After eight very successful years with Specialized Factory Racing, the Austrian rider’s contract will not be renewed. For Stigger, who won an XCC World Cup race and the World Championship title in short track in 2026, this decision comes as a surprise. 

BMC will end its involvement with its own factory team in the Mountain Bike World Cup at the end of the season. Instead, the Swiss team is shifting its budget to women’s road racing and international gravel racing series. This move fits seamlessly into a troubling pattern: the traditional factory teams in the cross-country circuit are slowly dying out.

With Cannondale and Lapierre, two big names are disappearing from the Cross-Country World Cup. Lapierre has been brought to its knees by the financial crisis at its parent company, Accell. Cannondale, on the other hand, is voluntarily disbanding its successful factory team and will focus more on content and community in the future. This begs the question: Will “likes” soon count for more than World Cup victories?