Pirelli's return to cycling took place in 2017, an area that fits Pirelli, the industry leader in sustainability, like a glove. They presented the first MTB tires in February 2019 and at the same time began a partnership with an international elite team, now known as TREK PIRELLI.

Developed specifically at the request of the TREK PIRELLI team athletes, the tire is a pure racing model and meets the high performance requirements of cyclists such as Vlad Dascalu, European champion, world champion and winner of the World Cup in the U23 Olympic Cross Country category, and Samuele Porro, Italian champion, who won the silver medal at the XCM European Championships and the bronze medal at the XCM World Championships.

It was also Samuele Porro who asked the Pirelli engineers to develop a tire that was more suited to Olympic cross country competitions, but at the same time would also guarantee optimum performance in the XCM. Pirelli's engineers developed a top-quality racing tire that guarantees lightness, suppleness and excellent grip. This is how the Scorpion XC RC was born

A super-fast tire for competitions

A few months later, in October 2019, Samuele Porro and his teammates had the first prototypes at their disposal. The new tires with the "Prototype" label were tested at the training camp in Calp (Spain). Porro also tested them during a training session on the challenging Cape Epic race course in South Africa. The actual christening then followed at the first races of the season, including the Mediterranean Epic and the Andalucia Bike Race.

From a technical point of view, the XC RC tires are tubeless ready and have a 120 TPI nylon carcass. They are available in LITE and ProWALL versions for greater puncture protection and combine the proven features of the Pirelli Scorpion MTB series, starting with the innovative SmartGRIP Compound material mix. The SmartGRIP compound was developed using Pirelli's experience in motorsport. It is a continuous rubber compound with exceptionally high mechanical strength, which, despite the suppleness and lightness of the new XC RC model, offers high stability, durability and, above all, optimum grip on all surfaces.

Pirelli paid particular attention to the design of the tread pattern, which combines the characteristics of the Scorpion XC H (Hard) and the Scorpion XC M (Mixed) and is also tuned for better and more precise handling. The central tread elements in particular are clearly based on the Scorpion XC H, but are positioned slightly flatter and narrower to enable even easier running on straight stretches. The side elements, on the other hand, have the shape and grip angle of the Scorpion XC M. These have been precisely revised to maximize grip at different angles of inclination. Thanks to the profile with more aggressive side elements and the smooth-running center, the Scorpion XC RC is the perfect ally for modern Olympic cross-country tracks with technically demanding requirements.

Vlad Dascalu on the new tires: "The Scorpion XC RC is perfect for me because it is adapted to the most modern XC tracks, where natural and artificial sections alternate more and more frequently, and because the average speed of the competitions increases from year to year. Thanks to the new design, I know exactly where to use the tire, I can ride the most difficult trails and take corners more aggressively, while saving energy thanks to the tire's smooth ride and lightness."

"The Scorpion XC RC is the perfect tire for competitions - comments Samuele Porro - smooth and precise in corners at high speed. The new, higher side elements of the tread guarantee perfect grip when riding at the limit."

The new Scorpion XC RC is already available from specialist retailers in the 29 "x 2.2 version, including the team version (with yellow logo).

www.velo.pirelli.com/de/de/scorpion-mtb/xc/xc-rc