The Spanish bicycle brand Orbea has a long and successful history in mountain bike racing. From the beginnings of mountain biking to the first Olympic competitions in Atlanta to the highlight, the double victory of Julien Absalon and Jean-Christoph Perraud at the Olympic Games in Beijing. It continued with Catharine Pendrel's two World Championship gold medals in cross country in 2011 and 2014 and many other successes.

The brand from the Basque Country now wants to continue this success story. They are doing this together with the French racing team KMC-Ekoi, where the Spanish brand BH also recently acted as bike sponsor. The team has made a name for itself with riders such as the two Frenchmen Jordan Sarrou and Victor Koretzky. Sarrou is now riding for another team, while Koretzky will remain with KMC-Ekoi at Orbea. British rider Annie Last (winner of the 2017 Lenzerheide World Cup) is also making the brand switch with the team.

Podiums at the World Cup and World Championships

Thomas Litscher and Florian Vogel are making a complete team change. Both are leaving the JB-Brunex-Felt and Focus-XC racing teams after two and four successful years respectively
. "I'm delighted to be able to ride at the highest level for another two years. I am also hugely motivated to be able to work with Orbea. The brand has already celebrated considerable success in racing and is also at the forefront of product technology. That's why I will once again do everything I can to be at the forefront of the World Cup. 2020 will be another Olympic year, and despite my relatively advanced age as a racer, that is once again one of my goals. It would be nice to make the Olympic selection so that I can finally shine. But I'll take it as it comes," says Vogel.

Litscher has also signed with the newly formed team for two years. And his ambitions are both high and realistic: Litscher wants to finish on the podium again at the Cross-Country World Championships, which he already achieved in Cairns in 2017. For both of them, however, one goal should not exclude the other.

www.orbea.com/ch-de/blog/team-kmc-ekoi-orbea/