Published February 24, 2011 06:01PM
The United States is leading the way with the most mountain bike squads on the International Cycling Union’s (UCI) final list of 2011 Elite teams.
Of the 30 Elite teams, the U.S. will field seven teams at the discipline’s highest tier; more than any other nation in the world. Germany will field the next highest number of top-tier teams with five, while several countries will host three.
Invitations to join the UCI Elite level were issued to the best teams of a ranking established by the UCI on Sept. 27 by adding up the UCI points of the best riders within each team.
The 2011 UCI Elite Mountain Bike Teams, of which one is a mixed team (endurance and gravity), are made up of 144 riders, of which 10 are in the Juniors category. The cross-country teams count 79 riders against 65 for the gravity disciplines.
UCI Elite Mountain Bike Teams will be identifiable by a logo on their vehicles and their riders’ race outfits. They will be obliged to enter at least one rider in all 10 rounds of the 2011 Mountain Bike World Cup, which gets under way in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, on April 23 and 24. In return, the teams will benefit from numerous advantages including free entry in the World Cup events and races on the UCI Mountain Bike International Calendar, with the exception of stage races.
U.S.-BASED UCI ELITE MOUNTAIN BIKE TEAMS
LUNA PRO TEAM (LUN)
MONSTER ENERGY / SPECIALIZED / MAD CATZ (MER)
SANTA CRUZ SYNDICATE (SCB)
SPECIALIZED FACTORY RACING (SFR)
SUBARU-TREK (STR)
TEAM MAXXIS-ROCKY MOUNTAIN (TMR)
YETI FOX SHOX FACTORY RACE TEAM (YET)