The car industry, shaken by Dieselgate, bites back at the UCI. The Mountain Bike World Cup is now called the "UCI Mountain Bike World Championships presented by Mercedes Benz". The Stuttgart-based company wants to use this commitment to promote its vans, in which Daimler offers MPVs, the Citan city van, the Vito van, the Sprinter van and also X-series motorhomes and pick-ups. Mercedes Benz will probably use the market launch of the new X-Class pick-up series in particular to make it appealing to mountain bikers.

The organizers of the World Cup will equip Mercedes Benz vans with X-series pick-ups to be used for course preparation and V-series vans will be used for passenger transport.

When announcing the new title sponsor, the newly appointed UCI President David Lappartient surprisingly emphasized mountain biking as one of the UCI's most important disciplines: "The partnership gives us an excellent opportunity to promote the development of mountain biking, one of our flagship disciplines," reads the official UCI statement on the new title sponsorship. The Mountain Bike World Cup will benefit from the global reputation and knowledge of the Stuttgart-based brand, Lappartient added.