It was a particularly difficult season for the members of the YT Mob, the World Cup team of German manufacturer YT Industries. After the company's insolvency was announced in mid-July, the World Cup riders suddenly found themselves without team support. They had not been paid since August and had to pay for the last two stops of the season in North America out of their own pockets. Driver Andreas Kolb even had to pay his own mechanic because he no longer received a salary from Forchheim either. All the more remarkable are the performances of the two Austrian athletes who were part of the YT mob: Höll won the race in Lake Placid and secured the overall World Cup for the fourth time. Kolb came fifth in Lake Placid and third in Mont-Sainte-Anne - in the end he finished 7th in the overall World Cup. The recently defunct YT Mob even finished third in the 2025 team standings.

Dream realized with switch to Syndicate

Andreas Kolb acted quickly in the face of difficult circumstances and made the best of the mess. From now on, he will be racing for the Santa Cruz Syndicate: "The YT bankruptcy, which came at the worst possible time for me, has now turned into something good: Syndicate approached me and I signed for at least the next two years. So the worst situation turned into the happiest of my life." The switch to the Californians is "an upgrade" for Kolb. With Jackson Goldstone, the reigning world champion and overall World Cup winner, he now has a team-mate who he looks up to and who will push him. Conversely, according to Kolb, he has a lot of experience as a racer, which could benefit the 21-year-old Goldstone. 

In addition, there is team manager Steve Peat, whom Kolb calls a "legend" and a "cool dog". Peat is a similar type of rider to himself: tall, athletic and also a late bloomer. According to reports, the two get on really well and you can also have a lot of fun with "Peaty" off the track. At the same time, the Brit is a manager who leaves nothing to chance, who is at the track in all weathers and gives his drivers tips on the best line choice. For Kolb, the fact that he can now don the team kit of the syndicate is also the fulfillment of a dream: "I never thought it would come true." The fact that this team kit will be a Fox Speedsuit stresses Kolb out insofar as he will do everything he can over the winter to cut a good figure in the skin-tight piece, as he jokes.

Problems at Athertons, failure at YT

The Schladminger has signed a two-year contract with Santa Cruz - with the option to extend. Kolb hopes to have finally found a stable team where he can concentrate fully on his athletic development. The 29-year-old Austrian only switched from the British Atherton-Continental racing team to YT-Mob for the 2025 season. It was "financial problems" at Atherton that prompted him to make this move, as he reveals. Kolb had turned down several other, more lucrative offers for the four-year contract at YT. "I wanted a long-term perspective so that I could develop further," he explains his choice of team. He only realized shortly after signing that YT was already in a bad financial situation. The budget for accommodation was suddenly cut, as were the limits on the team credit cards. "It was kind of strange, something wasn't right," says Kolb of the first signs. Kolb and his team only found out how bad things really were for the company and therefore the team from the media in mid-July.

Kolb is now hoping that Santa Cruz will give him the support he needs to make the step from a top ten rider to a regular on the podium in the World Cup. From the Austrian's point of view, a second World Cup victory is also long overdue. Since his home victory in Leogang in 2023, he has finished on the podium several times and won the European title in 2024. But Kolb wants to be at the top again. In Lake Placid, it was just one hundredth that separated him from Luca Shaw (USA) and thus second place. It also didn't necessarily help, says Kolb, that he was recently asked about his bankrupt former team YT while waiting in the start house and why he was still wearing their jersey at all. Without these additional burdens on his mind, the Austrian hopes that he will be even freer and faster in 2026.

Santa Cruz V10 has won Kolb over

From now on, Kolb will be riding his new workhorse, the legendary Santa Cruz V10. The V10 has been regarded as one of the best and most successful downhill bikes for years. The Styrian agrees, having already tested it twice: "The bike is amazing. It's not for nothing that all privateers who ride their own bikes in the World Cup ride a V10." He immediately had the feeling that it would fit. And the material is crucial for him: "If the bike doesn't fit, no matter how much money I'm offered or how great a team I'm offered, I wouldn't sign up."

Kolb will start preparing for the season with his new team this winter. Naturally, he will be heading to the home of Santa Cruz, California. Although the cult brand is now part of the Dutch PON Holdings B. V., which also owns the bicycle brands Cervélo, Focus, Kalkoff Gazelle and BBB, among others. The company, which was originally an automotive supplier, produces a total of around 800,000 bicycles per year. Kolb should therefore now have landed with a team that is somewhat more financially stable than his last two employers.

Vali Höll with a small team to full success

Kolb's previous team colleague Valentina Höll is also currently looking for a new employer. Höll won the World Championships and the overall World Cup for the fourth time in 2025. Despite these successes, she has mixed results: "The season was really up and down - it took me a long time to find my flow. My goal was to be consistent, and I managed that. I finally managed to win in Lake Placid and was able to take the overall home with me. Because of a bet, I then had to ride in shorts at the final in Mont-Sainte-Anne. I also had the fastest splits in the upper section until I unfortunately had a flat tire. But it's super cool that I was able to show what I can do at the end. I had a small team around me that reminded me again how much fun the whole thing actually is. Now I'm glad that the season is over and we can start again, there will be news soon."