The roots of the BMC Mountain Bike Racing Team go back to 2011, when David Chassot first founded a team of six riders on BMC bikes. One of the first team riders, mountain bike marathon specialist Alex Moos, soon stepped over to the other side of the line and took on the role of sports director for the team. When two-time Olympic champion Julien Absalon joined the team in 2013 with a new dynamic, there was cause for celebration. Renowned riders such as Ralph Näf and Lukas Flückiger provided solid results alongside Absalon and helped the team to win the overall UCI team rankings going into 2017.

Focus on a single project

After supporting several teams on the mountain bike circuit last season, BMC decided to focus on a single project and split up two teams and merge them into the "Absolute Absalon - BMC" team. From January 1, 2020, Julien Absalon will lead a team of four riders, consisting of athletes from the current BMC Mountain Bike Racing Team and the Absolute Absalon Team. These are the Frenchmen Titouan Carod and Jordan Sarrou and the Swiss Filippo Colombo, who will compete in the elite category. With Mathis Azzaro, BMC has also signed a French U23 rider.

"We are delighted to be able to write this new chapter with BMC," says Julien Absalon. "It's an honor to have evolved from rider to team manager. I believe in the potential of my riders, some of whom I first met as teammates in the BMC Mountain Bike Racing Team or later as team manager of Absolute Absalon. I also believe that we can play a leading role on the international racing stage as early as next season. But the 2020 team is not the end goal; we will work with BMC and our other partners to ensure that this team continues to develop in the long term," adds Absalon.

Flückiger and Indergand no longer with us

Lukas Flückiger was the prominent returnee to the BMC racing team in 2019. The Bernese rider signed for two years with Moos and Chassot's team - i.e. up to and including 2020. With BMC's early withdrawal from the team, Flückiger has lost his place in an unfortunate way and is currently without a sponsor and somewhat at a loss:

"I don't really want to end my career like this. I love racing and would have liked to show what I can do for another year or two. Now I'm looking for a solution - whether in a team, as a private driver or going back to normal professional life will probably become clear soon."

Reto Indergand is also not among the new team members. However, unlike Flückiger, the Uri native's contract expired at the end of the year, as he reveals: "I had to look for a new contract almost every year. For 2020, however, I was in talks with a new team early on, which is not yet ready to go. So fortunately the restructuring at BMC doesn't affect me."