plus, there’s not a single UK round either in the series, all of which is concerning for those outside of the Elite World Series and hoping to get there.

Thankfully, we still have National Series races and other long-established race series in the UK and elsewhere, while the long-standing continental iXS Cup series in Europe also helps to keep things rolling.

How to watch the racing

Unless you’re able to travel to watch the racing in person, then you’re viewing options for the World Series are limited to either subscribing to the eye-wateringly costly TNT Sports/Discovery+ packages for live coverage in the UK, or to catch the brief highlight shows on TNT Sports Cycling YouTube Channel.

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